Inspired by Derek Sivers and his nownownow project, this is a page about what I’m working on now.
July 4, 2021 → Tons of rain here. A tropical storm is in the vicinity (though it will miss us). The dreary weather affects the mood, especially when you’re used to the sunshine. ⎈ Most of my attention is on getting the new More Ghost Than Man album out in the wild. The release date is September 24. Sent it to key press folks. Terry (the one behind the project) also turned in a second music video and it’s incredible. The quality he is able to get out of a minimum of gear and budget (and crew — it’s only him) is so impressive. He’s doing three videos (maybe more?) for the album. The challenge is getting people to see his work. ⎈ I’m working my way through Guy Maddin’s filmography, mainly because many of his titles are leaving The Criterion Channel at the end of this month. (More and more it seems like my viewing choices are dictated by the ‘leaving soon’ announcements.) Many directors try the ‘make it look like it’s really old’ look but no one gets closer than Maddin — certain scenes in his films could fool most people. Careful, which I watched last night, is especially gorgeous (and demented). ⎈ There’s a lot of socializing this week, for a change, including a visit from my brother and his family as well as a 4th of July barbecue with friends I haven’t seen for 18 months or more.
June 20, 2021 → Busy! I started working with a new client for label consulting which entailed a lot of initial research and writing up recommendations and findings. Sent off a few licensing pitches (one bite, but no takers). I also wrote a slew of press releases for various record labels — a lot of those came in this week. ⎈ San Mateo turned in a remix (or ‘version’) of the forthcoming More Ghost Than Man single (album to follow in the fall). I’m increasingly excited about this project. ⎈ I spoke at a workshop held by DiViNCi of Solillaquists of Sound, as part of his Studio Sensei series. The subject was musical collaborations, and I fielded questions about how to determine songwriting shares and the awkward conversations that ensue. Check out Studio Sensei — DiViNCi has built an outstanding community and does fine work. I’m sure that’s not the only workshop I’ll do with him. ⎈ I’ve been slacking in the writing department and am contemplating what happens next with the blog and the newsletter. My problem is overthinking when I should just write. To inspire this I’ve ordered the book Our Endless and Proper Work: Starting (And Sticking To) Your Writing Practice by Ron Hogan. It looks great. ⎈ I made an amazing habanero hot sauce based on this recipe. OMG is it good. And OMG is it spicy. Heaven. I may have found a new hobby. I’m making a milder one with serranos shortly after writing this. ⎈ I watched the Colombian movie Birds of Passage and loved it. Here’s my Letterboxd review. ⎈ I rescued a large water turtle from the road in front of our house. Here’s a photo. After placing it by the side of our house it bolted to the lake and literally leaped over the seawall. Splash. Not much in nature surprises like the sudden speed of a large turtle.
June 13, 2021 → I worked a lot on music publishing this week but didn’t do enough writing. Balance is something I need to work on. ⎈ Caroline went to the beach with friends so I had a few days to myself. I watched Sátántangó which otherwise would not stand as a nightly television choice. No idea why a seven-hour black and white tale of Hungarian nihilism isn’t an attractive option. Anyway, I watched it in three sittings and was not disappointed — even blown away at points. The cinematography is repeatedly lauded but I was also impressed by the ominous sound design. It made me think of the background atmospheres in quite a few Lynch films, particularly Eraserhead. There’s a lot to study in Sátántangó, but quite a bit to parody as well. One note if you’d like to tackle this film (currently streaming on The Criterion Channel): fast-forward at least twenty minutes from the three-hour mark if you really like cats. ⎈ Mailplane, my email app of choice, is sunsetting thanks to some forthcoming restrictions from Google. I’ve used Mailplane since 2009 so I’m bummed. On the other hand, it’s an excuse to get away from the Gmail ecosystem. Though I mostly ‘roll my own’ when it comes to email domains, I’ve routed everything through Gmail just so I could keep my email in Mailplane. Now I’m experimenting and leaning toward Spark though that could change. I’m a little frustrated that Spark doesn’t have ‘rules,’ to automatically send certain emails to archive folders and keep them from appearing in my inbox. ⎈ I normally don’t eat fish (and never eat any other meat) but, with Caroline away, my new neighbor — my mom — wanted to check out the area’s seafood options. We discovered the humble Happy Snapper which had an incredible tasting grouper fillet. Anyway, I ate more fish (not a lot) in the past week than I had in the past year or two. ⎈ I didn’t hear much talk about Record Store Day this year – is that a bad sign? ⎈ Somehow I only saw this for the first time yesterday.
June 6, 2021 → I attended a cookout for Memorial Day at the house of a dear friend (and neighbor). There were about 15 people there, including friends I haven’t seen for — what, 18 months? This was the first ‘gathering’ I attended since the pandemic and post-vaccine. It was wonderful, it was weird. ⎈ This week I slept for the last time at the house my grandmother and grandfather built in the ‘60s. My parents lived in it for the past couple of decades, and now my mom has made the move to Orlando, right next door to me. I have a lot of memories in that old house (as does she) so the whole thing is bittersweet. ⎈ Related to mom’s move, this week I learned about cabinet depth refrigerators, and how one should know if home renovations require that style before having a new fridge delivered. ⎈ I had some spare Bandcamp download codes laying around so I did some unannounced 8D Industries giveaways on Twitter. Folks seemed excited and appreciative, which was nice. The label got a few legitimate sales out of it, too. ⎈ There are two great new albums out that I’m representing via 8DSync: Indoor Creature’s Living In Darkness and The Fey’s Palm Tree Shade. These were both released by the Kansas City label The Record Machine. | I’d like to completely redo the 8DSync website.
May 30, 2021 → I’ve decided to make my /now page into a running log that I’ll add to each Sunday. That will make this easier to update so the page doesn’t sit for a year unattended once again. ⎈ I’ve been brainstorming a bit, thinking about the relaunch of Ringo Dreams of Lawn Care as well as some changes to the blog (such as this /now page). I’m also preparing promotional ideas for the next 8D Industries release — an amazing album from More Ghost Than Man that I can’t wait for you to hear — and coming up with ideas for the Motivate Your Music website. ⎈ My mom is moving in next door on Thursday, after several months of house renovations, and that’s got me busy. We’re presently trying to sell a couch out of the house for cheap, which has me sad about how Facebook Marketplace has dethroned Craiglist as the most effective place to do this. ⎈ I recorded some dialogue and screams from Caroline for Johannes Grenzfurthner’s next film and he reciprocated by adding another notch to my IMDB page. ⎈ I’ve started using the Sleep Cycle app again (after about 5 years), not only to track my sleep but to also ‘intelligently’ wake me up earlier. ⎈ Reading: The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival — I’m hooked. ⎈ Watching: we started For All Mankind. It’s fine after two episodes — not loving or disliking. I’ve heard it improves so we’ll stick with it. ⎈ This week: it’s going to be a week off, basically. Memorial Day tomorrow with friends and then doing a lot of back-and-forth to help mom move house.