Summer reading

Since school starts in less than two weeks (oh my), I’m trying to get in as much enjoyable reading as I can since from August 17th until December 23 I’ll be knee deep in law books.

I just finished “Rock and Roll WIll Save Your Life” by Steve Almond and will pick up “Juliet, Naked” by Nick Hornby (<3) on my way to work tomorrow morning. I love my library.

Less than two chapters into Almond's book, I told Morgan that he has to read it, it's about people like us for people like us: Drooling Fanatics.

What’s a “drooling fanatic”?
I couldn’t shake the notion that we had gone wrong somewhere [...]. We had wound up, instead, as wannabes, geeks, professional worshippers, the sort of guys and dolls who walk around with songs ringing in our ears at all hours, who acquire albums compulsively, who fall in love with one record per week minimum and cannot resist telling other people—people frankly not that interested—what they should be listening to and why and forcing homemade compilations into their hands and then calling them to see what they thought of these compilations, in particular the syncopated handclaps on track fourteen.

I stumbled upon this book while passing time in a Delaware Barnes & Noble before I needed to leave for the bus. Whenever I need to waste time, I find a bookstore and add titles to my neverending list of books I should read. There are still books I discovered in 2005 on that damn list.

The book was a quick read and I always find it fascinating to read about other peoples passions, especially when it comes to tastes in music. Almond details his discoveries and infatuations while taking us through his stints as a music critic, college radio dj, and as a fan. He’s lucky enough to meet his favorite musicians, which almost never lives up to expectations. Many lists and footnotes permeate the book, which is always a plus for me. Most of all, he truly displays excitement for music – songs, albums, artists, lyrics, everything. Though I work in the music industry and spend many evenings at shows, it’s disappointing that you find more people who are jaded than excited.

Fun fact: Almond co-wrote a novel, “Which Brings Me To You”, with Julianna Baggott. Julianna is from Wilmington, DE, grew up in Newark, DE, and relocated to Newark for a bit before moving to Florida. She regularly visited Rainbow with her kids while I worked there and we shared many casual conversations. Always enjoyable.

Book It

Good afternoon sunshines!

I’m awful at blogging lately..too much living, not enough writing. Oy vey.

Remember that program “Book It” back in the late 80s? Or was it early 90s? I totally forgot about it until I wrote the title…and I just Googled and it still exists. Hooray for reading!

I used to be a voracious reader when I was a kid, then college and real life happened and I haven’t had the time to enjoy reading as much as I used to. Part of my 2010 New Years resolution is to read more, which I’ve done in spurts.

I recently finished “Marathon Woman” by Kathrine Switzer and highly recommend it to my fellow female runner friends. This gal is amazing and I didn’t realize how much of a struggle it was to allow women to compete in long distances. Not only does the book chronicle her success in races – from the mile to the marathon – but also her global efforts to revolutionize racing and her guerilla journalist tactics for her day job. Truly inspiring.

After having a NYC library card for over two years, I finally visited my local branch. Which is truly sad since it’s only two blocks from my apartment, though the hours are totally inconvenient. I picked up “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim” by David Sedaris, “What the Dog Saw” by Malcom Gladwell, and “Downtown Owl” by Chuck Klosterman. All have been on my “must read” list for far too long.

I finished Sedaris in a day and a half, thanks to a few lengthy subway rides. I’m now onto Klosterman and realized that this is the first novel I’ve read in probably years… I think the last one was “Miss Misery” by Andy Greenwald which saved me from having a panic attack on a southbound plane. Fiction is unsettling. I feel that if I’m going to dedicate hours to reading, it ought to be full of truths rather than merely entertaining. I make an exception every once in a while, especially if it’s Klosterman.

Guilt gets me out of bed

I think I’ve discovered the trick for me to get up and work out before work. This morning I set my alarm super early to get five miles tallied before work. After my alarm went off, I reset it as I went to bed later than I planned and I was simply tired. I didn’t fall back asleep and then I felt guilty and convinced myself that I wouldn’t be as tired once I got up.

Needless to say, I did feel better. I got in my five miles, it wasn’t stupid hot out, and I ran faster this morning than I have in months. Score all around. I always waltzed into work two minutes early. I’ve perfected the art of time management.

Nothing too interesting to report except that I passed Toby Tanser on the bridle path. We gave each other a friendly nod while kicking up dirt, though he has no idea who I am, obvs.

I’m about a third of the way through the book “Marathon Woman” and just realized that it was personalized for me. My mom bought me this book when I decided to run the Philly marathon last year. So far it’s an entertaining and informative read about Switzer’s development as a runner and the stereotypes she had to break. I never really thought about it, but competitive running didn’t really have a place for women until the last few decades. Switzer is responsible for women to officially enter marathons after she ran her first, apparently illegally, in 1967. She also won the 1974 NYC Marathon, but I’m only at the part of the book where she’s graduating college a year after running Boston.

At least without cable and laptop I have time to do more important things, like finish books.

Rock On

I finished Dan Kennedy’s “Rock On” last week and now I’m onto my third book of January, which is technically my March book. I’d rather be ahead of schedule than falling behind.

I love it. It was a witty recollection of Kennedy’s scraping by in the music biz, while also providing honest insight of the bullshit that happens within the labels’ walls. Granted, I don’t work at a label, but I’ve had my fair share of observances. I also enjoyed this story not because its true, but because its not a success story. Though Kennedy did his fair share of high profile work, he didn’t change the biz, he was merely a cog. A cog who is informed, intelligent, and diligent. But nonetheless, a cog who lost his job at the end.

I related a lot to his struggle to fit in, to balance a personal life, and the ability to learn that sometimes you just have to keep your mouth shut. Despite all of that, there is a reason why we stay in the music biz and compromise our intercity a bit. Sometimes it all comes down to a silly piece of music we heard back in the day that impels us to work for that common good. A lyric, a song, a concert. Desperately trying to recreate that moment where music hit your soul and be apart of it.

I finished the book just in time to hear that one of the major labels was laying off a percentage of staff and artists. You know, gotta save some dollars because the heads can’t make a profit. I know the guy at the top. He has everything you could imagine, including court side tickets. I’m sure he kept his coursed tickets and his sprawling house and his family will be fine. And he’s a nice and talented guy who worked his way up. but a lot of my friends and incredible employees lost their jobs last week. They ranged in age, experience, and tenure and everyone of them has to start back at the beginning.

Though I realize that the economy is screwed all around, the music biz has been in a state of fear for years. Any given day you could be fired because the state of it has gotten so out of control. And to some, it means a chance to change careers, or go back to school. T others it means hoping that another branch of the industry will let them in. And to some, it means heads in hands wondering how the hell it could get better.

I’ve worked with this label closely and have seen first hand how they waste money on certain artists or how they don’t properly develop another artist due to lack of manpower. Absolute disgrace.

The next book I’m tackling is “Wish I Could Be There: Notes From a Phobic Life” by Allen Shawn. This book came out about 2 years ago and I bought it as soon as it came out due to a book review I read. It’s been sitting on my shelf for two years, whoops. I picked this up due to my fears and anxiety and though I’ve worked around most of them, or try hide them, they’re still there. I haven’t had as much free time lately so out of nearly 300 pages, I’m getting to about 5 a day, which is pitiful. At least I’m ahead of schedule.

“Eating the Dinosaur”

I gave myself all of January to finish “Eating the Dinosaur” by Chuck Klosterman. I finished it one day in…though I did start it on the 30th, so I cheated a bit. As stated before, I’m attempting to work through my unread book shelf and finish a book a month. It’s not difficult, I just don’t allocate the time. I buy books impulsively, then forget to read them. Whoops.

I’m a big fan of Klosterman and read his articles before he started penning books. I just absolutely love his take on pop culture, his comparisons, and his unveiling of irony. “Eating the Dinosaur” didn’t end up as being my favorite of his (that goes to “Killing Yourself To Live”), but I did enjoy it more than “IV” and less than “Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs.” With most of his books, he writes a lot about music (mostly rock, a little pop), a little about basketball, and throws in a killer or two.

My favorite passage (when writing about Chris Gaines, Garth Brooks’ alter ego):
His [Garth Brooks] decision to grow a soul patch pretty much said it all: In the ten-thousand-year history of facial hair, no one has ever looked nonidiotic with a soul patch. In fact, the zenith of the soul patch’s legacy was Matt Dillon in Singles; Dillon grew a soul patch specifically because he was portraying an alt rock d-bag.

Here’s the NPR review.

Next Up: “Rock On: An Office Power Ballad” by Dan Kennedy
Kennedy, a McSweeney’s contributor, offers an entertaining explanation of how, after years of stumbling through adulthood, he landed an improbable gig writing and producing ads for Atlantic Records. For a kid who grew up dressing like Gene Simmons each Halloween in the 1970s, this should be a dream job—hobnobbing with rock stars and industry legends while making more money than he ever had before. The trouble is that, by the early 21st century, he finds that Atlantic is more corporate than rock. Kennedy’s run-ins with rock stars involve helping Jewel sell razors and mistaking Duran Duran’s manager for a member of the band. When he’s not inadvertently insulting aging rockers, Kennedy worries incessantly about office politics—whether he’s made a permanent enemy of a co-worker by asking what kind of muffin she’s eating, which executives to greet in the hallway and which to ignore. Kennedy’s style—hilarious, paranoid and vulnerable—captures wonderfully the absurdity of the corporate music industry. Readers will appreciate the many lists that pepper the book, including Inappropriate Greetings and Salutations for Middle-Aged White Record Executives to Exchange: #1. Hello, Dawg.

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