Blogroll

Some of you have figured out that this is not my only blog. I write about and for my job, my interpretations of Pavement songs, memories of encounters with rock stars and memorable shows I've seen, and a few other things. The idea was to keep this blog somewhat focused, which has worked to varying degrees.

For those of you who can't get enough comoprozac ramblings, you should check out my other blogs. Here's a brief rundown of the blogs I write. The new goal is to post at least once a week on each blog in order to make them worth the read.

living in misery - This is the one that started it all. I'm over 240 posts in and I'm still not sure what it's all about. I complain about my home, ramble endlessly about music, and write about life in general. I guess it makes sense. To date, this is also my most popular blog. When I post, my numbers go up. When I post something really good, they really go up. (Although, I suspect a drop with this run-on of a mess.) This may be my pride and joy. I even have a few items at CafePress, not to mention a whole store at CP.

Mr. E. - This blog has now been started three times. It was originally on Edublogs, but they were going through some transitions and I grew impatient before bolting to the friendly confines of Blogger. The resulting blog was supposed to be a way for me to give my thoughts on my work in education, but it soon spiraled out of control as I walked a thin line between personal and professional feelings. The general tone and feel of the blog was way more negative than originally intended, so I deleted it. Although the original version still exists over on Edublogs, I have once again revived Mr. E. on Blogger. Now, my hope is to post weekly on an educational topic that's on my mind. This time it will be constructive and not cross lines of professionalism.

Suppl_eMINTS - Keeping with the educational blogs, I post periodically on topics and resources I think can help the teachers I train. This blog will really only interest those in education, but I invite everyone to check it out. Again, my new goal is to post weekly, which should be easier with the summer months approaching.

I can't sing it strong enough. - I discovered My Impression Now after reading about it on fellow Guided by Voices fanatic John Sellers' blog, Angry John Sellers. The idea of writing an interpretation for every GBV song stuck with me. It was ingenious. I wondered if anyone had started a similar blog about Pavement. After extensive research (aka a Google search), I discovered that no one had yet started an oeuvre blog for my favorite band. So, ICSISE was born. Again, this blog needs some posts. I've barely made a dent into Pavement's discography in comparison to other similar blogs, but I'm determined to post one a week until I'm through. I wonder which song I should interpret next...

Anecdotal - I noticed that I was spending too much time reminiscing about back in the day at all the rock clubs and such of my youth. This didn't jive with the "now" aspect of lim. So, Anecdotal was born. This has been the most fun blog to write. The posts are either too brief or too rambling, but that's how my memory works. Sometimes I run out of good stories, but I think that a weekly rehash of my indie rock lifestyle would stir up some good stories I've forgotten.

Besides the blogs I write on my own, I also contribute to several collaborative efforts. MMEET (or as I pronounce it, "mmmmmmmmeet") stands for Mizzou Men for Excellence in Elementary Teaching...or something like that. Our group is primarily made up of area elementary school teachers who happen to be male. The funny thing is that maybe two of us are actually teachers in elementary schools. The rest of us are either attending MU in order to teach, teach other grade levels, or are grad students. It's a hodgepodge of guys, but we are all interested in how gender affects teaching.

Digital Vittles may be the first blog that I knew the people who were posting. It's a foodie blog based out of Columbus, but has since spread due to so many of us getting jobs in other locales. When I say that it's a "foodie blog", what I mean is that we write about all things edible. There are restaurant reviews, recipes, shopping highlights, and general food-related discourse.

Famille à la Maison (or Family Home, I believe) was my attempt to bring my family into the 21st century. It has worked to some degree with my mom occasionally posting, but I have been the biggest contributor. Someday, I'll get them all to post something...maybe.

The final blog is dieta estúpida (stupid diet). This blog was started by my blogging friends Lovey and Pizza Cottontail. They and their friends were struggling with their waistlines and decided to support each other with a blog. What resulted is sometimes humorous, sometimes disgusting, but always self-affirming. I have never struggled with my weight until I started aging, became less active, and have suffered from too much stress...and probably drank too much beer. So, to struggle in a group of like-minded individuals has been great. Now, if we could all get back to blogging so that the weight loss can continue...

Why do I blog so much? Well, I suppose it's out of loneliness, but I prefer to see it as a way for me to make my own community where there is little. Sure, we have friends in COMO. I have made several new connections in recent weeks. The only problem is that I'm not around these people all the time. Additionally, my job has me isolated in my home office or on the road. I need more community, and the blogoshpere is giving me that community.

As part of my community, you should feel free to read the other blogs and leave some comments. You may also want to keep an eye out for the blog I will undoubtedly publish about my kid. I will try to keep up with all these blogs as best I can. Of course, living in misery will always be updated. I mean, it's the state I'm in.

Built to Jam

What is it with aging indie rockers and their incessant need to jam? I have always been aware of the jam possibilities when electric guitars are put in the hands of creative, artistic people, but sometimes the jamming can go too far. I've even been blown away by ten-minute flourishes out of what is a three-minute song on record now and again, but enough is enough.

First there was the Stephen Malkmus album. You may recall that I gave the record a rather unsavory review (well, it wasn't that harsh) recently. SM's Real Emotional Trash is riddled with classic-rock style solos and ten-minute opuses. This is coming from a man whose first band didn't practice, live in the same city, and rarely finished a song much less turn it into "Freebird".

Then, there was the show last night at the Blue Note. One of my other indie rock heroes, Doug Martsch, brought his army of guitarists to the stage. The set started off well enough. He mixed the old with the new and rarely veered too far from the songs' original structures. It was pretty business-like and was absent the Reggae vibe in their last show at the Note.

Martsch was never much of a showman and last night didn't change my opinion. I will say though that his personality comes out more in a small club, not a venue as large as the Blue Note. He mostly played through the set in a straightforward manner, pausing periodically to tune, thank the openers, and grab a drink of water.

What he does do, though, is play a mean guitar. He is maybe the only true guitar hero of the indie world, even if he is unassuming and somewhat shy onstage. He doesn't toss the guitar in the air or do bicycle kicks, but he plays the instrument like few other musicians can.

But with the good comes the bad.

I remember being pleasantly surprised that Built to Spill hadn't really gone into any extended jams through the entire set. Then, it happened. Without warning, the encore turned into a 15-minute-and-running, feedback-happy test of my patience. (I only wrote that the song lasted 15 minutes because I didn't stay to hear the end.) The song was so long that I had forgotten what it was when it started. This jam didn't ruin the night for me, but it did put a damper on the experience.

Why do aging indie rockers have to jam? Do they all have a little Jerry Garcia sitting on one shoulder urging them to extend the song into tomorrow? Conversely, is there a little Bob Pollard telling musicians to stop the song and get on with the next?

Indie rock evolving into jam sessions only sullies the genre's reputation. The ten-minute guitar solo represents the excess indie rock has always strived to stamp out. DIY doesn't stand for "Done In a Year". Let's get back to the perfect two-minute songs of Minutemen and Guided by Voices. Let's get economical and cram twenty-four songs on a thirty-minute LP. Aging indie rockers, you know you want to.

Other than my crabbiness over a concert-ending jam, the show was a nice diversion from my misery over tOSU not making the NCAA. The first band whose name escapes me (That long encore did a number on me.) was passable and played a concise yet effective set. Really old indie rockers Meat Puppets played all the songs I knew from their days following Nirvana around, hoping for some scraps. And I discovered that my new earplugs are the greatest inventions ever. I could clearly hear the music and not have to deal with ringing directly after the show.

Signs I'm Getting Old

I recently celebrated my 33rd birthday, but that doesn't make me feel old. 2008 will bring my 15th high school reunion, but that doesn't make me feel old. I'll be a dad in six months, but even that doesn't make me feel old.

What makes me feel old is the thing that I thought made me forever young. The thing that I either knew about more than anyone in the room (or at least hold my own in conversation) was music. Of course, I'm primarily talking about indie rock. I long ago gave up on popular music, but independent rock was my thing. It kept me ahead of the curve. It was underground. It was cool. And I knew everything there was to know about it.

I remember seeing Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, Built to Spill, among others in small clubs before hardly anyone knew who they were. I witnessed the last shows for both The Afghan Whigs and Pavement (US show). My count on Guided By Voices shows is in the double-digits.

My point is that I used to be in the know when it came to indie rock.

Now, the scene is passing me by. I realize that I don't attend the same number of shows as I used to or am up on the next "it" band, but the whole thing has just left me behind.

I began to notice my lagging music fandom when, at a party, this acquaintance was saddened that the only upcoming release he was interested in was the new Breeders' record. Instead of thinking, "Yeah, that's kinda sad." I was thinking, "The Breeders have recorded a new album? Awesome!"

Another way that I judge my music coolness ratio is by checking out all the year-end lists on magazines, both print and digital alike. Pitchfork is often looked at as a bastion of indie rock hipness. Their list only faintly resembled mine. There is no electorprog (Battles, LCD Soundsystem), world beats (MIA), or Athens-based psychedelia (Animal Collective, Of Montreal, Panda Bear) to be found on my top-31 records of 2007. Not only do the lists not match, but when we do have similar picks, I rank them low (Radiohead at #28) and Pitchfork rates them high (#4) or vice versa.

The print media hasn't been much friendlier to my hipness. Magnet Magazine, the one publication I've deemed worthy of a subscription has let me down. I always appreciated Magnet's 90's-centered coverage of indie music. They love alt-country, Guided By Voices, and lo-fi, just like me. Then came their year-end list. I couldn't have been more let down. I was flipping through their list. I only had one pick in common in the first ten (Okkervil River). Then, I was excited to read that Spoon was #3 (my #2) and The New Pornographers were #2 (my # 11). I was thinking about which of my picks could be #1. The Arcade Fire? Beirut? Feist? Who was #1? Ween. That's right. Dean and Gene Ween topped the best-of-2007 list of my favorite music rag. They didn't even make my 31. They'll never make my top anything list.

The article starts like this:

If you're reading Magnet, you probably agree that there's no such thing as a bad Ween album.

Except that I read Magnet and I think all of the Ween albums suck. Not even my lone beacon in the indie universe could support my music hipness ratio. I've been distraught ever since.

I thought that these events would cause me to never want another 7-inch or Merge newsletter again. Then I thought that maybe the entire indie rock universe is wrong, and I'm right. Maybe I've awoken in an alternate universe of alternative rock. I'm on Oceanic Flight 815, trapped in a place where time is altered and puffs of black smoke come out of nowhere to kill off all the best characters. And all I can think of is "How does Hurley keep his batteries charged so that he can keep listening to the cracked-hippie band, Gomez?"

The one comforting I've found was reported in Pitchfork yesterday (or today, depending on when this post is dated). It's here. And if you can make sense of it, then you know more than me.