How Do I Know What I Think Until I See What I Say?

Train is one of those bands that I forget about until they release some song that I just love, which I then play to death until I'm sick of it and stop playing it and then I forget about them until the next time. I don't know why they are one of those bands, but they are. Like, I loved "Calling All Angels" and I loved "Drops of Jupiter" and I loved "Meet Virginia"*, but I have never purchased a Train album. Odd. But anyway, the thing I originally liked about their latest single "Hey, Soul Sister" was the easy feeling it had about it. It's a goodtime song, almost a summer song, which the world needs more of in the middle of January, frankly. But then I started listening to the lyrics and realized several things: 1. there is a shout out to Mr. Mister in the chorus.** If you don't know who Mr. Mister is, this will help: 2. Although the evidence is not as strong as in the Mr. Mister instance, I'm pretty sure that there are sho...

Here's one of the many things I learned from fan fiction: you cannot predict what will be popular. Let me say that again. You cannot predict what will be popular. In fan fiction, things are popular for a variety of reasons. The characters or romantic pairings they feature, the shows they are about, the quality of the writing, the explicitness of the sex scenes, the originality of the idea, the experimental nature of the form, pre-existing popularity of the author...any of these (or a hundred other things) can dictate whether a story becomes a major story in a particular fan universe or not. Bad stories* become hits all the time over in the fan universe. It's one of the reasons outsiders make fun of fan fiction. As a result of this lesson that I learned, I learned something else, a corollary, if you will: if you write for the audience, you lose. That's right -- If you write for the audience, you lose. I don't mean by this that you shouldn't care about your reade...

1. Working from home (which I had to do two days last week due to snow) is not really as fun as it sounds like it should be. Sure, you're at home, and yes, you're wearing pajamas, but you're still working . 2. On Bravo, they've reached the episodes of "The West Wing" after Rob Lowe leaves and, just like the first time around, I am losing interest. I think it's because I don't find the character of Josh Lyman (played by Bradley Whitford) as engaging as everyone else does. Sam (Rob Lowe's character) is sort of the sweet gooey center of the West Wing staff on the show, the nice guy, the doll, and when he leaves, there's no real replacement for him, so the cast becomes a series of wise-cracking asses none of whom I find charming.* 3. Speaking of Rob Lowe, this weekend I watched the complete novel version of The Outsiders . Then I had to read the book. Then it was three in the morning and I had to go to bed. God bless you, S.E. Hinton. For ...

All of my books or stories have always had soundtracks. Always. Even when I was a kid, writing fan fiction about my favorite band (although we didn't have the Internet back then, so I didn't know that's what I was doing*), my stories were all associated with specific songs or albums. And when I write my own stuff (that is, not fan fiction), I make my own soundtracks.** But the funny thing is, I can't listen to music when I write. It distracts me. Even classical music. I'm not one of those people who has to have absolute quiet when I write--noise in general doesn't bother me. I can write in a Starbucks***, in a classroom, in the middle of an airport with those stupid baggage announcements every five seconds, but I cannot have music on for myself. Perhaps it's because I really enjoy my music and listen to it closely.**** So when it's on, especially if a favorite song of mine comes on the iPod, I have to pause and listen. Or when a song doesn'...

1. I saw "Harold and Kumar Went To White Castle" this weekend. It's not really my kind of movie, but it was mildly amusing and the scene where they sing "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips? Totally worth the price of admission.* 2. This? This is an awesome video: The United States of Pop 2009, by DJ Earworm. 3. Janet Reid has this to say: The Perfect Time Is Now . 4. I don't mind winter so much,** but I hate it when my feet are cold. Seriously. I will go to any extreme to avoid cold feet. 5. Happy 2010! ~~~ * I got it on Netflix, so there wasn't admission. But you get the point. ** This is true. I spent four years in New Mexico, where there really isn't winter, per se (we would sunbathe in February, no joke) and I really missed winter. I don't mind shoveling snow, or driving in it, and I love winter clothes. And cocoa, of course. So winter's all right with me.

1. Heh. Carrie Ryan, in addition to being the author of a kickass post-apocalyptic story ( The Forest of Hands and Teeth -- what a title, right?), also has a great post here about what should and should not be in books written for children. 2. Elmo is still awesome. Really awesome. And red. ZOOM ZOOM! 3. Editorial Ass has a nice post about when to take someone else's advice on your writing. Long story short: it depends. But she gives some good general guidance. The most recent piece of advice I'm listening to is the advice I heard last week that my male main character is coming across as too much of a coward. Duly noted, Twinsburg. Duly noted. :) 4. I was fully prepared to dislike the show The Sing-Off. It was billed as the awful mutant baby of American Idol (which I hate) and Glee (which I love), like the Alien Baby in Alien 4*. But it's actually more like America's Best Dance Crew , but with singing. One of the things that's nice about it, l...

As I mentioned on Monday, Elmo gets six months of free satellite radio. And one of the most awesome channels on the free satellite radio is called First Wave, which is classic alternative music.* They play a lot of The Smiths and The Cure and many other bands that start with "The" (and also Duran Duran), along with a bunch of other songs from bands that were, like, one hit wonders. And this week, I heard "Pure" by The Lightning Seeds.** Here it is: This song is the epitome of new wave 80s alternative music. It sounds like Alphaville and the Pet Shop Boys and The Cure and OMD and every song from a John Hughes soundtrack ever. In other words, this song RULES. I have a number of stories I could tell to narrate this song, but they're really all about longing and skater boys and dances, and they're probably best channeled into the stuff I write so that you can subject yourself to them voluntarily rather than being forced to endure them here in public. Let...