Code Words

I would love to know who chooses the security words you have to type in to post on Craigslist. This week alone I've had "the barnacles," "labor romaine" and "pizza coke." Normally I would say it was a randomized process but of course the last one brings to mind some hunched over secretary plotting his run to the cafeteria on hot lunch day.

It would be funny if the words actually meant something, like a secret code to let you know that your post will be hacked in the next 5 hours or that someone is currently and inconspicuously breathing down your neck.

If I were in charge, I would write things like "If You Seek Amy" and "Hid En Massage." And of course set them for the "adult services" section.

Thorns

Why is it that whenever I get more and more brilliant ideas I find it hard to finally sit down and DO something about any of them? I currently have 6 post-its with things to do and no matter how many I cross off I just can't seem to start the ones that need the most attention.

I think I got it backwards in study skills - they told me to take care of the "big rocks" first and then do the little ones. But I figured that the more little things I finished the more productive I'd feel and then could devote the rest of my time to that big thing looming over my head. Not so.

It's unfortunate because the big things were the ones I was most excited about when I thought of them and now they have slowly evolved to thorns in my side.

Suggestions? Sympathy? Feel free to comment or commiserate.

Keeping up my Poker Face

Awesome show at the Varsity Club last weekend.

The new songs went over well - I think we'll keep them. Poker Face = brilliant.

Attempting to put up some videos from our performance on Facebook this week. For something that sounds so easy, it's actually more complicated than I thought! Maybe it will go viral by June and become a YouTube sensation.

I love that people can go to bar and just let loose and have crazy dance parties to their favorite Top 40s. Reading the crowd is fairly easy when they participate. I want to get up close and personal and hear their requests and interact and let them know that I do this for me AND for them. Yes, I am a bit of an attention hog but mostly I just enjoy being part of a great experience and knowing that I'm contributing to someone's weekend.

Do I have plans to make it big? I don't know. The idea has certainly crossed my mind in past years as I was making my ten-year life plan, but now I'm taking things as they come and it's not so bad, this spontaneity thing. Ideally, I'll be able to keep doing what I love until I'm physically incapable or someone rips out my vocal chords, and whether I'm onstage at the Tweeter Center or rocking a basement house party, it's the same rush.

Cupcakes and Coming Attractions

Really, reeaalllyy excited for a gig at the local Quincy/Braintree hang-out tomorrow night.
We're debuting four new songs and a little surprise (if you are wondering how a band can have surprises beyond new songs, keep your eyes on our FB page and hopefully I will have a video documenting the big event shortly!)

Check out Not Exactly on our Facebook page.

Also, I'm glad that cupcakes can be a great source of entertainment and community bonding. Especially cupcakes branded with the band's name and logo. And especially cupcakes that end up as a topic of questionable conversation later on FB. Hmm. Maybe next time I will bring something safer, like pretzels. Oh no, that doesn't work either.

Solo or Banded Together?

I wonder if it is better to be surrounded by people that are like you or to be the one that stands out.

If I am labeled "creative," then is it beneficial to be around other "creatives" and revel in all of our creativeness and discuss it and break it down and perhaps not use it, or to be the one colored zebra that stands solo and because there is no other outlet is forced to continually produce things that satisfy the craving for creativity.

Wow, that was a mouthful.

But seriously. Creating something with someone else is only useful if you both contribute to the final product and share equally in the experience, no? If I co-write a song but the other person doesn't actually do anything, then it's still only my song, which would have been the same as writing on my own minus the frustration.

I will work on my synergy in the future.

You Need a Gimmick.

But do you really?

What do we value most - greatness and quality or bloated attention-grabbing stuff?

Take, for example, local bands. When a great band comes into existence, they have to work hard to get the coveted spots in the best bars and music hot-spots. They have to be experienced musicians, ready to roll with every punch, letting the high notes shine and the last notes ring, and they have to make it all look effortless. This is not a gimmick, this is talent and dedication.
And yet sometimes it is still not enough.

When you see YouTube stars and fading one-hit-wonders (William Hung, Tila Tequila...) you have to wonder whether we are fascinated by the quick rise of someone who is bound to eventually fall and fall hard, or those that find the mountains, climb them, and STICK at the top.

I'd like to say proudly that we encourage the latter. But the stubborn persistance of reality tv (ok, I love Top Model like anyone else, but The Cougar??) and Ripley's-style breaking news brings doubts. The poor recipient of America's first face transplant doesn't know she's a victim of the car-crash syndrome. I bet 90% of working-class citizens walking out their door yesterday morning did a perfectly executed pivot turn to stare at her before-and-afters.

Which is more gratifying? Five seconds of online fame or five years of respect? And what about the people that don't ask for their five seconds and are forever remembered for them?

The bar has officially been lowered.

Lateral Thinking

I love when things connect.

I had a teacher in high school who used to point this out to us but I never payed attention.

You know how when you buy a new car, suddenly you start to see it everywhere?
That's what I mean. When you think about something often enough or hard enough, suddenly the parallels to other things pop up all over!

It's an interesting phenomenon that I'm sure plenty of people have written about but I'm just now discovering.

Want to make a connection? Drop me a line in the comment box!