Wednesday is my day off from retail work, which makes it my designated day to record my parts for each week's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio and to try to get around to doing whatever else needs doing. I always run out out of Wednesday before I run out of Wednesday things to do.
I didn't want to get out of bed. I felt even lazier than usual--not so much tired as...disinterested? That's not exactly it either. It wasn't depression or apathy or anything of similar note. Just an aura of oomphlessness. Didn't wanna get out of bed.
Nonetheless: Twenty minutes to nine. Legs kicked out from prone position, swung out to my right for momentum, arise, arise, the form of man, feet on the floor, eyes on the looming whatever. Up 'n' at 'em, Atom Ant!
Truth be told, I did enjoy a beer before bed on Tuesday evening, a refreshing tool to quench thirst, counteract warmer-than-preferred climate, battle the enemy ennui, and possibly build stronger bones and teeth. That last claim is questionable. Maybe the one Tuesday evening beer was enough to establish a bit o' Wednesday morning state of the sluggish. My younger self would be so disappointed with me.
My first task each Wednesday morning is to update my bank accounts and pay a bill or two online. Then I decide what else needs doing in what order. Mow the lawn? With the ol' oomph reserve already lacking and the promise of warmer temps threatening to annex my sovereign airspace, I figured that could wait til next week. It'll be all right! Best address the radio show instead.
As usual, Dana and I set the week's playlist over the phone on Tuesday. I'm always bummed by how much great stuff we have to leave out of the show for time constraints. That was exacerbated this week by the arrival of some longer-than-ideal individual tracks that happened to be irresistible longer-than-ideal individual tracks. I mean, five minutes is about twice the length of a radio-ready single, but the new five-minute single by Cast featuring P. P. Arnold--P. P. ARNOLD!!!--could not be denied. Choices were made. We'll have another three hours to fill the following Sunday.
It's proven to be a good idea for me to annotate the track credits before recording my parts of the radio show. This feels like a more leisurely process than rushing to get everything in order on Saturday, plus it gives me time to get comfortable with the playlist before attempting to execute it. With all of that settled into place, my coffee and I recorded the show's spoken bits with relative efficiency. I was hampered by tech issues that delayed the process, but the show was done by noon. Off to Dana it went.
Some low-level tidying. A shower. My weekly trip to Comix Zone. Back home by 2:00 or 2:30, armed with a knuckleheaded determination to ignore the oppression of the mercury's 88-degree reading, I decided to mow the freakin' lawn. Yechh, but target acquired, mission accomplished, and ¡Jesus Marimba!, I needed another shower stat. Brenda arrived home from work, and I realized I hadn't gotten around to eating anything all day but some chips and salsa a few hours back. Oops. We went out to grab some dinner before going grocery shopping. Back home, a load of laundry done while we watched some TV and enjoyed some popsicles. When Brenda went to bed, I took my third shower of the day and returned to the computer for some final Wednesday work.
As I write this, I'm listening to two absolutely terrific forthcoming albums I'd planned to write about today. I did manage to jot down a few thoughts about each of them, and I shared these initial observations with the respective record labels. I'm not directly involved with either record, but I was asked to give feedback to the relevant parties, and I'm pleased and honored to do so. I can't wait to tell you about these two flat-out fantastic October releases, and I can guarantee you they're gonna get significant airtime on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio.
But now, I'm nearly out of Wednesday. That, I fear, is the nature of my Wednesdays. To be continued, right? I'll keep on continuing for as long as my Wednesdays continue, too.
My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. You can read about our history here.
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