This week's Wednesday

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.

Hi, Wednesday...what? Oh, so sorry Tuesday! I must have misdialed.

Got up early, for no real reason. Out of bed just a little bit past 6:30, sorted my weekly banking and bill-paying, then grabbed my pipin' hot mug of Folgers Classic Roast and a peanut-flavored Sweet-N-Salty Nut Bar. I'm usually not hungry until later in the morning, but the belly wants what (and when) the belly wants. Peanut buttery treat dispatched, my mug o' java accompanied me back upstairs to my office. I updated some retail job-related work to facilitate the desired outcome of, y'know, getting paid. It took a short while to get through all of that, but once it was done, I think I was able to start addressing the radio show by 8:00 or so.

As noted in recent editions of This Week's Wednesday, I've taken to annotating the track credits for each week's playlist on Wednesday mornings, before trying to start recording the show itself. This week, I actually had about half of the annotation done before going to bed on Tuesday night, and finished the rest of it in fairly short order on Wednesday.

I'm a BIG fan of our This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio playlists, and this week's was no exception. The additional alchemy of having track selections carried out by two people instead of just one enhances the process and the result, bringing a certain zip that a single programmer would be hard-pressed to match. I believe it creates a compelling rockin' pop radio show, and I further believe it accomplishes that every week without fail. Both Dana and I are well capable of putting together a dynamite playlist on our own, but our solo efforts would not be the equal of the collaborative mojo that is TIRnRR.

I was able to record the show very quickly. Hell, I was about done with the back announcements by 9:40 or thereabouts, right as my neighbor started mowing his lawn. I usually don't start recording until after that. The show ran long (yeah, again), so I had to swap out the post-tag encore song by the Peppermint Kicks and sub in something even shorter. I'll make amends by recommending that you buy the Peppermint Kicks' ace new album Pop Rocks In My Chewing Gum....NOW!!!

A finished recording isn't quite the same as a finished show, nor even a finished my part of the show. But tech issues in gathering and transferring the files to Dana were minimal and way less frustrating than usual, possibly due to me using Safari rather than Chrome to get stuff from A to B. It was in Dana's Dropbox by 10:25.

Time for breakfast! Warm bagel with peanut butter and honey. I love peanut butter almost as much as my wife Brenda hates it. Many years back, when an anaphylactic reaction to some shrimp led me to urgent care and the seemingly logical conclusion that I was probably allergic to shellfish, I joked that at least I wasn't allergic to peanut butter. Or Coca-Cola! (It turned out I wasn't allergic to shellfish either; just allergic to Red Lobster.)

By this time, the temp outside had climbed to 80ish, but I figured I'd mow the lawn anyway. It took about an hour to properly run my lawn mower, weed trimmer, and leaf blower through their appointed rounds. The process of neatening the grounds was followed by the urgent wish for a shower. I then sorted laundry for later, and headed out to the bank and to Comix Zone.

Didn't check Wednesday's weather forecast at all, so I was surprised by the rain and lightning cascading from the heavens while I was at the bank. Awright, now I was glad I'd mowed the lawn. I tell ya, the volume of jagged electrical bolts in the sky convinced me that Billy Batson and his entire family must be in Central New York yelling out SHAZAM! at will. Banking complete, new funnybooks acquired (amidst a pleasant chat with Mike at Comix Zone about the sheer wonder of the new Superman movie), I returned home to start the laundry.

When Brenda got home, I took her out for a luxurious meal at...well, Chipotle (we were in the mood for it), and then we stopped at Target for a this, a that, and like that. We caught up on some family and friends communications, got another load of laundry done, and enjoyed ice cream sandwiches while watching television.

After Brenda went to bed, I returned to one of the small projects I didn't get around to doing last week, and this time emerged with a complete first draft. That would be more of an accomplishment if it weren't a six-paragraph project. I tire so easily. But I've already heard back from the relevant record label, and it's been declared perfectly decent. Still needs a once-over, I say, but it's basically done. 

And so am I. Another retail work day awaits on Thursday. Another Wednesday will come in its usual time slot next week. Same Boppin' time! Same Boppin' blog.

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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.