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.

There were a couple of commitments today, one scheduled at 11:00 am and the other at 4:00 pm. I woke up way too early, but stayed in bed and managed to doze and fall back to sleep. When I got up around 8:15, I felt far more rested than I would have if I'd risen two hours before.

Communion with my morning coffee is a nearly religious experience. Sins are forgiven. Penance is achieved. Whatever fulfilling or discouraging path the day chooses to travel thereafter, the trek begins with the blessing and benediction of my 20-ounce travel mug full of hot coffee, two creams, two Sweet-N-Low. It ain't coffee if it ain't hot. Brenda joined me for a quick breakfast of pistachio muffins. I had time to settle my weekly banking before we left the house at 10:15. 

There are three sure things in life: Death, taxes, and road construction throughout Central New York. We'd given ourselves forty-five minutes for a commute that should normally take less than twenty-five minutes. We made it to our appointment on time, but with little elbow room to spare.

On our way back home, we stopped at Comix Zone, where I loaded up on the latest issues of Action Comics and Ancestral Recall, plus the debut issues of Amazing Spider-Man Torn, DC K.O., and Harley Quinn X Elvira. I started work on the radio show around 1:00.

I had finalized and annotated the playlist Tuesday night, based on the weekly planning call with Dana. Changes from phone call to implementation were minimal--reducing the next-to-last set from eight tracks to six tracks, and swapping one Vibeke Saugestad Band track for another VSB gem in the final set--both moves necessary to fit the show within its three-hour slot. The recording process ran without incident, my at-home session bookending a lunch-break date with Brenda for Buffalo chicken sausage sandwiches. 

The show was finished just in time to send to Dana before Brenda had to prep for a 4:00 phone call. The call itself accomplished its goal in less time than we'd allotted for it, so Brenda and I went out to get groceries. We needed to make purchases at two different stores, so we started with bulk items at BJ's, made a quick stop home to stash those purchases before grabbing a (disappointing) dinner at Chipotle, and then we hit up Wegmans to clear the remainder of our grocery list. While at Wegmans, I received a message from Dana that the file for a Real Kids track I'd picked for airplay was unusable; I corrected that upon my return to stately Cafarelli Manor.

By then it was already early evening. Brenda and I watched a little bit of TV--Bridge Street and Jeopardy!--before calling day's end.

Before bed, I took a little time to tweak a couple of blog pieces and review some current and near-future projects. I have resumed work on my book about the Flashcubes. Make Something Happen! The DIY Story Of A Power Pop Band Called THE FLASHCUBES was originally intended for Summer 2025 publication, but the amount of work it needs could not coexist with the amount of work necessary to complete the recently-released compilation album Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. The book and the album were originally conceived as companion projects to be released at roughly the same time; that was a fantasy, and the audio project seemed the more immediate priority. 

The Flashcubes book will be an oral history of the band, and I conducted some of the initial interviews over, I dunno, the past year and a half. Transcribing interviews is drudgery, and it remains drudgery even with the use of transcription software. Over the weekend, I thought of an effective shortcut I could try, an obvious approach that should have occurred to me a lot sooner, and which streamlines the process without compromising its accuracy. On Sunday, I pulled up the transcript of my interview with 'Cubes guitarist Arty Lenin, and tried the new approach to edit the interview's first few pages. I declare the experiment a success, and I'm moving the Flashcubes book back to active and ongoing status. 

Make Something Happen! is one of at least two books I intend to publish in 2026. If that's fantasy, at least it's a plausible fantasy. The other book is my short story collection Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies. Writing fiction is not the same exercise as writing stuff that I'm (presumably) not just making up outright. I do think I can get both of those books completed for publication in '26.

After those two, my next major project carries a working title I, [Redacted] [Redacted], and it's a potentially fascinating collaboration with another creator. This will be unlike anything I've ever attempted. It's an exciting prospect, and it could connect with an audience beyond anyone I've reached in my past work. (Not necessarily a larger audience, mind you--let's not get crazy.) I only hope my inability to squeeze it into my dilettante schedule until deep into 2026 doesn't cause my collaborator to lose patience and dismiss me in favor of another co-writer. I would totally understand if that happens...but man, I would be bummed. I really hope I get to see this one through.

Me doing research for a future book

After those three books, I can finally look to what's on the back burner: The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 2) (probably not before 2027) and two novels, Meet The Frantiks! and The Copperhead Kid (or whatever title I settle on using). Meet The Frantiks! will require me to write lyrics for a bunch of make-believe rock songs, but that's fun.

Hell, writing in general is fun. I once joked that writing is the easiest hard work I've ever done. Even when I said that, I knew it wasn't really a joke. Writing's what I do, even if it is just a sideline for the retail work that pays the bills and funds my clandestine war on crime. Dorothy Parker said something to the effect that she hated writing but loved having written. I love both parts of the process. 

That process renews on next week's Wednesday.

If you like what you see here on Boppin' (Like The Hip Folks Do), please consider a visit to CC's Tip Jar. You can also become a Boppin' booster on my Patreon page.

I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. 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.