DAVE GROHL, THE FOO FIGHTERS, SONIC HIGHWAYS AND THE DREAMWORLD WAVE

"What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
     - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Dare to dream big dreams. You're worthy of greatness. You're capable of greatness."
     - Ralph Marston
                   
"Save some time to dream, 'cause your dream might save us all."
     - John Mellencamp

A few facts before we "paddle out" to our wave.

First, the great songwriters and performers Dave Grohl and the other members of the Foo Fighters, have a special series on HBO that has been fantastic. If you aren't watching it, then I encourage you to find it and start watching. It's  a great exploration of the American Musical Landscape. It's called "Sonic Highways".

Each episode is a journey by Dave and the Foo Fighters in a great American musical city. A few weeks ago they did an episode on my home town of Austin, Texas. I was a bit afraid the true spirit of the City might not come through, but I think they did an amazing job. I loved it.

The thing is, it was the episode on Nashville that most surprised me. I honestly expected to be lukewarm about it. My expectations couldn't have been further from the experience I had with them there. We'll get to more on that in a moment.

The next bit of information you need to understand is that I do not drink much or often (in spite of all my talk about wine, beer and scotch). My talk is largely jest. I am also the anti-drug and always have been - lest anyone think I was drunk, or otherwise intoxicated during this, or any similar experience.

Yet, I have a euphoric creative experience from time to time that feels as if I'm under the influence of something - it's a real high, a strong euphoria. I can stoke it myself, or it can come to me unbidden, and unexpected.

My metaphor for that experience is the title of this blog - the Dreamworld Wave. What is paradoxical about this metaphor is that I have a severe phobia of deep water. It takes all I have, and a lot of specific prep, for me to get on a boat and go out on an enclosed, or semi-enclosed body of water - like Lake Travis near where I live, or San Francisco Bay. I do not go swimming (I can swim, and swim well in water where I can stand, but why bother?). I would never go out on a boat on the ocean.

Yeah.

It's that bad - and I've had help with it or I couldn't get on a ferry in San Francisco or a boat in our own Lake Travis.

Yet, my metaphor for my euphoric creative experience is surfing a big wave. Even the psycho-analysis of that paradox leads to a Dreamworld Wave. :)

We're about to paddle out and hop on another wave. Hang on and hang a Writer's Ten with me.

I enjoyed Mr. Grohl and the Foo Fighters before this "Sonic Highways" series, but the series really woke me up to just how talented they all are, and expanded my admiration of them as wonderful songwriters.

In each city on the series, they explore its musical history and some of its most notable musicians - living and departed. The living are interviewed and contribute various stories during the episode, which also includes archival photos and wonderful clips of performances by many great musicians who perform in the genre of the subject city. During this week-long stay in each location, Dave is collecting bits of information which will inform the lyrics he will write for the song in that city. The song is performed at the end of the episode.

I found myself spellbound during the Nashville episode, as I did not expect to be. Then at the end the Foo Fighters queued up the song they had written - a song called "Congregation". As lyrics from the song flashed across the screen in white hand lettering, the culmination of the episode was clear. Mr. Grohl, in his brilliance as a lyricist, had created with the other members of the Foo Fighters a cohesive musical work that encapsulated all of the crucial bits of the interviews, performances, occurrences and other input from their week in Nashville. Their discovery.

I found myself mesmerized and then more. Immersed in the creative inspiration from all those great musicians, and letting it wash over me, I began to open my mind.

Paddling out as all of this unfolded I am unaware of any building wave. I'm not even thinking of my paddling, much less of a Dreamworld Wave. The song ends and as the last chord fades, cut to:

black screen with white titles.

The episode is over.

Wow.

I say it out loud and freeze the DVR.

Sitting there in silence a moment, and then...

I realize the wave is building behind me and I jump on as it crests. The wave curls and I ride the tube as long as I can until the wave crashes and me with it. I tumble under the water of all the ideas in my mind and right myself, to come to the surface with my head full of solutions to a story I had been working on for a future book.

I grab a piece of paper and begin making notes furiously - the euphoria hanging on as I solve one of the major problems with that work. It is a game changer.

Break. Through.

Fear-facing Wave Beauty.

Metaphorical, yet real Euphoria.

You can ride a Dreamworld Wave. All you have to do is paddle out and hop on. It's about letting go of all the stuff on your mind, immersing yourself in something brilliant and creative - like the music of the Foo Fighters on their Sonic Highways journey. Then as you drift along with that incredible music - or whatever great creative thing you choose, you can catch that wave - the "wave" of something that you love, something for which you have a true passion. Let it take you to a place where your mind leaves the stresses of everyday life and embraces the joy of the moment - the joy of something that has real meaning for you.

Embrace your dreams and go with them. Ride the Dreamworld Wave!

Polla Filia,
J.F.

P.S. - I highly recommend the Foo Fighters new album "Sonic Highways" which you can download or buy in CD or vinyl from your favorite retailer. In any event, you need to hear the song "Congregation".

SOLITARY

In case you’ve ever wondered, this whole writing novels thing isn’t for sissies. It’s hours of time in solitary, scratching away on a notepad with a pencil or pen, banging away on the keyboard of a computer, agonizing over some damn scene that will not cooperate, pacing around the house trying to get your blood flowing again, only to sit down and go back to the same agony in hopes that you have a breakthrough, and the thing begins to move better (which it does - eventually).

Then there are the dreams (as in the ones you have while sleeping) - the ones that solve some writing problem, and the ones that replay your agony in your sleep. I like the first kind - surprise, surprise.

I am, as if you couldn’t tell, in the depths of writing agony right now. It won’t last and I know that. I’m an old hand at this. I just wish to hell it would shorten its run. I’m ready for the light at the end of this particular tunnel.

I was published once before and it worked out okay (from a sales perspective), but then some bad things happened in my personal life (involving the death of my mother) and some other bad things happened with my then agent (which actually only came about because of the break I took because of my mother’s illness and death).

So, here I am, in the desert once again, agent-less.

Make no mistake, the agent-less status is my doing - I let my old agent go.

No, you don’t do that because you had a bad day. You don’t even do that because you think you got a slightly bad deal on the last book. Not even.

You only do that, ever, as the absolute, last resort of all last resorts. You only do that after you have thought everything through rationally, reasonably, patiently, weighing all your options - while you’re sober. You only do that when you’ve tried everything and nothing else works. You only do that when not having an agent will be no worse than having your current one. That’s the *only* time you ever do that. So, don’t do that unless *all* of the above has occurred to you.

Why?

Because agents are too hard to get.

No, it is not easier to get an agent once you’ve been published. It just isn’t.

Is.

Not.

So, for all the aspiring writers out there, don’t delude yourselves into thinking that the previously published have some easier deal than you. Unless your name is something like John Grisham, Nora Roberts or Janet Evanovich (or others in the same galaxy of stars). If you live in that galaxy, then and only then can you call your own shots; but, it isn’t easier for the rest of us.

So, I must finish this manuscript first and foremost, and it must be wonderful (and it will be, by God). Then I will go out and query and do my best to find that agent who loves my work.

Before you Google the name on this blog - no, I was not published under this name before, and I’m not telling you what that name was. I’m not telling because I left that behind me. I’m writing something different now and it doesn’t need to be associated with the life I had before tragic circumstances re-routed my universe.

Being a person who believes in her dreams, I wasn’t about to give up on mine just because the world temporarily got the better of me. It was temporary after all. As Vincent Gardenia says in “Moonstruck” (playing the role of Cosmo Castorini) - “Everything is temporary!” [Writer credit: John Patrick Shanley].

The writing dream lives, and I work through all the solitary, crap days of sitting on my bum and pounding this keyboard and honing those passages until I just can’t stand it anymore.

And sometimes on nights like these, I take a break, put on a little Joni Mitchell “Night Ride Home” and pour myself a glass of Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban (neat), and wait for the edge to wear off.

Maybe I’ll write some more tonight, or maybe I’ll just *be* for a while, let my mind drift and unwind.

Then tomorrow I can start fresh. Maybe find that breakthrough. See the light at the end of this particular tunnel.

Take me home, Joni.

Bottoms up!

Polla filia,
J.F.

YOU ARE THE MUSIC

"Music heard so deeply
That it is not heard at all, but you are the music
While the music lasts."

- T.S. Eliot

One very important part of my writing life is music I play while working - or not playing music while working. There are times when I need silence.

Then there are times when I go to Starbucks, or a restaurant somewhere and sit amidst the noise just to distract myself. I have resolved some pretty sticky writing problems in noisy places. I think it forces me to focus in a different way, while providing me with random stimulation at the same time. I am a notorious people watcher - some of that is the writer me, and some of that is the portrait artist me (more on that in another post).

The vast majority of the time I need music for writing. It cannot be just any music.

As a general rule I do not select music with lyrics. This is distracting in a bad way. I am a singer, so I am too tempted to sing along, and therefore, I pay too much attention to the words. This means my focus is not on the writing. So, as much as I love singing (and I *love* it), and as much as I love opera (and I *lovvvvve* opera), it is not good for a writing mood.

So, no lyrics.

The genres I find acceptable are classical (sans opera), jazz (instrumental only) and soundtracks. Yes, soundtracks - orchestral soundtracks.

Think about it. They are background for movies. They are written to enhance the particular mood of the film, but not to overwhelm that mood, or its dialogue.

Perfect.

Here are some of my faves:  Gladiator, Bourne Identity, Four Feathers, Planet Earth (TV documentary, but still a soundtrack). There are others, but these are some of my faves. I have recently discovered the soundtrack to the new "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" film. Awesome working music.

All of these inspire, but do not intrude. They set a tone, but do not force the tone.

Then I am carried away in the inspiration, the mood, and the music becomes part of me and then infuses the story with its influence.

It is a perfect day, when I sit at my desk, looking out the three windows in front of me, across my rose hedge, my oak tree standing firm in the middle of my yard, the day unfolding before me, music surrounding me, and I am doing what I love. In my groove. Transmuting music through me to story.  Writing.

Polla filia,
J.F.

BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING

Yeah, I know. I didn't do what I said I was. I didn't keep up with this. **sigh** All I can say is, life intervened. So, while I get myself collected again, so I can post something better, here is a Blog Redux. Enjoy!

Oh, and I am STILL missing that Big Apple. **sigh**

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

I am missing New York City lately. I haven’t been to the Great City in a while. As soon as I am able I will arrange a trip there, but it may be a bit. Meanwhile, here are some photos I like.

I shot all of these on two separate trips - in fall one year and in early spring in another year. The last photo of the Flatiron building in snow is not mine. It’s an old photo shot in 1920, but I just love it, so it’s here, too.

Meanwhile, click on the link below and listen to the Piano Man himself sing the song while you enjoy the photos. :)

New York State of Mind-Billy Joel

Click on the photos for a bigger view.











Polla Filia,
J.F.

NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

I am missing New York City lately. I haven’t been to the Great City in a while. As soon as I am able I will arrange a trip there, but it may be a bit. Meanwhile, here are some photos I like.

I shot all of these on two separate trips - in fall one year and in early spring in another year. The last photo of the Flatiron building in snow is not mine. It’s an old photo shot in 1920, but I just love it, so it’s here, too.

Meanwhile, click on the link below and listen to the Piano Man himself sing the song while you enjoy the photos. :)

New York State of Mind-Billy Joel

Click on the photos for a bigger view.











Polla Filia,
J.F.

T-MINUS 26 DAYS TO VACA OR HOW THE FRUIT TREE BLOOMS

“Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter. Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it.”
-- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

It is now t-minus 26 days and counting until The Big San Francisco Vacation.

This is my first vacation in over two years! This is the longest vacation I have taken in more years than I can remember - *two whole weeks*!!

Life has not been much fun in the last couple of years (see those boring details below in Saying Goodbye - The Tale of a Free Spirit).

Originally, this vacation was scheduled before all the crap hit the fan. Then it got re-scheduled twice when I still thought things might be okay. Ultimately, it got canceled when the stuff came down and I knew it wasn’t going to be okay until it was over. It was over in December, but then really over when all the business was finally, completely done at the end of May.

Now. Fresh start. New life. Forward looking, forward thinking.

The first time I ever set eyes on San Francisco, it was a business trip. Sadly, that was the best vacation I had ever had to that point, and it was the best vacation I had ever had for many years after that. Luckily, that has changed, and I have had many wonderful vacations in more recent years.

I have spent a lot of those vacations going to New York City, because I am in love with that city.

If my first love is New York City, then my illicit affair is with San Francisco. It is magical, mystical, haunting, beautiful. It is a place that has inhabited my dreams.

While I am there, I will do some of the things I love best: drive, walk, explore, photograph, research, write, eat, drink wine (oh yeah!), and attend an IndyCar race the last weekend I am in the area. I have everything all planned and I’ll be blogging about it - both pre-vacation and during.

I have now saved for this trip for over two years. I am going IN STYLE. I am flying first class. I am staying at a certain hotel noted for luxury and service (my fave in any city). I am eating at wonderful restaurants. I am doing this deal top drawer. It will be the experience of a lifetime.

I am going to re-set the “best vacation I’ve ever had” back to San Francisco. Instead of that crown going to some sad business trip, it will now be re-set to a fabulous getaway in the City by the Bay.

The lyrics of This Great Classic, sung by the inimitable Mr. Tony Bennett, could not better express my feeling for this Great City, and the spirit with which I approach my trip.

This is a trip for exhaling. This is a trip for exploring. This is a trip of discovery and re-discovery. The trick, my friends, will be getting on the plane to come back home...

Polla Filia,
J.F.

JEFFFFFF BECKKKKKKK!!

I love Jeff Beck - love as in fanship devotion. :) My dream is that someday I will hear him play live, and get to meet him for an autograph. **sigh**

I like all kinds of music, as long as it is *music* - that is, it’s high quality, it exhibits true musicianship and talent, and it gives me a complex palette in the listening experience. Rock-n-roll is, as a general rule, music I like (although there is some of it that just isn’t - and I mean - Is. Not.). Great rock-n-roll is as good as it gets. Notice I said “great”. I don’t throw that word around lightly when I’m talking about any kind of music, but when we talk about Jeff Beck, we ARE talking about Great Rock.

Jeff Beck is one of those musicians who never ceases to take me way beyond that whole entertainment thing. Jeff Beck is inspirational to listen to. I can listen to five minutes of Jeff Beck and start feeling like I’ve had a few glasses of wine already - a heady combination of lightly buzzed mellow mood, mixed with some euphoria, and that “I can conquer the world” vibe, all rolled into one. And that’s *just* listening to his music, *without* the wine. :)

I am not old enough to remember him in his early days. I won’t even try to tell you anything about the Yardbirds, ‘cause I don’t know much about that. I have never heard recordings of the Yardbirds (don’t shoot me, music afficianados, I’ve just not had that experience *yet*).

In fact, I had not heard of Mr. Beck until in my twenties, when as a huge music fan I began to learn of great rock-n-rollers like him, and Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and the like. They were all slightly before my era of music. Anyway, I didn’t ever hear Jeff Beck play (at least not to my memory) until about three years ago. I was blown away. This was no “really good guitarist” - this was a truly great guitarist. This IS a Truly Great Guitarist. Jeff Beck has one of the most unique and amazing sounds I have ever heard on the guitar.

Performing with him lately have been the amazing Mr. Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, the wonderful Mr. Jason Rebello on keyboards, and the most astonishing Ms. Tal Wilkenfeld on bass (chick CAN play bass!). See the sidebar on the right and scroll down to my Fave Links, people - you'll find websites for all of them.

So, Jeff Beck has a new CD out now (and a DVD, too). All of the above-mentioned performers are with him there. It is a LIVE recording. He also has some tracks with vocalists Ms. Imogen Heap and Ms. Joss Stone, AND Mr.Eric Clapton (his own self) comes in for two pieces, and does vocals along with his most legendary guitar.

The CD is called Performing This Week: Live at Ronnie Scott’s, and you can get it here: Jeff Beck - Performing This Week: Live at Ronnie Scott's The CD

Or, if you really want the whole experience, almost like you were there AT Ronnie Scott’s, then get the DVD, which you can get here: Jeff Beck - Performing This Week: Live at Ronnie Scott's The DVD

Or, for the Whole Smash, do what I did, buy the CD *and* the DVD!!

Put that DVD on, crank it up with the surround sound system, pour that glass of wine (or your personal Listening-To-Music-Beverage-Of-Choice) and you are THERE!

BTW, if you don’t know what Ronnie Scott’s is, you can go here and see: Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club - London

People, this is not your average rock-n-roll. This is not even “good” rock-n-roll. This is Great Rock-n-Roll - as Good As It EVER Gets!! This is JEFFFFFFFFFF BECCCCKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!

Polla Filia,
J.F.