Everything All Of The Time

Wednesday is about books and writing. Today, a run down of all that’s going on here at Off The Tracks / Sounds Good!

You might have noticed something. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve written about being swamped by books — is there no greater first-world problem?

Earlier this week I suggested I was having a break from TV:

And it was only about a month ago that I was seriously considering getting a “dumb phone”:

Maybe there’s actually no greater first-world problem than contemplating the toxic overload of digital decay, and then exploring it via several online newsletters you spam down hard on the subscribers?

But, yeah, it could all seem a bit like I’m daunted. Deluged. Damaged? No, that’s a D-word too far…

RAnd yet, I’ve never felt more interested in music than right now. The books might be piling up, the TV shows might all seem the same, the phone might forever be a distraction — or at least a threat of distraction, since I maintain some productivity, and certainly some positivity — but music, which was lost to me for a couple of years there, is back. Big time.

I’m going to gigs:

I’m obsessed with listening to CDs and the memories they evoke:

I’m writing poems about music:

Sending out cool playlists:

Still celebrating film scores — obviously:

Heck, I’ve even returned to writing — occasionally — about brand new albums (and with more frequency than has been the case in about four years):

And, I still love writing about the “shit” albums that kinda held me in their sway for whatever reason/s:

Four years ago this week I released my first e-book, a collection of the pieces I’ve written about favourite drummers, and yes, you can still buy that for $1. But I’m slowly but surely back on the track to making some of the pieces for a second volume:

And right around the time I talked about moving back to the “dumb phone”, I bought a Walkman, and a small collection of cassette tapes. You know, going full method…

So, what’s with all the shameless self-promotion? Links galore that either bore because you’ve seen them before or make you snore because you never wanted more, and there’s a wee twinge of cringe now because of the way the lines are rhyming all the time, and sometimes it’s more of a chime, internal ding, rather than the proper thing at the end of a sentence or phrase.

Well, yes, I’ve been pumping out the content. And it might well be too much for your inbox. And I quite appreciate that. But I guess I just wanted to point out that there’s more on the Substack site than you see in your inbox. And if you want to stay signed up but don’t want your email hit so hard the very best thing to do is switch to the app:

There you can opt out of emails and have all of the Substack content in one place on your device/s. It’s great for discovering other writers, and managing the flow of your ‘break-time’ reading…

I’m also mentioning this because, yeah, there’s more to see and read (and listen to — the podcast is sneaking back in various shapes). And if you wanted to consider the upgrade to a paid subscriber, I’m being sure to add more content that is just for the paying subs.

I’m having fun with “I’ll Fix This. I Can Make It Cool Again!” — a series where I ‘fix’ long, boring, difficult albums by providing an edit. And it threatens, even, to an interactive experience with readers suggesting ‘fixes’ for me to take on, or even providing their own as guest posts.

There’s also a potential regular ‘guest’ writer coming on board…

All of this. And plenty of stories:

And poems, book reviews, film reviews, and the regular three posts that are dedicated to the core subjects: Monday’s movies/TV, Wednesday’s books (or writing) and Friday’s music.

So, a wee reminder of all that is here. And an acknowledgement that it’s a lot. And that’ s just how I am, and you get to vote with your feet, or your fingers, or whatever…however that tracks online.

But I sure like having you here, those that read in silence, those that pay, those that contribute through comments and engagement, and spread the word, and all other forms of support.

And the occasional discussion around certain ‘malaise’ that creeps in is healthy. It is part of this ongoing dialogue/monologue that I started having with myself, and whoever else turns up, about 17 years ago now…