Folk Thursday: Neil Young

I can’t believe I’ve never posted “Old Man” on here before. This version resonates a little differently than some of his earlier performances.

Emily

Folk Thursday: Crosby, Stills and Nash

Have I already “Helplessly Hoping” somewhere along the way? Probably. Does it matter? Probably not. I’ve been doing this feature for so long, I’ve lost track of which songs I’ve posted and which I haven’t.

This is one of my favorites. That mournful guitar and those tight harmonies are just divine.

Emily

Sunday Self-Care: Take a load off

I try to be productive on my days off: Clean the house, do a home-improvement project or two, prep a few meals for the coming week, maybe go for a run.

Sometimes, though, it’s good just to spend a couple of hours wandering down various rabbit-holes to see where they lead.

A Twitter conversation yesterday got me thinking about musicals, which led to an Evita earworm, which sent me to YouTube to dislodge it by listening to Patti LuPone sing “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina.” Somehow LuPone led to Nicole Scherzinger, who led to Lea Salonga, who led to Bernadette Peters, who led to Joni Mitchell (I didn’t really follow what the algorithm was doing there, but when Joni Mitchell and Mama Cass show up in the sidebar, you don’t ask questions; you just say, “Thank you” and click on over), and Joni Mitchell led to The Band — and this incredible version of “The Weight,” featuring the Staples Singers.

Mavis is sublime here. I wouldn’t have minded if the guys all just piped down and let her handle the whole song.

I didn’t get as much done yesterday as I’d hoped. I installed a new composter, made a batch of soap, and got a fritatta ready to bake for this morning’s breakfast, but I didn’t do the paint touchups I’d planned, and I haven’t banked as many upcoming blog entries as I might have liked.

That’s OK. I didn’t have “sing along with songs I haven’t thought about in ages” on my to-do list, but it was something I needed to do; I just didn’t know it when I was making the list.

Sometimes it works like that. Sometimes you have to set your to-do list aside and give yourself permission to waste time. You can’t do that every day, of course, or you’d never accomplish anything. But now and then, it’s good to blow off a few non-essential projects and settle in for a little me time — and more often than not, I find that when I do, I end up working more efficiently and getting more done when I return.

Emily

Folk Thursday: Joni Mitchell

“Amelia,” from Joni Mitchell’s brilliant Hejira album, is one of my favorite songs — and a nice tribute to a woman who has fascinated me since I was a little girl. I like this stripped-down arrangement. (The version of “Coyote” from this concert is also spectacular; I’ve posted it before.)

Emily

Folk Thursday: Rhiannon Giddens

Ron’s recommendation. He says: “I found this by accident. I don’t understand a word she sings, and it doesn’t matter.”

I agree.

Emily

Folk Thursday: Phil Ochs

How have I never noticed how much John Cameron Mitchell sounds like Phil Ochs?

Emily

I’ve been busy.

Yes, I’ve subjected this blog to a shameful degree of neglect this summer. Here’s what I’ve been working on:

That’s right, kids. I’m about an eyelash away from being ready to publish Greetings from Coldwater. I’m anticipating a fall release on the Kindle version and — God willing — a paperback edition in time for Christmas. I shot the trailer above on and around Route 66 in New Mexico last spring, and I’ve been dinking with the novel ever since we got back.

When I started this project, I swore I wouldn’t self-publish, but the publishing industry has changed so much since then that self-publishing now requires less financial risk and far less annoyance than shopping a manuscript. I can go through Amazon to self-publish electronic and paperback editions without spending a dime. All I’m out is time — and less of it than I’d spend writing queries and copying manuscripts and standing in line at the post office to send them to people who may not bother reading them anyway. A big publishing house could probably sell more copies, but I don’t have the patience to read a thousand rejection slips before I find the right publisher. If some big-deal publisher reads it and likes it, we’ll talk.

I’ve spent most of the past 24 hours formatting the manuscript to Amazon’s specs, designing a cover, reskinning TumbleweedMotel.com, printing a proof, and uploading the trailer to YouTube.

I’ve also been busy drawing illustrations for the past couple of weeks:

 

Watch this space. I’ll keep you posted on the process and all the stuff I learn as I go.

 

Emily

Folk Thursday: Jimmy Fallon and Neil Young

This is awesome.

On an unrelated note, here’s Day 2 of my giving-things-up-for-Lent project:

I bought this by mistake at the dollar store, forgetting I’d already bought the frame I needed for a picture I wanted to hang up. I don’t have anything else this size that needs to be framed, but I bet somebody else does. Into the giveaway box it goes.

Emily

I can’t stop watching this.

I know it’s old, but this video makes me laugh harder every time I watch it.

I’m still trying to figure out where she found a cat that isn’t terrified of the vacuum cleaner. Walter hides under the bed every time we get ours out. He doesn’t even like for me to use the Dustbuster. And God help you if you try to put some kind of clothing on him.

Anyway. Cat in a shark costume, riding a Roomba. Get into it.

Emily

Totally unproductive day.

I basically accomplished nothing today, unless you count taking the station wagon to the shop (reverse gear has ceased to work, so I suspect we’re going to be replacing a transmission), having a snack and a couple of craft beers at the local microbrewery, and sleeping more than a grownup really should.

Oh, well. We had a nice evening. I might cap it off with an episode of Doctor Who and a bag of popcorn with olive oil and green chile powder. Unless I fall asleep first.

On a completely unrelated note, this will never not be funny:

Hope your day was good.

Emily