danwashburn

March 24 08

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Farting around and jazz music

I brought myself to delve back into Google Reader today after many months of avoidance. You see, I had tons of subscriptions from my days as daily editor of Shanghaiist, and all the unread stories just became too overwhelming. I currently just don't have the time or the interest anymore for a lot of it, so I just neglected it, and checked out websites the "old-fashioned way." But I was told that Reader has folders now, and I figured I'd do some RSS house-cleaning, putting most of the feeds in a folder named "Shanghaiist" and a select few in a folder called "Perrsonal" (I mistyped when naming the folder, and I can't figure out a way to change it).

Anyway, doing all this made me realize I hadn't checked out my friend Richmond's Blogspot blog in a while (now that my VPN is working again, I really have no excuse).

Richmond and I worked at the same newspaper in Georgia, and shortly after 9/11, I somehow convinced him to join me (ie, drive me in his pickup truck) on a memorable road trip to Louisiana (Richmond's former and current home) in search of a bumper pool table. Long story.

Reading Richmond's blog, I learned that while he was studying, getting his "hackery" published and keeping people from dying, he was also doing a lot of "farting around".

I think most writers are master procrastinators — I know I am. (I could expand on this, but I won't. I promised I wouldn't further procrastinate what I should be writing at the moment.) Here's a snippet from Richmond's post:

When I think about my work ethic, I generally consider myself one lazy mofo. I have a lot to do, true, but fact is I screw around a lot. I do a lot of stuff that falls under Vonnegut's heading of "farting around". I wander around talking to people. I take paddles and bike rides and runs. I take naps. I read books and articles that have nothing to do with my Ph.D. work. I think I'm pretty feckless.

I don't take naps, and I wish I could procrastinate with paddling. My issue is more of being easily distracted and over-extended — I get a decent amount done during the day, but not always what I originally intended to get done.

And that kind of segues into the second half of this post's title. Jazz music has always helped me focus — I am fairly certain I got that from my dad — and now that I am about to get into some serious writing for my book project, I figured it was a good time to add some new jazz to my writing soundtrack.

I had to outsource the jazz selection process, however. I have been listening to basically the same three jazz albums on repeat for the past 15 years:

• Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
• John Coltrane - Blue Train
• The Branford Marsalis Quartet featuring Terence Blanchard - Music from Mo' Better Blues

No real surprises there. Well, maybe the last one, but that wouldn't be a surprise to anyone who knew me in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Anyway, those three albums and "The music can't be distracting" was all Bliss' brother A.J. Khaw, a Miami-based jazz musician/physician, had to go on when burdened with the task of recommending his brother-in-law some new writing music. His suggestions:

• Wynton Marsalis - Live at the House of Tribes
• Miles Davis - Bitches Brew
• Bill Evans - Portrait in Jazz
• Miles Davis - Porgy and Bess
• John Scofield - A Go Go
• Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil
• Horace Silver - Song For My Father

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I was able to acquire all albums in less than a day. And I must say, A.J. did an excellent job. The Silver, Shorter and Marsalis albums were immediate standouts, and after a couple listens I really liked Evans, too. The Scofield album is one that probably won't make the rotation — I think I have some kind of bias against guitar jazz. Interestingly, I am on the fence about the two Miles selections. I am pretty sure I own these two in CD form back in Pennsylvania (they, and hundreds of other albums I own, have yet to get ripped into mp3s). Bitches Brew might go into the "distracting" bin — a good album, but probably more suitable for when Bliss and I drop acid¹ than productive writing sessions. Porgy and Bess, on the other hand, may not be jazzy enough at times, if that makes any sense.

Anyway, if any readers have other suggestions, I will be happy to illegally download them and give them a listen. Alright, enough procrastinating. Time to do some real writing.

¹ Note to Bliss' parents: We don't really drop acid. Actually, Ruth, do you even know what that is?

# · Notes · (1) · 03.24.08