Hi gang... been super busy over here lately. Seems the older the L'il Man gets, the shorter the naps seem to get... which means the less time there is for the Joy of Blogging and miscellaneous writing. I figured that, rather than apologize for another mammoth delay, I'll just pull a Doug Henning and just pretend that it hasn't been weeks. Let's just say I'm still reeling with the L'il Man's sudden emergence into full blown toddlerhood. At 20 months, he's easily got over 100 words he recognizes... he's become a total parrot (witness the mimic of the words "maniac," "knicklehead" and "Oh, God!" during the past week... I gotta watch it!)
And his daredevil philosophy on life lately mirrors that of the late Evel Knievel. I think he conked his melon three different times in a day trying to do crazy stuff in and out of the house. This wasn't supposed to happen until the "terrible twos," right??? That's what those 800 books I breezed through told me kids were supposed to do... hahaha... I'll be glad when we can move all the furniture back. He's like Eddie Vedder stage-diving back in 1991. So blah, blah, blah... here's the quick "update-o-rama" that should bring me (and you) back up to speed on what's happening here:
1) Go see Iron Man. It may be the best superhero film ever made... the casting is great (Robert Downey, Jr. is absolutely brilliant as Tony Stark) and the story is water-tight. Saw it opening weekend and was not at all disappointed. Jon Favreau (who will someday play me in a feature film if David Cross and Paul Giamatti aren't into it) did an incredible job balancing real-world politics, CGI and a cast of Oscar nominees and creating something special. One can only hope the other summer blockbusters compare.
2) I'm back in the gym, finally. It's been nice to carve out the time and begin dropping all this weight I've gained writing, researching and taking care of the L'il Man. I'll never be as cut as LeBron James, for sure, but at least I'll look and feel better... and speaking of LeBron, I'm pulling for the Cavaliers in a big way during this NBA playoff season, but to have a 14 point lead and lose your grip (like they did in last night's game) doesn't leave me hopeful. We had all the momentum going. Ah yes, to live and die in Cleveland every few months with "Next Year" constantly on your breath.
3) I've been rocking the Sirius satellite radio a lot lately. SZQ hooked me up around the holidays and I've been something of a Sirius junkie ever since. I know that it's very much a corporate entity/visage and that the playlists they broadcast are similarly conceived... but I have to say that being able to get my chillout music and stations like the Spectrum, Margaritaville and the Coffeehouse is really nice. Once my favorite NPR and sports radio shows are done locally, it's straight to the Sirius. Now I need an internet radio so I can get my Soma-FM fixes, or perhaps I should just set up wi-fi to a home sound system and be done with it.
4) Did a couple of really enjoyable interviews recently -- one for CC.com with former WMMS-FM program director and radio guru John Gorman; the other with Dream Theater keyboard sorcerer Jordan Rudess for blogcritics.org. Check out the photo (from another blog). I'm looking forward to meeting him on Saturday. I think that I'm going to pitch a bigger feature to the Chicago Tribune, in the hopes they don't have anything lined up for June on his other project, the Liquid Tension Experiment. You know, I just realized that, looking at the dates, I've not contributed to BC in, oh, say, 9 months or so. I'm terrible. I've gotta get back at it. BTW I also did some work for Scene and the Sun recently... I'll post links when they're up there... short bios on Fish, Type O Negative, Lyle Lovett and a feature on Good Morning Valentine are on the way...
A few other things: Had a fun Mother's Day with all four grandparents present and the four SBC kiddos running around our little bungalow. What a riot! I miss seeing my nephew Will (at left, but definitely not that small anymore!)... and I miss his great parents M&M, too. I've gotta get us down to Columbus soon. We really miss you guys! Mike, I need your tutorial on the Wii (yes, I finally got one... still in the box for the last three weeks!!! No time!!! ). And Mo, I hope your first Mother's Day was a good one. You guys rock. I wish you lived up here in Cleveland. We probably say that at least once a week.
I guess lastly, all the photos for the book are in... thanks to the excellent "Captain St. Lucifer" and her amazing camera gear, I think we're in really good shape. She has quite the eye for framing all the good stuff in just the right ways... and just released a book of her own that I really must buy.
Heck, she even made my husky, balding self look good (see left... not too shabby!). Re: the book, I imagine I'll be in review/edit mode here in a week or two. Looking forward to August... and not just for the Radiohead concert. By then, and by alllllllll accounts, I should be available to you on amazon.com... and right here on J4S, of course, if I could ever get a few minutes. LOL. Speaking of, I gotta hit the gym... and the shower... and I've got a 10:45 interview to do... and then bring the little man home for a nap... and then lunch... and... and... and... hope all is well with you. More updates... and sooner than monthly, I promise.
PCHQ
Welcome back Wooga! Missed you and glad to get an update on all the awesome things happening on the west side!
Posted by: Jeannie | May 15, 2008 at 04:49 PM