The Unnamed

Keeping the Pen Moving

I’m surely, if very slowly, wrapping my head around an album project I’m working on. The more I sit down and write the more I get a feel for what it is I want to accomplish. This is probably a good thing, as many of my 40×40 items are horrendously under-defined. Every time I write, I feel slightly more confident about it. I’ve nearly filled a steno notepad of semi-focused writing around this project, so eventually I may be secure enough to talk about it.

Now it’s time to look back and see the small feats I have conquered and where things can be improved. The biggest thing I can see needs improvement is devoting more time putting pen to paper.

Thinking is not writing.

I don’t exactly recall where I read this, but I know it was recently. And I know what it means. There was many a time that I was thinking about this project, but not actually writing it. In retrospect, this does not really count as time spent on the project. Some of it may have been necessary thinking, or reading, or processing time, but most of it should have been converted to writing time.

Another wonderful side effect of putting pen to paper is not get addicted to brain crack.

Starting With Sound

I basically know the feel I want for this project, so I bought a nylon string acoustic. I would have also nabbed an upright fretless bass, but I don’t have the cash to buy it, a place to store it, or the knowledge of how to play it.

Amazingly enough, a coworker owns a fretless bass and let me borrow it. I dig it. And coworkers can be useful.

Coming back to the “thinking is not writing” idea, I signed up for a little diversion called The Masters of Song Fu. It’s a song writing competition of sorts that I thought I could attempt. Not that I have any idea what the hell I’m doing, mind you. It is good to be writing something and putting it out there, even if it is only a poorly produced demo.

The concept is simple enough: the organizer gives you a songwriting challenge and you have a week to write and record a song. It’s quirky and scary and forces me way outside of my comfort zone. I’m enjoying it.

I ended up having to skip the second round of Song Fu (and a couple days of work and stuffing myself on Thanksgiving) due to illness, but for the first round I wrote a song about a moleman. You see, that was the challenge. You were supposed to write a song about one of John Hodgeman’s molemen characters. I chose Mr. Deadend. I told you it was a song writing competition of sorts.

On a related note, I’ve been trying to come up with a name for my new guitar, but nothing seemed to fit. Turns out it was because I was trying to think of a girls name and this guitar is clearly a guy. So his name is now Mr. Deadend, after the moleman/song. It seemed fitting enough.

Prior to Mr. Deadend—the song, not the guitar—I don’t think I had written anything in about 10 years. I could be wrong though. My memory isn’t the best. That’s because I’m old.

Too old for this shit, some might say.