Let's see... with a three-week-old infant son newly added to the mix, it's mostly grab about 3-4 hours of sleep; get up at the crack of dawn with two-year-old son #1, who demands, "Eat!" and "Diapah change!"; squeeze in some copywriting, teaching and tutoring to pay the bills; grill a killer dinner for the wife and sons; go for a run to clear my head; send everyone else early to bed; clock a few solitary hours writing what I'm passionate about, which lately has meant some new short stories and an ever-lengthening novel; then crawl in bed to close my eyes and pray for an extra hour before I get up to do it all again.
Music
Billy Joel, Ben Folds, Tom Waits, Jim Croce, the Beach Boys, Eagles, Paul Simon, Elton John, Little River Band, Creedance, the Beatles, the Stones, Ray Charles, Thelonius Monk, Louie Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Dizzie Gillespie, George Gershwin, Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, Stravinsky, Bartok, Debussy, John Adams, Villa-Lobos, Mister Mister, Nirvana, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, etc. Might have been easier to just say "yup."
Movies
Don't get out to these much anymore, what with a precocious toddler and temperamental infant and all. Thank me later.
Television
I avoid the idiot box until late at night, when I'm powerless to resist, and even then I'm an avid commercial-muter and keep a book nearby, like a liferaft. Still, I'll admit a weakness for CSI (the original), The Office, Mad Men, The Daily Show, that blessed Colbert (au Francais, Colebear) and his Report, Rescue Me (when it's on), The Sopranos (when the DVDs are released), The Riches (hurrah!) and in moments of sustained disconnectedness, all things ESPN. I was surprised by Breaking Bad (on AMC), its dark turns and its blitzkrieg pace, and disappointed in the short-lived Black Donnellys -- but the first episode was killer.
Books
ON THE NIGHTSTAND NOW: Demons in the Spring, by Joe Meno; Jesus' Son, by Denis Johnson; Bluebirds Used to Croon in the Choir, by Joe Meno; The Screwed-Up Life of Charlie the Second, by Drew Ferguson; Building the Green Machine, by this dude Colt Foutz. Really, you should read it. RECENTLY SET ASIDE: The Abstinence Teacher, by Tom Perotta; Poachers, by Tom Franklin; Oil, by Upton Sinclair. GATHERING DUST: Tree of Smoke, by Denis Johnson; Why I Came West, by Rick Bass; and LES MISERABLES, by the dusty, chewed-up looks of it, is holding my entire bed assembly together.
Heroes
"Spend your finite time playing hard!"
-- RANDY PAUSCH
"I have not so much thought my way through life as done things and found what it was and who I was after the doing."
-- RAY BRADBURY
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BUILDING THE GREEN MACHINE: Don Warren and Sixty Years with the World Champion Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps -- by Colt Foutz -- all new July 2008 by Savas Beatie -- ORDER NOW!
Who I'd like to meet: I've been fortunate to meet and talk with some amazingly talented writers, generous with their time and advice, among them: Chris Abani, Sam Weller, Don DeGrazia, T.C. Boyle, Hilary Masters, Randy Albers. If it seems like I'm name-dropping, well, let me say that their kindness has made an impression on me. When I'm in the same position to help other writers, it's the quality I most want to emulate.
As a journalist, I've had unforgettable conversations with the likes of Mickey Rooney, and Rich Little, and James "Soni" Sonifeld of Hootie & the Blowfish, Carrot Top, C.C. DeVille and Ted Nugent, among others. What I wouldn't trade, though, are all the amazing "local" people I got to know in Sandusky, Downers Grove, Naperville, Chicago and elsewhere. When writers of nonfiction talk about the privilege of telling someone's story, these are the people they're talking about. My first book, Building the Green Machine, tells the story of Don Warren's 60-years (and counting!) devotion to Chicago's musical dynasty, the Cavaliers Drum & Bugle Corps. Check it out at www.cavaliersbook.com, or order it just about anywhere.
G.I. Joe Exclusive Character Posters! Current mood: adventurous
Get your Kung Fu grips ready! Paramount just sent us these character one-sheets from the upcoming live-action movie ‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.’ Stephen Sommers of ‘Mummy’ fame is directing, and the cast is huge: Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans, Sienna Miller, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Christopher Eccleston, Rachel Nichols, Ray Park and many more. Scroll down to check out the posters, and check out the movie when it hits theaters on August 7, 2009.
please please please come to dover september 13th and play with the alumni band! there are only 3 trumpets, we NEED you! and you could sell your book to everyone! you'd just need to be there for the morning practice that day. the music and drill are so simple. pleeeease!
hey this is one of my marching shows from 06 season... this show ended our 15 year no finals... like i said though our marching not so good music is very good at this show we were ranked 2nd overall but like 16th marching lol... but see we sounded so good we made finals lol it was great but hey check it out!! AfroFluence
