Monday 12/18/23
I have something to try with The Solution to the World's Problems. We'll see if it results in anything.
As for the book itself: "Eye of Green," "The Quiet Chickadee," "The Late, Living Mrs. Rinaldi," and another story without a title right now will almost certainly be the final stories I'll be finishing and/or doing for it.
Came up with ideas pertaining to the Who (a gig at the Edmonton Sundown Theatre from December 23, 1973) and Hendrix's "Machine Gun."
Worked on this film piece about 1945's Strange Confession. It's very good. Should put it in a book, too; possibly the collection of writings on works of horror-related art and entertainment.
Wrote an op-ed in my head in bed that I will need to formally write. Doubt I'll be able to move it. But excellent and better than everything out there.
For some reason I'm very thirsty later in the day and drink copious amounts of water then. Liters and liters.
I can't stand Nina Simone's music. I find her strident and insincere. A big, shrill act. Though I like it better than Federico Fellini's films. He didn't know what he was doing. Orson Welles said he had no idea how the world was. Meager provincialism.
I might agree with someone who said that A Charlie Brown Christmas is the perfect Christmas album. It gets to the spirit of the thing--the range of the spirit of the thing. Sadness is a part of Christmas. Christmas is complex. Christmas is most about joy, I'd say, and joy is complex. It contains sadness because joy involves awareness. It is not for nothing that The Solution begins with a Christmas story. It may end with one, too.
The Red Sox are inducting Dustin Pedroia, Jonathan Papelbon, and Trot Nixon into their team Hall of Fame. Compare those players with anyone on the roster now. Bit of a difference, right? Not just ability, but make-up. Three stone-cold winners. People think Pedroia is the one with the most viable shot at the real Hall of Fame, but that's because they sleep on Papelbon. I mean, I love Lee Smith, he's one of my all-time favorite players, but Papelbon was better. He was also better than Bruce Sutter. As I wrote in these pages, Mariano Rivera (overrated anyway) was never as good as Papelbon was in 2006. And Papelbon didn't cost his team two World Series titles, like Rivera cost his. My biggest takeaway re: Papelbon from the very start, when he was a starter: He went after people. No fear. Christy Mathewson is the greatest postseason pitcher of all-time (in case anyone ever asks you). But Mr. Papelbon is up there. He only threw twenty-five postseason innings before anyone scored on him. Not just an earned run--any kind of run.
Western Kentucky came back from down 28-0 to win their bowl game against Old Dominion in OT just now. Watched most of it. As I said, I like meaningless bowl games because you see some of the old college football spirit and cool things can happen like this.
I have little idea what will happen with Bill Belichick and the Patriots, and Belichick apart from the Patriots if they part ways. Usually I have a good idea of how things will play out; in this instance, nothing would surprise me that much. I really don't know.
There was an older man in the Monument the other day with a cane. Not only did he make it all the way to the top, his pace was faster than the average person's.
Overheard yesterday: "You've made a lot of money. Your kids are gonna love it when you die."
Enjoy two hours of background music from a Kmart store in 1974.
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