I got out my summer T-shirts this week, the one's too tight in the gut that tell the world I like Guns N Roses, Tex Tubb's Tacos, the dominatrix on my Two Dollar Radio shirt, and McGruff the Crimedog. Not to mention the cheap-ass JC Penny shirt that has the American flag and a bunch of tiny motorcycles on it. Yes, I will look like a jackass, but it's better than all the rayon Hawaiian shirts that barely button across my expanding gut. Gotta throw those out. And, yes, I outgrew the swim trunks with the hula girls on them. Sigh.
I also bought (well, "downloaded") a few new CDs: The Dex Romweber Duo, which is a riot. Imagine a bad lounge singer who's really depressed and can't believe it's no longer 1957. This is some serious shit. Next, and possibly the best band of the last couple of years, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears. I might get a chance to see these guys down in New Orleans this summer. Crossing fingers. Imagine James Brown as a good guitarist who swears a lot. And then, while I've never been the biggest Steve Earle fan, I took a chance on his new one, Townes, because of the "Pancho and Lefty" cover. It does not disappoint, I'm glad to say. And next on my list, which I will be grabbing as soon as my hot little fingers can get hold of one, is the new Scott H. Biram. He's like listening to your grandpa sing and play guitar on the porch, if your grandpa happened to be a crank dealer.
And with my annual trip to my old stomping grounds on the Mississippi and Louisiana Coast, I can already smell the spicy shrimp, catfish, crawfish, and muffalettas. Pour some chicory coffee in the morning, a couple of Abita Ambers at dinner, and maybe a Rum Punch daiquiri to cap the evening. I also really miss Popeye's fried chicken, so I'll be surely stopping for some of that. And I'll tell you where to find the best po-boys in New Orleans...but they're not in New Orleans. They're actually next door in Slidell at Captain Humble's, my fave little cafe for fried shrimp of catfish po-boys.
So, all that bike riding and exercise I say I'm going to do this summer? Bullshit. I'm going to chow down and cry the whole time I'm doing it.
I read more and faster in the summer, too, so I've got a stack I want to work through before the school year arrives at my doorstep again, yanking my time away from me like it's a cozy blanket. But the stack grows, and I have to fight my way through. All the stuff I'd been meaning to read, all the stuff I should read, and all the stuff I actually end up reading. More of it is in paperback this year. The only hardcover picked up on my recent trip to Once Upon a Crime was Dennis Tafoya's Dope Thief, on Scott Phillips rec, and I'm enjoying the shit out of it. I also grabbed Starvation Lake and The Little Sleep, so we'll see about those. Very Mercenary is the current one I'm leisurely strolling through. But there are more to come. So many more...
And I've got this book to sell. I call it Hogdoggin'. Some people seem to like it so far. Hope that's enough to make them tell all their friends to buy it, and then their friends' friends, and then whoever they've got some dirt on and can apply a little pressure over, say, incriminating photos.
What's this all mean to me as a writer? Well, I'm like a battery being recharged. I've been turning myself on (go ahead, laugh. Get it out of your system) and running down because I've only been at half strength or less. But now, I don't feel quite the pressure to finish the novel. I don't feel like I need to write a bunch of short stories. Instead, I'm just goofing around, tossing off the pulpiest stuff possible for fun on this Virtual Motorcycle Rally. Battery strength rising, slowly but steadily. And when I'm back to full, then, and only then, will I get back to the novel.
Sometimes you've got to grind. Sometimes you've got to sail. Forever back and forth.
Anyway, tell us about what it takes to recharge your batteries.
Friday Bonus Music Video:
DEVO - Through Being Cool
I need some serious time off. But that's not going to happen until they plant me, I suspect. So, I try to snatch a little time here and there for myself.
I've been reading more lately, with an Aubrey/Maturin adventure in my bag now and next up is a new one from Ray Banks, who never disappoints. I expect I'll pick up Hogdoggin' before the summer's out because I enjoyed Yellow Medicine a lot.
Music: There's a neo-soul singer and player named James Hunter that I really like. Great stuff. And I'm trying to steal harp licks from Carlos Del Junco, a player so great he'll take the top of your head off.
Other than those tiny slivers of vacation, I'll be at my desk, dreaming of po' boys, spicy shrimp and all damn day to do whatever my spirit is moved to do.
Posted by: David Terrenoire | May 22, 2009 at 08:50 AM
Collaboration.
Nothing re-charges my batteries more than working with people creatively toward some common project. A book, an interview, building a studio, workshopping a section from a novel, moderating a panel discussion...
Anything where I'm working with someone else beats the hell out of working alone.
Congrats on Hogdoggin', Neil. Would love to interview you via Skype for my TV show about it.
Posted by: Stacey Cochran | May 22, 2009 at 01:20 PM
Yoga. Sunshine. Lilacs :)
Posted by: Lori Armstrong | May 23, 2009 at 09:51 AM