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December is Going to Kill Me

The good news, so far, this December:

I saw Brian Setzer at the House of Blues on Friday. I have wanted to see him play for YEARS...but, you know, money and lacking it and all. I know, I know. I post about going to helltons of shows here, but all of those cost 15 bucks and under and usually they are a tenner. Setzer is one of those 40 bucks and up kinda shows. OI! Who can pay this? :: weeps :: It ain't me, babe.

BUT! I totally had an in. I was a plus one. Hell yes, I was on the guest list, bitches!

Which was good...because after YEARS of wanting to see Setzer live...uh. Hmm. It was - I'm not sure how it was.

That's an unfair intro.

Brian Setzer and company were joyful and kicked ass. He hasn't lost one bit of awesome. I nearly swooned when he played "Fishnet Stockings," let alone "Stray Cat Strut." Slim Jim Phantom was banging on the drums and it was nearly a Stray Cats reunion. Everything that happened on the stage, I was down with.

Here's what sucked:

1.  The crowd. Goddamn. I mean, really? You come to a rockabilly show like this and you don't dance? You don't headbob? You don't toe tap or shake just a little GD bit??? I don't expect everyone to be full on swinging, but hell, it'd be nice to not feel like I was standing with a bunch of fucking zombies. Which is strange...because it was a sold out show and you could tell everyone was super stoked to be there - when a song ended. Folks cheered the rafters down after the end of each song...but maybe about five people in the entire building danced. Whatever. To each their own. But it made me feel like a martian for dancing. I don't like feeling like I'm an asshole because I'm dancing in a respectfully small amount of space.

2.  The price. 42 bucks plus service fees. Were it not for being on the guest list, there was no way I was gonna afford this show. I can count on one hand the times I've spent over 40 bucks on a show. Those shows include festivals and the near-never-touring Tom Waits.

3.  Merch prices. I love you, Mr. Setzer. I do. I wanna give you a fair wage, which I realize I didn't do by getting on the guest list...but SERIOUSLY SMALLS - 35 bucks for a tshirt? 35 BUCKS? Some people think this is reasonable and if these shirts were made in America at a fair wage shirt shop, then maybe it is a reasonable price. But they weren't. 25 bucks is my ultimate high end for a band shirt. Some of you might think I'm splitting hairs here. What's ten bucks more, you ask? If you have to ask that, I'm glad that you're doing well in this economy.

This is not a poor me numeral. This is me realizing that someday, hopefully, maybe, when I am finished with the Novel and if I ever do merch for it...I'm going to have to seriously think about the cost that I want to pass on to people who like my work. Let alone for the price of the book itself.

4.  House of Blues. It sucks. I hate it. It's a horrible venue for a sold out show (or almost any show). Unless you are in a highfalutin opera box, your sight lines are going to be crap. What is so hard for venues to understand about having a SLOPED FLOOR? It automatically improves the view for EVERYONE. Feh.

But all of this made the show seem like a downer, which it wasn't. It was fun. I'm glad I went. Setzer and Slim Jim and everyone else still have It. And man, if you haven't seen Slim Jim Phantom drum, OI! You are missing out. He's the only fella I've ever seen who plays drums standing up.

The bad news about December, that is actually good news, but until it is done, feels like bad news:

I've put myself on a rigorous writing schedule.

Yeah, even more so than normal.

I'm up to 20 pages a day of revisions, cleanup or rewriting. I'm on a FINISH NOVEL IN 2011 OR BUST campaign.

If I don't finish the book by the end of December, I'm gonna trunk it for a while (like forty years) and move on to other things. Good to learn from, but christ, I'm sick of working on it. There are other stories in me and I keep trying to revise the one from five years ago.

So. I said it. I'm going to finish the Novel in December or trunk it and start afresh on something else.

That being said...I'm hauling ass to get it done, and aside from Friday, where I was only able to write a snag before work, I'm on track.


On to it then.

Today I have to write an EF TON and then I'm going to put up the Christmas decorations WITHOUT FAIL! I keep saying I'm going to put them up...but haven't for the past week. It's going to get done. I always feel better when they are up. Makes the digs feel more magical.


Dec. 5th, 2011 02:24 am (UTC)
Yay! See you then.


Patty Templeton

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