What if someone had a problem, but they didn't tell anyone about it, because they don't want anyone to say/think "don't be such a fuckin' baby!!". I think it's hard to know which complaints constitute babydom and which constitute a call for help with a legitimate issue. I think to some people, any complaint of any kind falls in the baby category. At the other extreme are people who coddle. But all that grey area. How many people in that area get over shit on their own? How many go nuts? How many do some combination of the two?

Sometimes, when I make a comment about something very obviously lame being lame, I feel...

dumb.

On Saturday, I am gonna do NOTHING.

Blogs are more secretive now. Who would think to look for one?

WHAT?!? Your band put out a TAPE?!?

Clearly, you are pretentious. Tapes died in the 90s, man. That means they are off-limits now. Even to art-wieners like YOU!!

No one can play this format in 2009. NO ONE!!! What's that? You say you put a download code in the liner notes? That's fine, but dubbing a tape and making artwork with your own two hands was a waste of EVERYONE's time.

I know people like you. You just want to try and be different! Well, don't bother! Putting out a cassette is HARDLY original. Bands did that all the time back in the day! YOU'RE NOT SPECIAL.

Put out a fucking CD like everyone else. YOU'RE NOT BETTER THAN THE REST OF US.

***

Do I have to have to explain that I'm being sarcastic?

I do?

Ok.

Hearing some good new music.

I needed this. Doing the show all the time got to be too much, but there's such thing as not enough.

You'll like this band if you like:

Complaining about things you perceive to be trendy, that were 5 years ago but aren't now, is so lame. You come off like a grumpy old reactionary, like someone's mean, shitty dad... "turn off that noise! we had real music back in my day! like 'skinnerd!" This attitude should be the enemy! I hated it when I was a teenager and that hasn't changed.

If I'd complain about anything it's musicians who only play the plainest, more boring, generic rock music possible because anything else would be... wait for it... PRETENTIOUS!

I used to hate trendiness in the music scene, and to a large degree I still do. But sometimes I think it's almost the lesser of two evils. The other being plainness. You listen to plain, obvious bands that play it safe artistically, and you end up being a faded copy of that. I hate both of these things!

Good rock and roll should have at least some elements of weirdness, however minute. Even if you just play A-D-E, but you play it so hard you look like you're trying to murder your instrument (or yourself), that counts as weird. It shouldn't, because I think playing that hard is just normal. That's the least I can ask of a band!

Just give me something different, somewhere. It can be small. It can be your whole band and everything you do. But give me something. Not this grumpy old man bullshit.

There, now I feel better. Yet, somehow much less cool...

My brain just ground to a halt. There's too much to do. I can't get enough sleep, yet it eats into a lot of my personal time.

Oh, shut up. You could be cleaning a lake or a shoebox somewhere.

I made the right decision to stay here. I wouldn't want to be in a situation where I felt I had to bring more to the table, artistically, than is within my capability. I would not want shows to become like a reading list. Yes, the books are very interesting; but if you get behind on your reading, others will surpass you in the quest for excellence, and you will have to learn to accept being a C+ student.

I could also make the metaphor sporty. A young man likes to play hockey. He's in a recreational league. He wonders what it might be like to try out for a pro team. Friends have told him he could make it. But then he would have to practice a lot more, work out a lot and maybe hire an agent. He struggles with this. He wants to be the best he can be. He has good friends who have gone pro, and are willing and able to take those extra steps a pro has to take. What they get in return is worth it. But would it be "worth it" for him? What if everyone just blew by him on the ice and he found himself sitting in the stands all the time?

At least now he knows he can can play every night and really help a team win. It's great to wonder "what if", but one has to be realistic.