cernunos's recent activity
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Comment on Let’s talk creative process! in ~creative
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Comment on Let’s talk creative process! in ~creative
cernunos LinkI used to write prose, but due to a serious lack of ability I have switched to poetry which people tell(people who won't lie to me) me I have a modicum of affinity for. I write when I have an...I used to write prose, but due to a serious lack of ability I have switched to poetry which people tell(people who won't lie to me) me I have a modicum of affinity for. I write when I have an idea. An idea can come from almost anything and at any time. Last week I remembered a scene from a movie that I last saw over ten years ago, and that remembrance gave me an idea. The idea turned into a tidy little poem that I am fairly proud of.
I can only write on a pc with a physical keyboard. I can't write on a laptop, I make too many mistakes while typing, nor can I write with a pen because I can't keep up with the words when they are flowing. I rewrite with a pen and paper, the physical act of writing manually helps me to slow down, see, hear, and feel the words that I am transcribing. This allows me to correct the flow, condense the idea, and get to the pithy little core of the piece.
Writing is an individualistic endeavor, which to me makes it difficult to utilize ideas from other writers because their ways never seem to work or mesh with my ways. I have read a ton of books on writing and the only advice that seems pertinent to me is to make yourself do it, put your ass in the chair and get those words in your head down on paper. All of the other stuff, write fast and with the flow, cut, cut, cut, is what works for that particular writer, but disciplining yourself to get it down, that is universal and works for everyone. That is my 0.02.
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Comment on Share your favorite pie recipes in ~food
cernunos LinkI would suggest a Kentucky Derby pie. It is easy, most people haven't eaten one, and pretty much everyone loves it. Dough for 9" pie. You are on your own for the dough, blind bake it at 350(docked...I would suggest a Kentucky Derby pie. It is easy, most people haven't eaten one, and pretty much everyone loves it.
Dough for 9" pie. You are on your own for the dough, blind bake it at 350(docked and weighted) for 10 minutes then uncovered for 5 more minutes4tablespoons butter, melted
2large eggs
1teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 shot of Kentucky Bourbon
½cup flour
¾cup chopped walnuts
¾cup semisweet-chocolate chipsWhisk the wet together, then stir in brown sugar and flour. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate. Pour into pie shell and bake for about 30 minutes, until puffed and brown on top.
I have taken this pie to lots of potlucks and have never brought home any after the shindig. You can skip the bourbon if you don't have any and it turns out 99.78% as good.
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Comment on GenX, what is a music video that you feel best represents us? in ~music
cernunos Link ParentYou seem to like singers who sound like they have a mouth full of marbles. Not all bad, but just sayin'. Nothing there that checked all the boxes for me but I do appreciate the time and effort you...You seem to like singers who sound like they have a mouth full of marbles. Not all bad, but just sayin'.
Nothing there that checked all the boxes for me but I do appreciate the time and effort you took. Your curmudgeon is not curmudgeonly enough, not even really curmudgeonly at all. Now if the John Grant song you linked had been Chicken Bones then that would have belonged in the file for sure.Time for bed. The fireworks tonight got me all amped up but now I think I have finally burned that, and the sugar high from my once a year funnel cake binge, out of my system. Hope you are enjoying your leisure and chill, if not the holiday.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
cernunos LinkI just finished Nancy Milford's biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay, Savage Beauty, which I didn't like nearly as much as her biography of Zelda Fitzgerald. Savage beauty seemed scattered, bits...I just finished Nancy Milford's biography of Edna St. Vincent Millay, Savage Beauty, which I didn't like nearly as much as her biography of Zelda Fitzgerald. Savage beauty seemed scattered, bits and pieces of Millay's life rather than a narrative biography.
Currently I am working my way through the various Bordertown anthologies and those I highly recommend. They are fun, fresh even after decades, and the stories are surprisingly touching. Kind of proto urban fantasy, elves and rock n roll and technology and magic all collide. I have Borderland, Welcome to Bordertown, and The Essential Bordertown that I am working my way through currently. When I am finished I will look up the others, if there are any.
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Comment on GenX, what is a music video that you feel best represents us? in ~music
cernunos Link ParentAh man, I wish I could agree with you and that I could find music on here. I went through that thread and a couple of others, but nothing fits me. I don't like metal so all of that is out, which...Ah man, I wish I could agree with you and that I could find music on here. I went through that thread and a couple of others, but nothing fits me. I don't like metal so all of that is out, which is half of each thread. I always think that I have fairly low standards when it comes to music, just a couple of things are required, a singer who means what they sing, no whispery bullshit or ironic vocals, just sing the words that you wrote like you mean them without help from a program, and write music that is passionate, but turns out that is harder than your lover's heart when you forget to come home. I find that I am tired and worn out by irony and coolness, 3 chords and the Truth is what I want and can't find.
All of that was to say that I haven't been listening to anything new because I can't find anything new that I want to listen to. Here are some songs that have been played this past week, in no particular order:
Fiona Apple - Heavy Balloon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8whTAkkBv6U&list=PL6TUbDIwJZb4tdNRqB7IhykFWyzydBLah&index=4
John R Miller - Old Dance Floor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6Sah0WBvSg&list=PL6TUbDIwJZb4Ld1acTZ4o0d1C7Fv5juVH&index=11
Ren - Violet's Tale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4R9Vk5_CbU&list=PL6TUbDIwJZb7N9FLKqNmalods4Pc1-jX3&index=19
Kasey Chambers - Changed the Locks (Lucinda Williams cover)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAXw0zvjaQU&list=PL6TUbDIwJZb4Ld1acTZ4o0d1C7Fv5juVH&index=6
I'm With Her - Overland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSEm83eULZA&list=PL6TUbDIwJZb4Ld1acTZ4o0d1C7Fv5juVH&index=22
Roger Clyne - Americano
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj3m9RxODL4&list=PLX66jEixZe1zMTOkMJWifL6YJrdYoYj-e
Turnpike Troubadours - The Mercury
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCclpGkNac8
Lucinda Williams - Righteously
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4jliHBepykI'll stop there, that was probably way more than you wanted. Have a great weekend and enjoy the Independence Day festivities.
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Comment on GenX, what is a music video that you feel best represents us? in ~music
cernunos Link ParentHoney, don't walk out I'm too drunk to follow Yes, I have had some questionable friends, but they were entertaining. I read a Bruce Springsteen biography, turns out that The Boss is a neurotic...Honey, don't walk out
I'm too drunk to followYes, I have had some questionable friends, but they were entertaining.
I read a Bruce Springsteen biography, turns out that The Boss is a neurotic little dude who is nothing like the car/tough guy persona that was portrayed.
Dylan, sheesh, if you are a fan don't read any of his biographies. Jokerman is apt for him, can't keep a story straight and doesn't really care if you know it either.
Never meet your heroes, or read their biographies.
Racing in the street and Masters of War make up for everything though.Yeah, power to Maria! I didn't mean to knock her if that is what is sounded like, she is living the dream, choosing how she lives and what she does with her time.
What are some newer songs/bands that you love?
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Comment on GenX, what is a music video that you feel best represents us? in ~music
cernunos Link ParentThanks for the rec on the book, I just downloaded it and it is on the TBR pile now. That little documentary was funny. I always have the idea that the people who wrote those great songs must be...Thanks for the rec on the book, I just downloaded it and it is on the TBR pile now. That little documentary was funny. I always have the idea that the people who wrote those great songs must be deep, introspective thinkers, but no, turns out most of the time that they are normal people who were born with a gift, one that lets them put what everyone feels into words and music. This doesn't make them smarter or deeper, they are the same doofuses that we are. Petty, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench are good reminders of that, normal guys who aren't particularly learned or deep, but who were born with an ability to create songs and have honed their craft.
McKee made a string of really good albums and then quit for a while, got married and then somewhere in there decided she was(in her words) a dyke and now lives platonically with her film maker husband and dates women. Her last album was in 2020. The last album was not to my taste, it was, again to use her words, theatrical. She doesn't tour, hates it. So I think she makes little movies with her platonic husband and noodles around writing songs, which she may or may not record. That is all I know.
I am off to listen to Rebels by Petty. The first lyrics always knock me out because I have heard so many buddies say nearly the same thing to their wives/girlfriends.
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Comment on GenX, what is a music video that you feel best represents us? in ~music
cernunos Link ParentThat was just mean, the lead singer from Midnight Oil has always creeped me out. He is 6'6", can you imagine that guy dancing up to you in his weird herky jerky fashion at a bonfire party? Man it...That was just mean, the lead singer from Midnight Oil has always creeped me out. He is 6'6", can you imagine that guy dancing up to you in his weird herky jerky fashion at a bonfire party? Man it would be time to run. While I do agree that the song is very Gen X and love it, the video is on the do not watch list.
Do you remember Lone Justice, Maria McKee's band in the 80s? They weren't big but they had a minor hit with Ways to be Wicked, which was written by Tom Petty. I thought about it because you said he didn't want to sing with a woman. He gave the song to McKee because he was afraid it would sound too effeminate for him to sing it himself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u51H7gTAfLM
Bonus song by Maria McKee solo, nothing to do with Petty but it is one my fave songs of all time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qGodpYv4dMI hadn't thought about it but you are right I think, or mostly anyway, information speed changes things quickly. Lots of info, the idea of the summer of love turning out to be only a pipedream in the weed riddled heads of hippies, and then those same boomers declaring greed is good, turned the world on its head and made us cynics who had nothing and noone to believe in.
Is there a good biography of Petty? I would be interested in one that got in depth rather than being a money grab if you know of one.
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Comment on GenX, what is a music video that you feel best represents us? in ~music
cernunos (edited )Link ParentThanks Jewelergeorgia, especially for the song, I hadn't heard that Petty tune. I kinda like that shuffle thing going on. I think maybe there is a big jump from early Gen X and late, a lot of the...Thanks Jewelergeorgia, especially for the song, I hadn't heard that Petty tune. I kinda like that shuffle thing going on.
I think maybe there is a big jump from early Gen X and late, a lot of the videos and songs that are being posted in this thread seem more like millennial era to me, but maybe that just means I am old :).
I'll return the favor
Tom Petty, Insider(featuring Stevie Nicks)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7bjXWzms5I -
Comment on GenX, what is a music video that you feel best represents us? in ~music
cernunos Link ParentThank you, I looked up the track list and refound Sugar High by Coyote Shivers. I have always loved that song.Thank you, I looked up the track list and refound Sugar High by Coyote Shivers. I have always loved that song.
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Comment on GenX, what is a music video that you feel best represents us? in ~music
cernunos Link ParentNo, the GNR video tells an 80s, Gex X story. Young hayseed(you can tell he is a country boy because he actually has a long piece of straw in his mouth when he gets off of the bus) Axl takes a bus...No, the GNR video tells an 80s, Gex X story. Young hayseed(you can tell he is a country boy because he actually has a long piece of straw in his mouth when he gets off of the bus) Axl takes a bus from the heartland to try to make it big in L A. Instead of bright lights and beauty, what he expected from the city, he finds the jungle, full of drugs, hookers, and crazy, flashing lights. This is a story I heard growing up, don't go to the city or you'll get eaten alive. Hmm, thinking again, maybe you had to be Gen X in middle of nowhere Midwest to have the wonderful experience of being told, ad nauseum, by people who had never been in a town bigger than 5000 people, that the city was scary and you would get killed there. Axl Rose was from the Midwest as well so he no doubt grew up with the same silliness, urban stories to tell in the dark.
Wow, surprised you hadn't seen the Tom Petty video, it was inescapable for a year or so. -
Comment on GenX, what is a music video that you feel best represents us? in ~music
cernunos LinkI couldn't come up with a single music video, but I did narrow it down to 3, which was a herculean effort, no really it was, truly. Early 80s 99 Luftballons An attractive young lady with big hair...I couldn't come up with a single music video, but I did narrow it down to 3, which was a herculean effort, no really it was, truly.
Early 80s 99 Luftballons An attractive young lady with big hair and an anti war message, this epitomizes the early 80s to me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpu5a0Bl8eY
Mid 80s Tom Petty's Don't Come Around Here No More A classic rock band looking back to the psychedelic 60s, but in a poppy way. Gen X has always been in the middle, of all sorts of things, musically there are lots of classic rock Gen Xers, lots of Madonna fans, REM, it just depends on who your friends were.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0JvF9vpqx8&t=107sLater 80s Guns N Roses came in and blew the doors off, setting the stage for grunge which was just around the corner.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1tj2zJ2WvgThat is what I came up with but I think it all depends upon where you grew up and who your friends were because there were so many different zeitgeists, fads, and little niches.
Yes, I agree that when you are first starting out you should try anything and everything, simply to see what works for you. Try it all, but keep in mind that you have to decide for yourself, you can't let others, no matter how many books they have published, tell you what should work.
I have read On Writing and I think that a ton of his advice only works for writers who work like he does. King is someone who can sit down and dash off pages, like Kerouac on a dexedrine binge, and then needs to pare those pages down. Some writers do not write in that same way, instead they weigh their words and sentences, so they aren't able to smash out thousands of words per day and then edit. Rather they edit as they go, well at least to a much greater extent than King does. I know that On Writing is lauded, but to me it was geared toward writers who write like King, not writers who purposely choose to write carefully and who are exacting in their choice of words. But yes, by all means, hone your craft, work on it everyday if you are able.
Another tactic that I find helpful is to read what you have written aloud. You may sound like a mad woman if someone is in the other room, but reading it out loud, especially anything approaching dialogue, gives you an idea on whether or not your sentences and dialogue sound natural and flow. I was working on a novel one time and there was a scene where two lovers were quarreling. I read it out loud in the room where I was writing to make sure the writing sounded like a real lovers' spat. When I finished up and came out of my little writing room my girlfriend at the time was angry, really angry. She thought I was on speaker phone arguing with another woman. It took a long time to convince her I wasn't runnin' 'round on her. So if you are going to read aloud make sure you warn your SO.