Shouts From Down Under

Check if your head is up top; both hands, feel it's...there?

I saw a symbol today, in the window of a chemist shop (pharmacy, drug store, 藥店, tiệm thuốc tây, apotek, Botika, whatever) of a disconnected, isolated, ignorant, stubborn, unlearned, dopey, overly proud, thoughtless and basically selfish writer.



It could be me.

Or, is it you?

Do you write with your brain connected, and started up, before you engage the clutch of your output communication device?

Just curious- no trick question here- just basic wonder factor.

I mean, lyrics don't seem to have the need for logical thought to generate millions of fans, pounds, dollars, dinero, yen and whatever other currency poured into The Beatles bank balances.

It really was a balancing act.

Should we think with our heads when we write or go by the seat of our pants? Perhaps we don't want to even go there.



A Day in the Life
The Beatles

I read the news today oh, boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well, i just had to laugh
I saw the photograph
He blew his mind out in a car
He didn't notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They'd seen his face before
Nobody was really sure if he was from the house of lords

I saw a film today oh, boy
The english army had just won the war
A crowd of people turned away
But i just had to look
Having read the book
I love to turn you on.

Woke up, got out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up, i noticed i was late
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
Somebody spoke and i went into a dream
Ah

I read the news today oh, boy
Four thousand holes in blackburn, lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the albert hall
I'd love to turn you on

Of course there's the example of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

Or this one. Perhaps the writer has a face after all, and logic would lead to the face being on a head. That thinks.



Isn't it great when you listen to material, or read material, by an artist you've always enjoyed, but you realise what you're hearing is new. You didn't realise they sang that. You didn't realise 'til today that they wrote that.

You always thought they were A style, but this is in B style. And hey. It's fantastic.

Even if we lose our heads, and perhaps even our duds, over writing that best selling blockbuster, we don't have to panic. We can still hitch up a tow rope to a new style, a different genre, a better perspective, a new (at least for us) fangle in the angle.

One time when our kids were younger and innocent (more than now of course) one of them asked me, "Dad, how do you lock a car's doors manually?"

Well today, I noticed a door into that same pharmacy. The door was NOT AUTOMATIC. I nearly fell over. Oh the retro-ness of it. The vintage feeling. The days of old came flooding back. Those days when we slid doors or pulled on handles, before we went into shops.

The days when we were young. The days when cars still had cassette players, no USB port or Bluetooth enable-ment.

They were the days of plain old ordinary compact disks. None of these complicated techno marvel Blue Ray gadgets.

Don't believe me look for yo'sef.

https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/21886

Writers. People who can function quite well without heads, thank you very much, as long as the coffee can be bought in an intravenous bag, or caffeine patches...

Today, I met an awesome author. Up to this time, I haven't socialised much with any authors in the flesh. So this was a moment in history, at least for me.

She writes cook books, and lives right here, in Tasmania. She was in a book store, signing copies of her books, and had some very more-ish satay chicken in an electric pan.

https://www.facebook.com/sallywisecookingschool?fref=ts

Just goes to show what I've always suspected.

Writers don't have to have heads. Just taste buds, a frying pan, and perhaps some packets of 2 minute noodles.

However, Sally Wise obviously used her head while writing her books, and doing the practical cooking and promotion of her books. I wish her well. The first author I've ever had the pleasure of meeting in real life.

I can recommend the experience, even to those of us who carry a large heavy suitcase full of issues such as anxiety and social difficulties around with us.

Yes, even if you are shy, socially awkward, a loner, anti people or don't like crowded book stores, do yourself a favour. Go meet a real author like Sally Wise.

Because you'll get a boost from seeing what you'll achieve given time.

She said "The difference between a published author and all the others, is just perseverance."

Thanks Sally.

Sparky