The Two Joes

All the reconnection I've been doing has made me a little nostalgic for some musicians I knew. Joe Bilotti and Joey Howell. We all went to the same highschool, though Mr. Howell was a grade or two above.

These are two of the nicest guys you'll ever meet and I'll be damned if you don't always find them with a smile on their faces.

As musicians, they were two of the best I've ever seen. Mr. Bilotti I believe studied music at my alma matter, Montclair State in NJ, while I believe Mr. Howell attended The Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Back when I was single in my twenties, these two played together in a band (of which I don't recall the name)...but they were just amazing together.

I only recently found out Mr. Bilotti was playing in Soft Parade and that made me try to hunt down what became of Mr. Howell, who is currently playing in a band called Parrot Beach. If you ever get the chance to see these bands with these two playing, go; you'll see true musicianship.

I maybe off on some of my info here, so anyone that knows, please feel free to correct me.

On Writing

I maybe a book snob but I can appreciate the ability to write well. My old friend Pete once told me (or at least this is what I remember him telling me) of a journalism or some other writing class he was taking in college one year.

I don't recall if this was the first day of class, but the classroom was on the ground floor and apparently the professor entered class through a window. Then he proceeded to discuss some bumper stickers he'd seen and engaged the whole class in this discussion. Finally, some uptight person asked what bumper stickers had to do with the class they were in. Of course, the professor said "everything" because bumper stickers had to say so much with so little...concise writing at its best.

Now, Pete's story might really be an Urban Myth but....

I think good comic books are the same. You've got limited space for narrative and dialogue so you need to be as concise and effective as possible.

I recently came across a film making blog where the writer is taking his comic and converting it to a script. His comic did much with just pictures but he made effective use of the limited space of his text. Comparing his comic to his script is interesting to see what goes into the process. And he's open to feedback....

Dreams, pt 2

I had some rather interesting dreams last night. As in my previous post, it's usually hard to recall them as they fade so quickly. However, the last dream of the night was rather vivid and I can recall it even as I write this.

But this isn't what I'm writing about. Based on a recent post on depression, I started thinking back on my old dreams. While I can recall the dreams in my old journal, I can't recall any from my late twenties or my thirties; again, water out to sea.

I wonder if my dreams would have been different had I diagnosed my depression earlier in life and had been taking medication. Would they be different in any way? How does depression affect the subconscious? How does medication?

An interesting question.

Meds

An old, recently reconnected friend has a post on his blog about how a nurse was surprised when asked what medications he was on and he said none. Pete is a runner so is probably in fairly good shape in his middle age of 44.

I turn 44 very soon. Between the ages of 39 and 41 my cholesterol fluctuated up and down based, a little on diet, but mostly on my various attempts to start and maintain an exercise regiment.

At 42, my blood pressure at work would rise and just wipe me out. All told, according to my doctor, this, along with the cholesterol, was a genetic problem. Now, this was hard to swallow. My father had a debilitating stroke 11 yrs earlier--but he smoked since a teenager, drank consistently (until the point of full blown alcoholism) and ate whatever he wanted to. So, I saw his problems as self induced and mine shouldn't be.

Today, I'm convinced I could at least control my cholesterol with some level of consistent exercise. Blood pressure, we'd have to see.

But the reason my friend's nurse was surprised is that so many men our age are on at least one if not both of these medicines. Good for Pete that he is not.

Then, last year, I worked my way onto Cymbalta and that has had a very large effect on my life, but that is for another post.

So, here I am, middle-aged and counting pills--but thanks to Cymbalta, no worries...