![\"Summer](\"http:\/\/www.othertime.com\/musicblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/wpid-Photo-Jul-5-2011-1138-AM.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThoughts like this only come to me in the summer. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something to do with the heat and my inability to do anything useful. The long days and heat make moving difficult and coherent thoughts aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as plentiful as they need to be for anything to get done. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help but think that this is why we always read about famous writers and artists going to the ocean for the summer and living like wild animals in villas. Me? I have no villa. I have a nice deck that I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sit on when the temperatures hit the triple digits and a lawn that needs mowing. I retreat to the comfort of the ceiling fans and ice water at the very thought of moving.<\/p>\n
In these long, hot days it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very difficult to find that balance. The trigger needs to be tripped and it feels like the mechanism is rusted shut. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure this has something to do with the academic calendar and the way that it drills \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Summer Is Slack Time\u00e2\u20ac\u009d into the mind of those of us who took our education a little too far. Thus in the summer, only the important things get done. The really important things. Like reading light novels and taking road trips. Or sitting very still on the couch and ignoring the sweat. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to see why one might resort to over-inflating the importance of one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work simply to get the butt off of the couch and into the studio.<\/p>\n
The summer requires a different strategy. Single sitting exercises. Write a complete piece in one hour. Whatever is done when the time is up, is done. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m writing a lot of songs that way right now. I give myself the benefit of some editing during my daily review, but for the most part I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m knocking out stuff. It will turn into something when the time is right. Maybe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the creative equivalent of laying in stores for the long winter ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seriously Serving the Work Is there any sin a creative person can commit that is worse than taking himself too seriously? Even a genius with a lifetime of brilliant work loses some credibility when it becomes clear that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doubling …<\/p>\n