On Summit

THE PARTY I'm late to the party. Again. Two parties, actually. HOW LATE? A couple decades when it comes to the feminist critique of Bruce Springsteen. That may have peeked in 1992 with the publication of Pamela Moss's Where Is the "Promised Land"?: Class and Gender in Bruce Springsteen's Rock Lyrics . And Lydia Loveless? Late again, this time by a few years. While my tastemaker friends (who are legion) were enthusiastically extolling the virtues of 2011's Indestructible Machine , I was still in the throws of a prolonged summer crush involving Kelly Clarkson's pop masterpiece All I Ever Wanted (which I'd been listening to more or less on infinite repeat for two years). It wasn't until last fall that I waded into what is arguably the shallow end of the Lydia Loveless pool. I was at Lost Weekend Records , having recommitted to the idea of "supporting the scene" by purchasing local music from a local store. Truth be told, I don'...

So I touched on some 2014 resolutions when I wrote this post . Well, I got to thinking that a list of resolutions deserved their own post. I also thought they should be bulleted, checklist-style, for easy referencing. Then, upon further reflection, I thought of a few more things I'd like to add. So without further adieu, here's my complete and reformatted 2014 Resolution list: Read 52 Books Paint 52 Paintings Exercise Every Day Eat More Fruits and Vegetables Write at Least Eight Reviews for Columbus Underground Keep Up With My Social Medias Record With Jim Diamond in Detroit Take a Continuing Education Class at CCAD Fix My Scooter Rake Leaves Get a New Car Paint the Living Room Dining Room, Stairwell and Hallway Enroll in a Krav Maga Self-Defense Class Establish a Primary Care Physician Get All Those Horrid Tests Men My Age Get Listen to More (New) Music Buy More Local Music Take My Lovely Wife Out More Talk My Lovely Wife Into a Trip To Ireland Barring...

I don't know if anyone else was keeping track (besides me), but you might recall at the start of 2013 I challenged myself to read 52 books and paint 52 paintings in 2013. Well, here's how that worked out: The Good News The good news is I read exactly 52 books in 2013! A full accounting of thos books can be found here: Jeff's 2013 Reading Challenge Recap.   As I reflect on the year's reading I'm struck by the fact that I didn't really read a single OMG THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!!! book. Don't get me wrong, I read a lot of books that I really liked ( The Rage , The Shining Girls , Colin Fischer , The Dog Stars , and Flora & Ulysses were among the standouts). I just don't think I read anything that was a real game changer. I'm struck too by how few really popular adult fiction titles I read last year. Popular young adult fiction was pretty well represented ( The Hunger Games ,...