Actually, I'm on the road. I might not be on the road from 7-9am tomorrow, but if I'm not, & I'm not asleep, I'll be listening to Maria & Macy as they do a Self Help Radio episode about roads!
You can find it on 88.1 fm on your dial +/or online at wrfl dot fm, which is how I'll be listening!
You are in for a treat!
Friday, June 26, 2015
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Grief
I've written about grief before, when I talked about the death of my dog George, & I am still flabbergasted by how powerful grief is. I know I wrote this already, but the night George died, I drank an extraordinary amount of whiskey - probably enough to put most anyone to blackout sleep - but my mind wouldn't let me get drunk. It was so absorbed in the pain I was going through that it said "fuck you" to the alcohol in my head. On Facebook, I wrote: "grief > alcohol," a mathematical equation I haven't tested since then. Nor do I want to.
To a friend today I wrote this:
"I was walking the dogs yesterday & trying to understand why grief seemed to be the most powerful emotion I've ever felt. I think it's because it's every emotion you feel for the thing you have lost - not just the love, but the dumb things, the frustration, the anger, the impatience, the worry - everything that goes into a living, breathing relationship with someone - & all the years are dropped on you all at once. It's crippling. You lose a little of yourself, & you know it."
It seems strange to me that we survive grief. It must be that grief transforms us somehow. Transforms us without making us colder. If anything, it makes us more sensitive. That seems counter-intuitive.
Despite the name of my radio show, I don't really read much self-help or even listen to those shows. I've never seen an episode of "Dr. Phil," just clips on shows like "The Soup." I am resisting reading what social scientists say about grief because at some level I don't think understanding it will help any. Not when you're so deep in it.
Like every emotional battering, grief makes it hard to be logical. But look at me, here, making a stab at it.
To a friend today I wrote this:
"I was walking the dogs yesterday & trying to understand why grief seemed to be the most powerful emotion I've ever felt. I think it's because it's every emotion you feel for the thing you have lost - not just the love, but the dumb things, the frustration, the anger, the impatience, the worry - everything that goes into a living, breathing relationship with someone - & all the years are dropped on you all at once. It's crippling. You lose a little of yourself, & you know it."
It seems strange to me that we survive grief. It must be that grief transforms us somehow. Transforms us without making us colder. If anything, it makes us more sensitive. That seems counter-intuitive.
Despite the name of my radio show, I don't really read much self-help or even listen to those shows. I've never seen an episode of "Dr. Phil," just clips on shows like "The Soup." I am resisting reading what social scientists say about grief because at some level I don't think understanding it will help any. Not when you're so deep in it.
Like every emotional battering, grief makes it hard to be logical. But look at me, here, making a stab at it.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Family Matters
There will be a Gary-less (not, as is usual, garrulous) Self Help Radio on Saturday morning. But there will be a Self Help Radio, which is wonderful. The two delightful women who brought you the twins show earlier this year will step in for me & do a show about… Well, I don't know! They haven't told me. They are Maria & Macy, of course.
I have to be out of town on family matters. It's a sad story that I don't want to talk about just yet but it does require my presence. For lots of reasons. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm being coy.
I've been pretty candid about my relationship with my family on this blog, probably because so few people read it, & also because I really love to talk about my family. I don't know if I really love my family as a unit, but there are members I love dearly. The truth is, most of them are whatever is slightly less than strangers to me. Because of that, I have toyed around with starting a blog called "Gary Complains About His Family." But of course there was always a part of me that thought that would be a little tacky.
Anyway. I'll discuss things once I'm slightly more clear headed. I'm very glad that Maria & Macy will be hosting the show, though. I think they're dynamite.
Macy & Maria
(or is it Maria & Macy?)
I have to be out of town on family matters. It's a sad story that I don't want to talk about just yet but it does require my presence. For lots of reasons. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm being coy.
I've been pretty candid about my relationship with my family on this blog, probably because so few people read it, & also because I really love to talk about my family. I don't know if I really love my family as a unit, but there are members I love dearly. The truth is, most of them are whatever is slightly less than strangers to me. Because of that, I have toyed around with starting a blog called "Gary Complains About His Family." But of course there was always a part of me that thought that would be a little tacky.
Anyway. I'll discuss things once I'm slightly more clear headed. I'm very glad that Maria & Macy will be hosting the show, though. I think they're dynamite.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Sugar Substitute # 162
This is the freeform show I do before Self Help Radio, & I play lots of different stuff, as you can see in the playlist below, including something from the delightful, strange & weird new collaboration between Scotland's Franz Ferdinand & the legendary band Sparks. Again, what I played is below.
You can listen now by going to the Self Help Radio website. Is there a problem with a username & a password? Did you mean SHR/selfhelp? I thought so.
Please to enjoy.
"1/2" Barcelona _Simon Basic_
"The Power Couple" FFS _FFS_
"Yuppie Restaurant" Barnabys _Augustus Loop_
"Notches On A Frame" Barna Howard _Quite A Feelin'_
"Riding Lightning" Crushed Out _Teeth_
"Crazy" Winter _Supreme Blue Dream_
"It Could Have Been Cheryl" The Brotherhood Of Lizards _The Wayward Genius Of Martin Newell_
"The Pattern" Ceremony _The L-Shaped Man_
"Oh No! The Unicorns Are Knife Fighting Again" Ladybirds _Regional Community Theater_
"Clap Your Hands!" Clap Your Hands Say Yeah _Clap Your Hands Say Yeah_
"Antwoman" Robyn Hitchcock _Jewels For Sophia_
"Going On Cold" Blind Mr. Jones _Stereo Musicale_
"Paul Newman" The Fontaines _The Fontaines EP_
"Life Is Strange" T.Rex _Tanx_
"Willie Goes To The Seashore" Tullycraft _Old Traditions, New Standards_