Preface To Passion: It Feels So Weird To Write This On A Saturday

Guess I'll have to get used to it!

Here's something I might or might not have said: I'll be doing two radio shows on Monday.  That's right, in addition to Self Help Radio I'm going to be subbing a show on XRAY called What I Like.  It's super fun & I will in no way be able to capture how good it is when DJ Flash Gordon Quarterback New York Jets is on, so I think I'm going to repurpose an old Self Help Radio.

Something I might also not have mentioned is that I spent all day Sunday working on the first Self Help Radio in Portland & got maybe three hours sleep.  Part of that was bad planning.  A lot of it is my anxiety keeping me awake.  I haven't overslept for a show in years but my brains acts like I will
probably do it if I don't fret about it for hours before I stumble into a fitful, rem-less sleep.

Thinking of sleep, I have fond memories of falling asleep in class.  In both high school & college, I feel like I had the most restful naps when, bored stiff, I'd pretend to be taking notes & cover my downcast face with my hand & just doze off.  Inevitably the elbow of my right arm would give way & it would wake me.  I'd be confused but oh so refreshed.

Now when I am busy listening to music or writing some fake ad or editing an interview, the urge to sleep is strong.  I never knew how fucking lazy I was until I started putting more work into this show.

Speaking of: I know it's a Saturday night but I am going to go to sleep now so I can wake up early to work on two shows for Monday.  Please don't envy me this rock star lifestyle - I put my pants on one leg at a time like you do.  Although now you're making me feel that's the wrong way to do it.  Should I be doing it two legs at a time?  Three?  Four?

See you in the a.m.

The Thing The Internet Knew I Needed

You can find this beauty here.  I highly recommend "even wrong is right."

Thank you, internet!

How'd It Go?

When Self Help Radio was on Fridays, I wrote something on this blog for five days of the week, starting on Mondays.  Now Self Help Radio is on Mondays.  To write five times a week I need to shift the week ahead, what?  Three days?  So the first day I write is - well, it's Sunday, but that would be equivalent to the fourth day.  Sundays are the new Thursdays.  Or has that phraseology passed from use?

In any event.  I'll be writing here from Thursday to Monday.  On Monday, I'll put the show up after it has aired onto the Self Help Radio website.  Monday is the new Friday.  At least around here.

But you asked how it went.  It went swimmingly.  I had a blast.  True, it was Labor Day morning & when I drove home - at 8:30 - they were as quiet as they were at 5:30 - maybe just a tad busier - but I suspect this Monday it'll be a different story.

Really, I felt so good after Monday's show, & it got even better.  When I returned home, the wife was awake & acting weird.  She told me to sit down & wait then went somewhere.  I knew it was important because she took the car.  She'll drive across town on a bike rather than drive.

When she got back, she brought me from a vegan donut shop around here called Doe Donuts this:

It's six donuts plus one donut hole that spell out the frequency of Freeform Portland plus "SHR" for you-know-what.

Sometimes she makes me feel loved.  The "S" up there was a peanut butter & jelly donut.  I ate it first.  I mentioned just today that I had a peanut butter & jelly donut & he said, "I never knew such a thing existed but now I want it."

It bugs her, but I keep telling my wife: "How're you going to top last week this Monday?"

It's good to be back on the air.  I hope I never leave.

Self Help Radio 090219: Start Again

(It's not a new start, it's start again - oh never mind.  Image from here.)

Hey, that was fun!  I was up late Sunday working on the show & had about three hours sleep, but there's always something wonderful about doing Self Help Radio live.  The last time I did that was actually not in Lexington, as you might imagine, but when I did two episodes (they were basically live versions of prerecorded shows that aired on WLXU) on KVRX at the end of 2017.  That was exhilarating, this felt even better.

How or why I can't explain.  Freeform Portland just feels like home.  The show as it aired is now at Self Help Radio dot net & you'll need to use a username (SHR) & a password (selfhelp) to listen.  I've divided the show into two parts again, I don't exactly know why, maybe if it'd annoying you can tell me.  I think it's because the second hour needs a legal ID & so it's like a natural partition.  The troubles with starting all over.

What's on the show is listed below.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it!

Self Help Radio Starts Again
"Start Again" Artisans _Why Popstars Can't Dance_
"Start Again" Tri-State _We Did What We Could Do_
"Start Again (live)" Echo & The Bunnymen _Crystal Days: 1979-1999_

introduction & a little history

"Start Again" Starlings _Valid_
"Start Again" Sounds Like Sunset _Saturdays_
"Lifeboat" Monty Python _Another Monty Python Record_
"Start Again" Bleeding Rainbow _Interrupt_
"Start Again" Bishop Allen _Lights Out_

interview with podcaster Zach Hightower

"Begin Again" California Snow Story _Close To The Ocean_
"Begin Again" Rocket 3 _Burn_
"Begin Again" Citrus Clouds _Imagination_
"Begin Again" Larry & His Flask _This Remedy_

interview with artist Cornelius Magnusson

"Rip It Up" Orange Juice _The Very Best Of Orange Juice_
"Start All Over Again" Smokey Joe _Rhythm & Blues Goes Rock & Roll, Vol. 1_
"Starting The Hurt All Over Again" Brenda Holloway _The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 7: 1967_
"I'll Begin Again" Sammy Davis Jr. _Now_

lawyer Bobcat Slone interrupts!

"Can't We Start Again" Les Poissons Solubles _Untitled Split 7" With Snowbirds_
"A New Beginning" Red Letter Day _Red Letter Day_
"A New Beginning" The Sweetest Ache _Rolling Meadows: Songs About Our Past, Vol. 2_
"Brand New Start" The Crookes _Lucky Ones_

interview with the Rev Dr Howard Gently

"It Started All Over Again" Brenda Lee _I Got A Woman: Gems From The Decca Vaults USA 1960-1961_
"Start Again" Look See Proof _Between Here & There_
"New Day, Fresh Start" Kicker _Our Wild Mercury Years_
"Start Anew" Acid House Kings _Mondays Are Like Tuesdays & Tuesdays Are Like Wednesdays_

conclusion & goodbye

"Starting All Over Again" Mel & Tim _Take Me To The River: A Southern Soul Story 1961-1977_
"Why Not Start All Over Again" The Counts _What's Up Front That Counts_

Whither Start Again?

(Image from here.)

"Start again"?  Wait a second!  I have two important questions here!

Okay, fire away.

One: didn't you already do a show about starting?

Yes, that show happened in 2015, & you can see the playlist by clicking here.

I knew it!  & two: doesn't it say on your website "a new start"?  Isn't that supposed to be the theme?

It does.  However, I had completely forgotten I had originally done a "start" show.

Of course you did.

So it seemed wise to avoid what I had originally played by changing the theme to "start again."

How is that different?

You'll see.

See?

You'll hear.

When can I hear it?

Glad you asked!  Tomorrow morning from 6-8am!

Where can I hear it?

In Portland at 90.3 + 89.3 fm, & online everywhere at Freeform Portland dot org.

Why can I hear it?

Because you have ears?

6am tomorrow - hey!  That's like a little over half a day away!

Don't remind me!