It occurs to me, and matters to no one else, that I need to spruce up some of the site’s images. Some of the headers and footers on the blog should be updated removed, and the images on the front need a big refresh. I think I might get into some or all of that next week. I have, of late, updated a few of the mini-banners you see breaking up sections of each post. Some of those have already been implemented. Others will make their debut later this summer.
You could say that the blog’s aesthetic itself is due a refresh — I’ve run this WordPress theme for seven years, it seems — but I don’t know of a better look for what I’m (barely) doing here. Those rotating headers and footers, a bit of PHP echo code, are the key. Go ahead, click refresh a few times. You’ll always have a different look. There are, as of this writing, 107 different headers and 107 footers that surround these brilliant words. But you’re right, 107 is too many. That should get pared back.
The problem, he sighed, is that I use a basic numerical system for the numbering, which makes the PHP randomizer work better. So if I decided to remove, say, the 36th header, 37 must become 36, 38 must become 37 and so on, all the way up to 107. Errr, 106. This isn’t hard, but it can be tedious and leads to errors, which leads to restoring backups, which always feels more perilous than it should, even though my host is incredible. And all of that comes after the editorial angst. Sure, that trip to Washington was terrific, but is that cloud shot important enough, really, to keep in play? And I have to ask myself that 214 times?
Take this one, for example.
That’s from my former job, it has no meaning to me, but it’s supremely ridiculous, and so it survived the last cleaning. What was the point here? That they’d mastered the art of putting eyelets in cardboard stock? Showing they had a second font? Did someone have it out for sans serif and inconsistent stroke? They could now do full color? Were people missing the older 1960s-ish sign an inch above it?
That one, I’m sure, I shot for the specific purpose of making as header art. But what of other photographs? Easy enough to edit, I only look at them and wonder about the decisions I made when I hurriedly cropped them to fit the template. If editing them is easy, taking them out of rotation is harder.
I’d rather edit something I’d written — kill my babies, as writers say — than take photos out of the mix.
Of course, I have an entire folder of retired banner images, why do you ask? Why do I have an entire folder of retired banner images? Because, well, you never know.
We could get into the philosophical here, too, reducing the volume increases the penetration, but I’ve already written 500 words about … well … nothing.
I have a reorganization idea though, maybe I’ll implement that this summer.
In today’s installment of the Re-Listening project, 1998/1999-me picked up my copy of “March,” the 1989 debut album of singer-songwriter Michael Penn. I love this record.
The song you might remember is “No Myth,” which went to 22 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, number five on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, peaked at four on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, and hit number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.
There are a lot of musicians’ musicians on this record, and most of Prince’s backing band are listed in the credits, too. Kenny Aronoff, who played with John Mellencamp and John Fogerty, and graduated from right here at IU, plays some of the drums.
I’m not sure if it was this record, or his next one, where I thought it would be neat to sit down for a few days and try to write things with him. I don’t normally think that about musicians. I enjoy the work, I might see the shows if it works out, but I never think, “What would happen if I, a person who has never written a song in his life, sat down with this person and a few notepads?” Except, fpr some reason, when I listen to a Michael Penn record. No idea why. Could be the clever lyrics.
The other reason, I think, was that I didn’t have that much going on whenever that idea came to mind.
As debuts go, this record shows so much promise and potential. Penn wasn’t exactly a new to all of this. He was in Doll Congress, which earned a nice following in Los Angeles. Half of the songs on this record he wrote during his time in that alternative band, which might explain the incredible varied, and engaging things he’s doing throughout this record. This is the last track.
A few other Michael Penn CDs will appear in the Re-Listening project sooner or later. These days, he seems to be spending his time producing others, and composing and scoring for TV shows and movies. In October of 2020, with no other work on his plate, he released a non-soundtrack song for the first time in years. Presumably he’s back at it again these days.
I was hoping I would discover he’s doing small venue gigs and that he was going to be in the neighborhood this fall, but alas.
Have a great weekend! I’m sure I’ll be here, muttering about banner images.
