how to beat writer's block

writer’s block is a real person.

he’s sitting on my desk right now, poking his tongue out at me. he thinks he’s cleverer than me by pointing out that everything i write has been written before only better. he cackles very loudly at my complete dependence on spell check and my blatant disregard for grammar. even the lack of capitals at the beginning of sentences is a source of endless amusement for mr. block. the problem with this unwanted guest is that he doesn’t seem to understand simple instructions like “go away” or “you’re not welcome here”. in fact, the more he hears those words, the more he digs his heels in.

one of the worst traits of wb is that he’s a frequent visitor. one of those annoying people who turn up unannounced on an alarmingly regular basis and declare that they’ll be staying “for a while”. you have no idea for how long. could be a few hours. a few days. forever? sometimes he brings along members of his family. uncle yousuck, auntie giveitup and cousin bigfatfail. and they all seem very content to set up camp in your living room and banter endlessly while you’re trying to “hahahaha she calls it writing!” work.

in a seemingly endless battle to keep this irritating little pest away, i find myself procrastinating, surfing nonsense on the internet and playing mafia wars. what i should be doing is writing the little bugger out of existence. there’s nothing writer’s block likes less than being ineffective. my muse (who shall remain nameless for now but she knows who she is ;-)) sent me a poem the other day. it’s not often you get a bit of real culture on this blog but i don’t think there’s any harm in it every now and then. you never know, it might even do you some good. it certainly did me.

if you lose your pen by ruth forman

and all you find is a broken pencil on the floor
and the pencil has no sharpener
and the sharpener is in the store
and your pocket has no money

and if you look
again
and all you find is a black Bic
and the Bic you need is green

and if it appears beneath the mattress of your couch
but the couch is dirty and suddenly you want to clean
beneath the pillows
but you have no vacuum and the vacuum is in the store
and your pocket has no money

it is not your pen you are looking for

it is your tongue and those who speak with it
your grandmothers and doves and ebony spiders
hovering in the corners of your throat

it is your tongue
and if you cannot find your tongue
do not go looking for the cat
you know you will not find her
she is in the neighbor’s kitchen eating Friskies
she is in the neighbor’s yard making love

if you cannot find your tongue do not look for it
for you are so busy looking it cannot find you
the doves are getting dizzy and your grandmothers annoyed
be still and let them find you
they will come when they are ready

and when they are
it will not matter if your pockets are empty
if you write with a green Bic or a black Bic
or the blood of your finger
you will write
you will write

creative juices

after the flurry of activity that went down a week or so ago, there has been a distinct lack of new words to appear on this blog. it’s my fault. i went into hibernation while my partner in crime buggered off to majorca for 10 days. it’s a funny thing, we’re so used to bouncing ideas off each other that when one of us is away, the other seems to become a creative wasteland. anyway, we’re back on track and will be investigating t-shirts and merchandise ideas this week. we had a very productive discussion with one of our dedicated fans (who’s a bit of a fashionista) and she’s given us other ideas of grandeur. more on that when we get our shit together…

we have another gig coming up fast and furious. we’ve been invited to play the babel festival on the 30th may. no further details at the moment because they are very disorganised (nothing new about that!). as soon as we know more, it’ll be posted here.

that’s all from me today. i’ll be back when i have more details or just to write a bit of nonsense for your reading pleasure (or not as the case may be)

the poet

as you know, we are a band of many talents (!*@$!) but you may not know that our own adorable and amazing guitarist, andreas, is a poet. in fact, his surreal poetry was the influence behind the song metal bear. you can read his two published collections at his own blog entegma (in greek). the first book is called καθισμενος and the second is επτάψυχη μεταλλική αρκούδα (choose from the drop-down menus under the titles).

there is talk of a third book and i am hoping that we can add this to the goodies that will be available to buy on the bad mathematics shopping site sometime in the future.

for now, hop over to the site and have a look around. for all you ancient greek history buffs, there are also articles about the underground bands that michalis and andreas were involved in before bad mathematics (παρανyχiδες and gobidibu).

dark and dangerous stuff.

the women are taking over

most of the big music blogs are written by men. that is true. actually most of the big blogs in general are written by men. here is a big list of music blogs written by women. watch out boys, there are some big bad female voices out there…

go and check out this list from bon ton.

This is my attempt to list women who write music blogs [I went ahead and added myself to it in case anyone is copying this down]. If you are female and you write for a music blog, drop a comment! The Polite World is so much larger than I can navigate, but I want to add you to the list. [And if I put you on here by mistake and you’re not female… please enlighten me.]

overflowing with comments

we’ve had 11 comments on this blog so far! we also had 71 views so far this week, 14 of them today!
that’s great! i know i complain all the time but i am chuffed. thank you dearest reader for following my scratchings.

just showing off. that’s all.

over and out.

that didn't work

what does a girl have to do to get a comment on this blog ? i guess i’m going to have to post naked pictures of the band here. just kidding i wouldn’t inflict that on you, dearest reader.

i got a haircut a couple of day ago. now that’s news !

thanks guys

for all your kind words and thoughts and best wishes…
oh well, a girl can hope can’t she ?
myspace is really crap for blogging. it’s all about making “friends”. don’t get me wrong. that’s good too but it would be good to speak to each other too…

write a comment

so we are back in our “studio” every friday messing about and coming up with some good stuff (we think so anyway). trying to organise a gig possibly at the an club where, despite the terrible sound and disgusting weather on our first appearance there, we got a good crowd and the response was great. we will let you know as soon as we do !

on a personal note, i’m just waiting for my third comment on this blog…. come on people, say hello, tell us how much you love us (or wish we would go away as the case may be) i’m not doing this for my benefit. well, i am but that’s not the point…

looking forward to a flood of comments. i won’t hold my breath though…

happity crimble

1 comment so far and 30 something posts. so by mid march we should have two comments on our blog… cool.

hey, whatever, we are rock people. we can take the rough with the smooth. myspace is a bit odd for that though. lots of friends and no bloggers ? better than being johnny no mates all over again.
i don’t know how much i will be here over the christmas thingy break thingy, so wishing you all a good time. and see you in the new year.

knowing me i will probably post in the meantime but … for those on extended breaks and hols and those who just don’t care… happy christmas.

why blog

I’ve noticed that very few bands write to their blogs. i wonder why ? it’s a great way of letting people know what you’re up to or just rambling on like i do. so people, why not subscribe to this blog or post to your own ? you never know you might like it… or maybe i’m just nosey.