james mcmurtry: lights of cheyenne

After Thanksgiving week off, I'm back to work in a major way, revising book 3. For this book, I'm needing to get my head into a dusty, hot, rural kind of mental space and nothing says dusty, hot, and rural like a good James McMurtry song. This one, from his Live in Aught-Three album, is one of my favorite. It was partially recorded here in Salt Lake City at the now-abandoned Zephyr. Also I have seen him live at the Arts Festival here, on a hot summer night, his long hair blowin' in the breeze... Over at www.sarazarr.com I've been running a little series on shopping local over the holidays, so check that out if you're inclined. Reminder to MySpacers: If you're under a certain age (can't remember what age), your profile is automatically set to not accept messages from people who aren't your friends, so if you send me a message I can't reply unless you friend me. I get all my messages and try to respond to all of them! But sometimes the system won't let me. Okay, back to work, hope you are all enjoying turkey sandwiches and Advent!

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the eels: i write the b-sides

Since last week's profile song was pure country pop, I had to go at least a little bit alt to make up for it. I heard this on KRCL yesterday morning and it seemed like the perfect song to go along with my mood, which was slightly underachievery and anxious but still not quite on the slippery slope to total downer. Visit my profile to hear it. (Hopefully you already figured that out.) If you are not familiar with Barry Manilow's "I Write the Songs," you should go find that, too. I'm off to San Antonio this week to congregate with thousands of English teachers, other writers, and publishing people at the annual conference of the National Council of Teachers of English. Maybe YOUR teacher will be there! Maybe YOU will be there! I posted my schedule at sarazarr.com if you want to know where I'll be when. Hope to see you there...

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dierks bentley: feel that fire

"She wants to ride the bull at the rodeo." Yep, that's me! Okay, well, maybe not so much, but I still love this new single from my favorite country singer, Dierks Bentley. I know that some readers of this blog might be VIOLENTLY against country music, but as you know, I have a weakness for it, especially the adorable Dierks and his deep voice. (Though when I went to a Dierks concert over the summer, a drunk guy next to me barfed dangerously close to my shoes, so that wasn't so fun.)

Yet again I have been sloowwww, slowwww, slowwwww in updating this blog and profile song. Remember the good old days when I was doing it once a week? The truth is, I've cut way down on the time I spend on the internet and sometimes I actually FORGET to check in with MySpace. Any second now, I'm going to start the revisions for my third book which now remains title-less. I could call it FEEL THAT FIRE, but unfortunately that would have nothing to do with the story. Though the soundtrack of the book would definitely include country.

Also: as of my last MySpace update I was kind of depressed. I'm so much better now. It was a rough couple of months, though! If any of you are having seasonal depression, I recommend exercise, sleep, good nutrition. Take care of yourselves!

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peter himmelman: things to say

Oh, dear, I just realized I have let like six weeks go by since updating this blog and my profile song! What is wrong with me? Well, I'm happy to make my comeback with my newest music obsession: Peter Himmelman. He's been around awhile, but I'm only waking up and smelling the delicious and painfully beautiful coffee. This particular song, Things To Say, might be a song to a lover, but lately it's been my song to life: "seems like we've grown short on things to say." Do you ever feel that way about life? That you've seen it all, done it all, there's nothing new? "Struggling for a connection / but you don't look my way." Like, hello, world? Do you see me? So many of Himmelman's song are like that...resonant in a deeply mysterious way that I like. Also: I'm not as depressed as I sound. Just having a little almost-midlife-mini-crisis, maybe. If you want to know all the little details of my emotional state (and why wouldn't you?), I'm still blogging regularly at sarazarr.com And I will try to remember to come back here next week with new music! Meanwhile, check out the Himmelman. You can listen to a ton of whole songs at his MySpace page:http://www.myspace.com/peterhimmelman

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polly paulusma: she moves in secret ways

I'm sitting here in my office, trying to finish this [insert your favorite expletive] draft. Got the iPod plugged into my speakers. And a two-hour file with my friend Dave's old radio show comes up, and halfway through he spins this song by Polly Paulusma. I love it, love it, love it. Visit my profile to take a listen.

Meeeaaaanwhile, I'm just workin' away here, with less-frequent but still regular updates to my main blog, sarazarr.com And the big 9/11 anniversary is tomorrow, and I wish I could remember what life felt like before that. How airports used to be. How much safer the world seemed even though it really wasn't, and what is safety, anyway? I'm pondering this especially in light of the presidential race. I don't want to base my vote on fear of something a president can't really protect us from, anyway.

That's a lot to think about during a ten minute lunch break.
Hope you're all having a good week so far!

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jamie lidell: little bit of feel good

Has it really been two weeks since I updated? Oopsie doopsie! I got kind of caught up in the Democratic National Convention and being back home and getting back into the swing of things, not to mention this chapter-a-day revision I'm doing.

Speaking of the DNC, there was a lot of great Stevie Wonder floating through the air there, which made me think of Jamie Lidell, who is this white dude from Germany who has quite a bit of Stevie going on in his sound.

Also speaking of the DNC (and the RNC going on now) if you are 18 or over, are you registered to vote? If not, why not? Do it! There's still time. Voting is a privilege of democracy and lately whenever I think about voting...the whole reading up on stuff and making the time and standing in line...I think about the people in Iraq who risked their lives to vote in their first democratic election. So whether you are right or left or somewhere in between, keep up on the candidates and the issues and cast your vote whenever you get the chance. All elections are important, but something about this one feels especially so. Don't miss it!

If you are not registered, you can do so here: http://www.rockthevote.com/

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janelle monae: violet stars happy hunting!

This song turned up on this month's PASTE sampler of emerging artists, and I'm kind of intrigued by this person. This particular song sounds very Outkast-y.

Oh, man. It may still be 95 degrees out, but summer is over. No more marathons of Flipping Out or obsessively voting for So You Think You Can Dance contestants. Back to the gym, back to a schedule, back to the office. Back to deadlines! Basically, I'm trying to write a new draft of book 3 in the next three weeks, write a couple of short pieces for web sites, and gear up for an October full of appearances.

I do love fall and back-to-school time, I do. It's just hard to feel it when it's so. so. hot!! I hope that wherever you are, you're staying cool and if you're headed back to school (or already there), may your school year be the best ever. My high school just held its 20-year reunion, and it's funny how much your schoolmates come to mean to you even if you can't stand them now. Just remember that some day you might actually miss these people who drive you nuts in high school! For real.

See you next week...

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fleet foxes: he doesn’t know why

I am almost done with book 3. This draft, I mean. And about ready to ease back into my regular blogging and everything else.

My sister played me some Fleet Foxes. I like.

Feeling like I could sleep for a week.

Hope you are all having a fantastic summer!

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message to Sara! ;]

Hey Sara! I got your message, but I can't reply to you unless you're my friend, and I can't become your friend without knowing your last name or email, sooooo you need to friend request me and it should all work out. :)

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some girls: kill the bottle

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