I'm Not Going to Cry!

The late 80s-early 90s, the era of some of the best pop and rock music, a time when there was no Internet, and the best social networking was hanging out with friends at the mall. It was also an era of tear-jerker movies, such as Steel Magnolias, Fried Green Tomatoes...and Beaches.

Beaches was one of the first movies that made me cry (the very first one was Ice Castles). That was 1988. Here I am, 32 years later staying home a lot during the pandemic. Not unlike most of you, I'm either streaming one movie after another or listening to songs on YouTube I hadn't heard since I had big hair.

I had recently gotten an Amazon Prime account and instantly fell in love with it. I was quickly amazed at the wide selection of available movies. As I scrolled through each category, my jaw dropping to the floor at the sight of long-forgotten 80s movies such as Vibes (bonus points to the first one who can guess who starred in that).

Then a random thought came to my mind: Do they have Beaches? The next question I asked myself was, am I going to cry while watching it? 

I wanted to challenge myself. No, a better way to put it is, I wanted to see if this movie elicited the same deep, forceful emotions when I first saw it, as well as the subsequent times I saw it on video.

Let me digress here for a moment. Over the past few years, I have had a dramatic change in friendships. There was one friend in particular also liked Beaches. We imagined each other as CC Bloom and Hillary Whitney. I will plead the fifth on which character I represented. I thought this was a beautiful thing to share; I loved finally having a friend! It was to where I couldn't hear Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings" without crying. Don't get me started on hearing it on the speaker at Montgomery Ward around 1996 and waiting on a customer. For the record, I kept it together.

Time and circumstances have a way of making me more jaded, cynical, and sometimes more objective about things. That people come and go in your life is part of character development. I still hear that beautiful hit ballad at the grocery store or in a waiting room at a doctor's office. The number of tears I cried: 0.

With that in mind, I thought while watching this movie, I'd be Stoic, s if I'm watching just another movie. I found Beaches on Amazon Prime and watched it this afternoon. I remained relatively emotionless throughout the whole movie. Then when the soundtrack started playing that familiar keyboard intro to Bette Midler's song at the end...

Do I need to say anything else?

By no means do I berate myself for crying during a movie I know the ending to. That I cried, albeit a little bit, shows this movie is still making an impact, even after over thirty years since it was a hit at theaters. So a big kudos to late director Garry Marshall for making a bigger hit of a movie than he realized. I only hope that long after I publish my books, those who read them will still laugh or cry.

What movies have you seen over and over that still make you cry? Is there a certain movie you and your best friend share as your favorite? Is there one with "all the glory" and another with "all the strain?"

Perhaps you're healing from losing a friend, whether by death or betrayal. How have you healed?

On a brighter note, would you like to challenge me to see if I'll cry when I watch Steel Magnolias or Terms of Endearment? Perhaps I'll make a web site like doesthedogdie.com and call it willfayecry.com

Writing Train Kept a-Rollin' All Week Long

Anybody who's anybody likes at least one Aerosmith song. Whether it's in the era they made albums with hits such as "Dream On" or "Sweet Emotion," or in the era they made music videos (albums, too, of course), like "Dude Looks Like a Lady" or "Love in an Elevator." While the latter originals take me back to my early teen years, I can't not mention their cover of "Train Kept a-Rollin'" (originally made popular by The Yardbirds).

I finally noticed this song about seven or eight years ago, when I first started writing. At that time, I was working on Crawling to the Light and, if I recall correctly, starting the work on Wise Turned Foolish. Though my works in progress will change...they will develop...what remains the same are my passion and undying desire to write as much as possible in the early mornings. In fact, at this writing, it's Tuesday, April 28, 2020, 6:47am. What also hasn't changed is my need for some great music to write to, especially on Monday mornings to get a great flow going, to get my own train a-rollin'.

This week, I have more time and fewer distractions than usual. Therefore, I'm able to devote a lot more of myself to writing. As if by instinct, I cued up this timeless Aerosmith cover. What I have always loved about this song is the simultaneous tension Steve Tyler puts on the words train and rollin' and the downbeat. That love transferred to the pages in front of me that I easily filled.

I'm now going to give you a day-by-day account of what great writing I've done.

Monday, April 28, 2020

At approximately 7:30am, I put my headphones on, listened to said Aerosmith song, followed by those of The Doors, The Guess Who, and Led Zeppelin. What I worked on was a chapter-by-chapter outline of Nick Clemente's memoir, of which I am the contributing author. This was day three of working out even more kinks and inconsistencies. By 1:00pm, I was done and took it easy for the rest of the day.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Chap. 10. This was what I wrote on a sticky note on Monday. In that way, I'll know what to do first thing this morning. It's now almost 7:00am, time for breakfast. I shall return and work on that chapter...

I had a productive two and a half hours of writing as I listened to most of George Harrison's Greatest Hits. Nick's memoir looks so much better. Before I left my desk for the day, I wrote Chapter 9 on the sticky note. Sometimes, I have to go back in order to move forward.

I got dressed and went on a mini-vacation to Norris Lake to meet up with a fellow music lover Brittaney Breisch. On the way there, it rained a little bit but it cleared up quickly. I got to a picnic area an hour and a half out before meeting up with Brittaney. This allowed me sufficient time to outline even more of The Unknown Beautiful Missing Piece. In doing this, I believe I figured out an effective way of outlining and brainstorming my books.  That in itself is still a work in progress, but I'm closer to it than I was before. I attribute that to the beautiful day and was the wonderful moment Brittaney and I had talking and taking it easy. I'll take time with new friends any day.

Photo Credit Brittaney Breisch

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

It's just past 8:30am, and I have already gotten Chapter 9 looking better than before. Therefore, I'm not going to work on it again until tomorrow. This may be a good time to do whatever, whenever. I've found that works every time I do it. I listened to Whitesnake's Slide it In and some of Restless Heart. It made for a productive morning.

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Though I am a bit weary from the hard work I've done this week alone with writing, I had a great morning of it today. In fact, it was the best yet. I surprised myself in the writing I could tighten up in the memoir. One of the contributing factors was listening to Led Zeppelin II and once again to Untitled. What is it about their music that makes me write so well? 

I rested some this afternoon. It's just past 5:00PM. Off to do more writing. 

Friday, May 1, 2020

I'm less than halfway done in reading over this memoir (again). I have time. I'm going to give it all I got today as I listen to some random classic rock favorites and rock ballads.

As of 2:30, EST, I have finished reading this memoir once again and making small and big revisions where needed. To make sure I stayed alert, I listened to some KISS and when I had had enough of YouTube, I tuned into WUOL (a Louisville, KY, public radio station).

I can't believe I decided to stay home for the rest of this weekend. Of course, most of where I'd like to go is closed. If I could, I'd go down the street to Lost & Found Records. I need to give my laptop and myself some much-needed rest. 

Am I going to write tomorrow? I'll let you know.

Saturday, May 2, 2020

Today is my day to do whatever writing I want to, whenever. After all the hard work I've done this week, I need to spend today taking it easy. 

Are you working hard toward a goal, on a project you're determined to make? Have you been able to take advantage of this down time to get it done?

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post about how my writing train kept a-rollin' all week long. I just had to tell you so...