November 3, 2008
Like a mushroom
…listen
…about the musicFrom my deep, dark woods.
Suddenly, with the click of a nationally choreographed clock reset, it’s darker earlier. Which I, Vampire Composer of the Kelp, love. I’m like a mushroom: keep me in the dark and throw wet leaves on top of me in the drizzly rain, and I’m happy.
Most nights, I work until about 5 a.m. Sometimes as late as 7 a.m. Occasionally I pack things in at a “normal” time, maybe 1 a.m. or so, but it’s rare these days with so much on my plate. That’s the thing: to be lucky to love working so much that I don’t want to stop. How many people are fortunate enough to say that? Not enough.
Here in the land of higher latitudes, there’s a phenomenon to which I’ve had to adjust each summer: the lack of my beloved darkness. By the time Solstice rolls around, we don’t reach the Nirvana of a full, sometimes moonless blackout until nearly 11 p.m. And much to my protestations, as I compose in the sacred solitude of hours without ringing phones, incoming emails or doorstep deliveries, the first glint of sunlight begins around 3:30 a.m. and steals my nighttime. With the sun, so begins the happy, chattering ruckus of the birds, and the shift in the earth rhythms around me as everything awakens. Stop, thief! Don’t take my precious darkness away! I’ve still got tons of work to do! I silently curse the intruding light. For me, sunrise is a signal to my body that it’s finally time to go to bed. And when I’m in the thick of my writing at 4 in the morning, I am not ready to obey.
I realize that I am a mutant of our species. I have no difficulty falling asleep while watching a beautiful sunrise. Light can pour on top of me across my bed, nestled under a window that faces east, and it doesn’t bother me at all. I am impervious to light. But I am happily pervious to dark. I love setting my clocks back. I must have been a mushroom in a former life.
Glenn Buttkus said,
November 3, 2008 @ 6:06 am
There is something grand about the darkness after midnight, the complete silence, and the creativity that can blossom is always clear and concise and sharp and wonderful. My normal clock is nightowl time. When I took some months off, as an unemployed actor, as a college student, I wrote into the wee hours on my two unpublished novels. I had a glimpse of the joy of creativeness in the dark. I would work until 3am, then crash out, rise at noon, and do some mundane chores, and then back at it; writing. I do so envy your ardor, and your schedule. Nice that your husband has adjusted to it as well. My physical therapist likes to read until the wee hours every day. She does not take appointments until the afternoon. How lucky those of you who can make your own schedule according to your energy and interests. After I retire, I might get a smidgon of that action.
Glad to hear you are considering pushing your vocals and lyrics. I’m sure that I do not stand or sit alone as one who appreciates them. A good ballad and torch singer is hard to come by. So push back the shyness and remember that you, as an artist, are many-faceted, and singing and lyrics writing are a couple of facets you have not “developed” heretofore.
Mike Wills said,
November 4, 2008 @ 11:38 am
Night owl??
How come, Alex, the flash is not well represented in your photography? Though I do recall there are few (or no) early morning shots and sunsets are well represented.
Nice work on the composition of your mushrooms….you were right on top of those specimens.
V. said,
November 4, 2008 @ 12:14 pm
Love the word “pervious”. Must have come to you in the dark of night.
xoxox
V.
Alex Shapiro said,
November 4, 2008 @ 5:12 pm
The reason you see little or no flash photography here on this site is because I have yet to take a remotely compelling flash photo! They’re always too starkly lit. Or shaky, since I need to buy myself a tripod. So my nighttime pix end up looking as though they were shot by a blind person with a neurological disorder. Which, given my extreme nearsightedness and my penchant for spending hour after hour aligning little black dots, describes me perfectly.
Mike Wills said,
November 5, 2008 @ 6:37 am
I have a Sony A(something or other) and it supports a wireless flash. The benefit is the ability to move the flash for better lighing. Myself, I only use the flash for event photography.
You have a great eye for shot composition, Alex, and I constantly wonder at the quality of your photography. Thankfully, you do not melt in sunlight.
Mike
Alex Shapiro said,
November 5, 2008 @ 2:02 pm
Coming from you, Mike, that’s a huge compliment! I’m not worthy! Folks, click on Mike’s name and visit his website to see what a REAL photographer creates.