A little evening concert

In high school, college, and for a bit after that, I was a hardcore Cat Stevens fan. I loved his music, and I practically played the grooves out of my albums. I still do love all his records. One day, he converted to Islam, and he vanished from the music scene.

A few years ago, he re-emerged as Yusuf, his new name.

For a four-song mini-concert that's just perfect when you want a 15-minute break, check out this NPR Tiny Desk concert featuring Yusuf.

The last song is, was, and always will be a favorite of mine. It chokes me up every time.

Enjoy.

One of the problems of being perpetually 16 inside

is that my outer relationship to music, movies, all of culture, everyone and everything changes, but inside so much of me remains unchanged, the angry young man determined to beat the world.

When I first heard this song many years ago, and when I saw Cat Stevens perform it live, I desperately identified with the son, though I also wished for a father to try to caution me.

Now, I am a father, with a son nearly out of college, and yet I still identify with the son in this song.



It's odd to realize that this part of me is probably never going to change.  It's odder still to look in the mirror and see how much the rest of me has changed. No one outside my head will ever again confuse me with a young man, and yet inside my head, I am. 

Inside, I still am.

On my mind for no particular reason

The cult classic Harold and Maude, and then this short Cat Stevens tune. 



I make no apologies for still loving much of Cat Stevens'/Yusuf Islam's music.  Never will.

On the road again: Austin, day 2

In the late afternoon, thunder cracked the air and a hard shower briefly fell. Listening to nature from the dry safety of drinks with clients in a local bar, I realized with a start that in the times I've come to Austin, I've never heard thunder. I found this storm rather a nice change.

Dinner was at the wonderful Fonda San Miguel, a place I recommend highly.

My plea earlier today for votes in Baen's SF buddy team poll may have helped, because Jon and Lobo now have a tenuous hold on second place. Given the enormous lead of Honor and Nimitz, however, I see no real chance of my guys winning. Still, I appreciate those who voted.

As longtime readers know, I can't say much about these business trips. By way of compensating a bit for the short entries, here's a song that ties both to travel and to my youth, a tune I loved the moment I heard it and still love today. The interlude is particularly wonderful. Enjoy.

Father and Son

was always one of my favorite Cat Stevens songs. It still is. If you don't know it and you're interested, check out this video of him performing it a long time ago.



When I was a teenager and even when I was in college, grown-ups always seemed to be telling me what to do and how to live my life, but they never seemed to listen to me. This song struck me then as perfectly encapsulating my frustration while also never portraying the father as evil. It still does.

The years have worn on, as they do, and now I'm the father, and I have a son and a daughter. I tell them things they should do, and I have to believe that sometimes they feel like the young man in this song. All I can say to them--or to any other younger person who has asked me for advice--is that I have never meant to dictate your life. I'll give advice if you ask, and I'll sometimes do it even if you don't ask, but I mean it only as advice.

Perhaps the oddest part of my reaction to this song is that I still identify with the kid. I still feel 16 inside. I suspect I always will.

Random walk

I'm going to be up very late tonight, because I'm quite behind on work, so of course my brain is going in every direction at once. Here are the lead points of just a few of those vectors.

I'm a sad RPS panda. To see why, check Sarah's triumph.

Sarah also asked that I put here a message for Kyle: "Get in the car, Kyle!" (Don't ask.)

The galleys for Transhuman arrived today. I'm glad to have the chance to proof them, but I'm also neck-deep in work, so it's one more stress. So it goes. I am looking forward to the book's publication.

While working I listened to a couple of interviews with Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens. I was a huge Cat Stevens fan in high school and college, and I still love a lot of his music.

Dave, my one draft reader for each book, gave me a lot of great comments on Slanted Jack. For reasons related to details of the scene, one suggestion didn't work as he'd written it, but the instinct behind it was superb. Last night, I worked on that scene, and I greatly improved it (I hope) after thinking a lot about Dave's comment. Thanks, Dave.