March 2004

BY DOC PICKLES
doc@wavelengthtoronto.com

There are too many things in this world. You sit down and try to write about a single thing and then it reminds you of another thing and that leads you down the road to another thing, and then suddenly you have an article that’s 10,000 words long. And that’s no good. There are other ways to write an article. You can pick a single thing and hammer away at it and hammer and hammer away, and by the end of the day you’ve completely exhausted every conceivable angle. That’s a good way to fill space. There, that’s was 100 words.

Lately my brain has been filled with ideas to program the new and soon to be opened Drake Hotel. I’m excited about it, but I don’t want to be too excited about it because if the owner doesn’t like what I bring to the table then I’m back on Bay Street slogging it out for reputable companies. I’d rather work for an unreputable company if that’s possible. I’ve been chewing over the idea of holding daily conversations, having people show up and pick something to talk about. I’ve also been thinking about strip poker, or naked Twister. That’s 200.

While the hotel was being built, I had to improvise. I didn’t have a phone, e-mail, a desk. So when I’m stuck for ideas or I’m looking for somebody to talk about, I head towards Soundscapes. Usually I don’t make it that far. I end up running into exactly the person I need to run into at that moment in time. As long as you’re open to new happenings finding their way into your daily life, if you’re willing to work with spontaneous happenings then they’ll be encouraged and continue to plug themselves into your daily happenstance. 300 words now.
Sheesh, how am I going to make it all the way up to 700 words? I honestly have nothing worthwhile to say this month. Is it wrong to have a column if you have nothing to say? If I skipped a month would anybody really notice? It’s not like I’m drawing a comic strip. Everybody reads the comic strips in
Wavelength. At least I do, it’s the first thing I turn to. If a band is being featured in the zine, then the members of that band will probably read their interview first. Then maybe the comics. That’s 400 words.

Nobody sees a copy of Wavelength and goes “Oh joy! The new Missives from the New World!” Maybe it’s because I never have anything to say. I have plenty of things I’d like to say but I can’t seem to find the perfect words for the thoughts. It’s good that I get to be an emcee every week. I think I have a lot to say when I emcee. But those are words that fly from the mouth; there’s no thought to them. Of course the whole point to being spontaneous is being open to letting the words fly. 500.

The words carve out little familiar channels in your throat if you use them too often. Suddenly you have hardwired turns of phrase and start using comfortable time-killer phrases while you think of what to say next. The world is filled with people who say little more than “actually” or “umm” or “the reality is” without ever realizing that those words say themselves. You have to keep the tracks clear so that new thoughts can find their way out. Our means of expression encompass music, gesture, and vision, not just words. Nervous tics of the creative process. That’s 600 words.

Now I’m on a roll. The words are excited and leaping through my fingertips. But I’m suddenly becoming aware of the fact that the column length is limited to 700 words. Too many words are pressing in on my psyche now, clamouring to be the one single word that unifies every idea I’m struggling to reign in. This awareness of the closing-in space is forcing me to focus, to clarify my thoughts, to crystallize them into a coherent whole. But can I do it in time? I’m running out of space. I won’t write like this ever again. 700. Ciao!