Daron's Guitar Chronicles: Vol 4

Liner Note 23

LINER NOTE #23: GUITARISTS AND SEX

In today's liner notes, a whole bunch of links about—get this—guitarists and sex. No, really, but first an update from your writer, me.

It's been an odd several months here at DGC central. Those of you who follow me (@ceciliatan) on Twitter know my health has been wonky. I don't think I'm a candidate for an episode of House M.D. but it does seem I'm anemic (!) and taking iron supplements has made many of my mystery symptoms like heart arrhythmia go away, but I'm still occasionally seized with a sudden drop in energy, fatigue, bam. (*sound effect of me falling flat*)

Interestingly enough, when I have zero energy or focus for anything else, the one thing I seem to be able to do is sit in bed with a laptop and write Daron's Guitar Chronicles. Why? I don't know. Perhaps because it's something I've been doing for so long, it *feels* effortless. I know it's not. I know a lot of creative energy goes into every paragraph. But perhaps it's like being in shape for running. A jog around the block that would leave someone who doesn't run regularly winded and sweat-streaked feels like nothing to someone who runs every day. I have been writing DGC since the 1980s, and ever since this site went live three years ago (three years?!) it has been one of my main writing activities. I do it regularly. It just flows.

You all, though, the readers, have something to do with it, too. Energy comes from you and feeds into the project. By "energy" I don't mean a euphemism for money. I mean love and attention and caring and engagement: your comments, emails, tweets, Facebook likes, all that, feeds me energy that the solitary novelist doesn't have. I just turned a manuscript in at Grand Central Publishing and the only people who have seen that book (Slow Surrender, a heterosexual "BDSM billionaire book," i.e. the romance subgenre that 50 Shades launched...) are me and my editor there. It feels so different when the person who is hanging on the manuscript arriving is being paid to read it versus when the people who are hanging on a chapter being posted are anticipating it because they love it/enjoy it/want it/need it.

A VERY GUITARS CHRISTMAS

http://theguitars.bandcamp.com/album/a-very-guitars-christmas

These guys are an all-guitars band form Cincinnati, it appears, and they've tagged the album "yacht rock." Huh. Daron finds this even more hilarious than I do. I'd call it just on the lounge side of surf, twangy guitars with that "swingin' sixties" sort of sound. Their version of "Sleigh Ride" is probably the best track on the album, which is free to download from Bandcamp, by the way. In true Christmas special fashion, it's a theme album in which Santa's elves kidnap the band. Goofily wonderful if you want some Christmas spirit. "Got to get that Christmas spirit pumping, so grab those amps and play me sompthing!" (says Santa).

MEN WITH GUITARS ARE SEXIER

Whether you think The Guitars (OH) are sexy or not, this next link is about a study reported in a Psychology Today blog, in which the researchers found that women thought guys with guitars were sexier than guys without guitars. I'm not completely sure that the conclusion is founded on the research, which was based on friending on Facebook, but... have a look for yourself. And besides, who needs a study? It's self-evident. (But amusing to see the scientific community trying to quantify something that is just something pervasive in our culture... of COURSE guys with guitars are sexier...)

http://m.psychologytoday.com/blog/homo-consumericus/201211/the-allure-man-guitar-facebook

The gist is that they had various women be approached on Facebook by a guy they didn't know, sending a photo of himself with or without the guitar. With no guitar, 90% of the time the women blew the men off. But when shown with a guitar, only 70% of the time did the guys get the brush off.