Give them what they want

During a six-month hiatus from writing here at Back With Interest, I was amused to note that, according to my Site Meter stats, my hit counts only went up and up. Here's why:

• I once linked to a picture of a nearly naked Juliette Lewis.
• I once linked to a picture of a nearly naked Rachael Ray.

Let this be a lesson to any web scribe trying to attract readers.

Hailing frequencies open

One of my favorite Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stories is recounted by -- wait for it -- William Shatner in his memoir Star Trek Memories. It was told to him by his "Trek" costar Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura:

I was sitting at my table and I was chatting and saying hello to people when all of a sudden a man comes up to me and says, "Miss Nichols, I'm sorry to bother you, but there's someone over here who would really like to meet you." And I said, "Well . . . uh, I guess that's okay," at which point he leads me across the floor and up to a table that's surrounded by a lot of people, and he says to me, "I must tell you, the man that wants to meet you is a big fan, a really great fan."

And now I'm thinking to myself, "Well, that's nice," and suddenly the man that's led me through the crowd sort of squeezes in through the people around the table, and the next thing I know, the crowd sort of parts down the middle, and sitting there smiling at me is Dr. Martin Luther King.

So now I'm immediately thrilled. I mean, Dr. King is a fan? Of MINE? And we exchanged greetings, and he told me how much he enjoyed "Star Trek," and about how happy he was that I was part of the cast.

And so I told him about what had been happening in regard to our scripts, and about my meeting with Gene, and that I had actually decided to leave the series.

And he looked at me and said, "Don't do this. Nichelle, you can't do this. Don't you know that the world, for the first time, is beginning to see us as equals? Your character has gone into space on a five-year mission. She's intelligent, strong, capable and a wonderful role model, not just for black people, but for all people. What you're doing is very, very important, and I'd hate to see you just walk away from such a noble task."

That just floored me, and I realized that there was a real responsibility attached to what I represented each week. So I came back into Gene's office Monday morning, told him the whole story about me and Dr. King and I told him that I was absolutely, positively staying. And from that point on, Uhura's importance became a little more clearly defined, and the scripts featured her a little more prominently . . . not always, but at least on a more consistent basis.

All good things

October marks the fifth anniversary of Back With Interest, and it seems a good time to take stock. You probably can see where this is going. I have decided to cease blogging here for the foreseeable future.

For five years this blog has been many things to me. It has been a journal, a chronicle. It has been a great way for this ever-budding writer to practice his craft for actual reading readers, to whom I am so grateful. (Is it a coincidence that I started the blog at more or less the same time that I decided to try writing for a living?) Most importantly -- and this is what I think of when I reminisce over past Back With Interest entries and comments -- it has been a superb way to stay in touch with family and with friends, old and new.

But for now I have, as Dick Cheney might say, other priorities.

Of course, you still can read my web writings at TheDailyPage.com, and you Madisonians also can read my stuff in the pages of the fine newspaper the people call Isthmus. And should the urge strike, you can, God help you, read the Back With Interest archives, which aren't going anywhere.

And so till I see you again: Keep smiling.

I got my first real six-string, bought it at the five and dime

In a recent comment Quiche asked if I could recommend a method of learning guitar, and how I long I played before I felt proficient.

I'll answer the second question first. I don't feel proficient.

I'm a competent rhythm guitar player, served as well as anything by a solid education in music theory. My guitar playing is good enough for bandleading purposes. But don't ask me to play a solo.

It's not quite through lack of trying. At various times over the years I have put energy into improving my guitar playing. I've taken lessons, and checked out instructional videos, and practiced scales till my fingers bled. All of that did indeed improve my guitar playing, which is to say that I became a better rhythm player, which is something. But I don't play solos.

For what it's worth, I came relatively late to guitar playing. I was mostly a pianist and keyboardist -- and singer -- until about age 25. That's when my friend Dave and I discovered our mutual interest in country music. A seasoned guitarist, he showed me some chords, and we spent long, inebriated nights playing and singing. It was great fun.

He had a very fine Martin guitar, so for practicing purposes he lent me his beater, a bright blue, plastic-bodied Applause that looked a lot like this, except it wasn't a cutaway. (Years later, one Hippie Christmas, a hippie handed me a very similar Applause that is now my go-to beater.) I think of that blue Applause as my first guitar, even though it wasn't mine.

Not long after that I got a guitar of my own, and I set to playing in earnest. It was some months before my wrist stopped aching, and years, really, before I felt confident. And in truth, that confidence resulted as much from steady gigging as from practicing -- which is to say that I didn't feel especially confident when I started gigging, and also that, except for those occasional bursts of activity I mentioned, I don't practice guitar all that much.

I do wish I played better, but I think of the time I was bemoaning my lack of chops to my bandmate Adam Davis, a very gifted guitarist. He responded: "You're the singer." He was right. Singing comes far more naturally to me than guitar playing, so why not focus on my strength?

Facebook is funny

With a song in her heart

Read, too, my Daily Page profile of singer and MadCabaret cast member Jessica Lee.

News on news

And look, the guy who delivers coffee on a tricycle has filed a report of his own about me reporting on the guy who delivers coffee on a tricycle.