What do you mean creativity?

Have you ever created something and when you looked at it later, you were struck by an odd feeling of dissociation?

I don't mean you painted something and then when you looked at it, you hated every fibre and stroke.

I mean, you looked at something you created and honestly didn't feel like it was yours? Like it had been done by someone else? You remember creating it, you definitely didn't have any help. But for some reason, there is no connection. When you think about it, you still think it's a great piece of whatever, but it doesn't feel like your baby.

That may sound weird to some people. Most writers, artists, or other creators (even my coder friends!) will tell you that when they create something there is a piece of them that goes into making it. They feel that as the process is happening, then can almost feel the blood pouring from them to the piece like a transfusion of life. It doesn't always happen in huge amounts, but whenever they look back, they still feel like the work is tied to them. They feel the connection with the piece of them that was left behind with the finished fill-in-the-blank.

For some reason, I occasionally can't associate with my work after I'm finished. I can't go back and look at past content or achievement and feel something from it. If anything, it almost always feels oddly disconnected. Worse, the better the project is by objective standards, the harder it is to think of it as "mine". I recently wrote some new material and it got some really positive feedback, which is always great. But when I went back to reread, edit, etc. all I could think was "I didn't write this. It's good. It's funny and well-written but it wasn't 'me'. Maybe I'm possessed or something."

Jokes aside, I'm just curious if anyone else feels like this. Do you paint something and look back thinking, "It's too good I don't know what happened by that can't be my work" even when it is? Do you write a song and hear it a few months down the road and for a few bars you can't recognize that it's your song? Let me know in the comments.

#TuesdayBluesDay 12.29.15 Cry to Me

What's Playing at the Flamingo?

This week's #TuesdayBluesDay suggestion came from my recent movie watching binge!

Please feel free to include your contact information in your submissions, along with the hashtag #TuesdayBluesDay so I know what it's for!
You can submit them:

Here on the blog as a comment!

On Twitter @nonsteader!

Through fan mail on Tumblr!

Email me at nonsteader@gmail.com!

Artist: Solomon Burke

Song: "Cry to Me"

Released: 1964

#TuesdayBluesDay 12.22.15 You Go To My Head

What's Playing at the Flamingo?

This week's #TuesdayBluesDay suggestion came from me!

Please feel free to include your contact information in your submissions, along with the hashtag #TuesdayBluesDay so I know what it's for!
You can submit them:

Here on the blog as a comment!

On Twitter @nonsteader!

Through fan mail on Tumblr!

Email me at nonsteader@gmail.com!

Artist: Billie Holiday

Song: "You Go To My Head"

Released: 1938

Chart: -

Label: -

#TuesdayBluesDay 12.15.15 My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time

What's Playing at the Flamingo?

This week's #TuesdayBluesDay suggestion came from an anonymous message on Tumblr!

Please feel free to include your contact information in your submissions, along with the hashtag #TuesdayBluesDay so I know what it's for!
You can submit them:

Here on the blog as a comment!

On Twitter @nonsteader!

Through fan mail on Tumblr!

Email me at nonsteader@gmail.com!

Artist: Les Brown and His Orchestra featuring Doris Day on vocals

Song: "My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time"

Released: 1945

Chart: US No. 1

Label: Columbia Records

#TuesdayBluesDay 12.8.15 Baby, Won't You Please Come Home

What's Playing at the Flamingo?

This week's #TuesdayBluesDay suggestion came from J.H.!

Please feel free to include your contact information in your submissions, along with the hashtag #TuesdayBluesDay so I know what it's for!
You can submit them:

Here on the blog as a comment!

On Twitter @nonsteader!

Through fan mail on Tumblr!

Email me at nonsteader@gmail.com!

Artist: Frank Sinatra

Song: "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home"

Released: 1957

Chart: -

Label: Capitol Records

#TuesdayBluesDay 12.1.15 Feeling Good

What's Playing at the Flamingo?

This week's #TuesdayBluesDay suggestion came from John by email!

Please feel free to include your contact information in your submissions, along with the hashtag #TuesdayBluesDay so I know what it's for!
You can submit them:

Here on the blog as a comment!

On Twitter @nonsteader!

Through fan mail on Tumblr!

Email me at nonsteader@gmail.com!

Artist: Nina Simone

Song: "Feeling Good"

Released: 1965

Chart: -

Label: Philips Records

Note: This is from the later years when Archie Goodwin could be taking dates to the Flamingo. The dinner and dancing era was starting to wind down by 1968. Rex Stout wrote until 1975, and Archie is probably dancing even now.

#TuesdayBluesDay 11.24.15 Careless Love / Wabash Blues

What's Playing at the Flamingo?

This week's #TuesdayBluesDay suggestion came from me, since I didn't get a submission this week.

As a result, we get a fun two-fer! The Wabash Blues is a particular favorite of mine for Chicago commutes!

Please feel free to include your contact information in your submissions, along with the hashtag #TuesdayBluesDay so I know what it's for!

You can submit them:

Here on the blog as a comment!

On Twitter @nonsteader!

Through fan mail on Tumblr!

Email me at nonsteader@gmail.com!

Artist: Shirley Bassey


Song: "Careless Love /  Wabash Blues"


Released: 1957


Chart: -


Label: Philips Records

#TuesdayBluesDay 11.10.15 Stormy Monday Blues

What's Playing at the Flamingo?

This week's #TuesdayBluesDay suggestion came from Tumblr.

Please feel free to include your contact information in your submissions, along with the hashtag #TuesdayBluesDay so I know what it's for!
You can submit them:

Here on the blog as a comment!

On Twitter @nonsteader!

Through fan mail on Tumblr!

Email me at nonsteader@gmail.com!

Artist: Earl Hines and His Orchestra, Billy Eckstine (Vocals)

Song: "Stormy Monday Blues"

Released: 1942

Chart: US No. 1

Label: Bluebird Records

#TuesdayBluesDay 10.27.15 Dream Lover

What's Playing at the Flamingo?

This week's #TuesdayBluesDay suggestion came from an Tumblr.

Please feel free to include your contact information in your submissions, along with the hashtag #TuesdayBluesDay so I know what it's for!
You can submit them:

Here on the blog as a comment!

On Twitter @nonsteader!

Through fan mail on Tumblr!

Email me at nonsteader@gmail.com!

Artist: Bobby Darin

Song: "Dream Lover"

Released: 1958

Chart: US No. 2

Label: Atlantic Records






http://bit.do/broV3

#TuesdayBluesDay 10.20.15 Begin the Beguine

What's Playing at the Flamingo?

This week's #TuesdayBluesDay suggestion came from me!

It's Girl Week, so I wanted to do something a little special.

Please feel free to include your contact information in your submissions, along with the hashtag #TuesdayBluesDay so I know what it's for!
You can submit them:

Here on the blog as a comment!

On Twitter @nonsteader!

Through fan mail on Tumblr!

Email me at nonsteader@gmail.com!

The Scene:

It's just after nine pm on rain-slicked October night in 1938. A couple is on a date for the evening, and they have arrived at the Flamingo Club NYC.

The dance floor is barren and the murmur over drinks is noticeable as an orchestra sets up on stage. Seeming a bit nervous, the band leader makes some last-minute adjustments. As the brass section finishes polishing their hardware, they take their seats. Drinks and conversation seem to lull as an attentive crowd faces the assembled men and instruments.

Our couple is in love and high on champagne. They happen to be standing, their coats and hats already checked, on the edge of the wooden square which extends out from the stage. The band skips the tuning, the front-man steps to the microphone and says in a pleasing tenor, "And now ladies and gentleman, our own version of Cole Porter's Begin the Beguine..."

He turns to cue the orchestra and our young lovers don't waste a moment. Music begins to swirl from the stage to the floor and they are drawn, smiling, out onto the sprung floor.

Let's listen in...

Artist: Artie Shaw, written by Cole Porter

Song: "Begin the Beguine"

Released: Recorded 1938

Chart: US No. 3

Label: Bluebird Records


http://ow.ly/TDVG2

#TuesdayBluesDay 10.13.15 Am I Asking Too Much

What's Playing at the Flamingo?

This week's #TuesdayBluesDay suggestion came from Twitter.

Please feel free to include your contact information in your submissions, along with the hashtag #TuesdayBluesDay so I know what it's for!
You can submit them:

Here on the blog as a comment!

On Twitter @nonsteader!

Through fan mail on Tumblr!

Email me at nonsteader@gmail.com!

Artist: Dinah Washington

Song: "Am I Asking Too Much?

Released: 1948

Chart: US R&B No. 1

Label: Mercury Records




http://ow.ly/ThkWr

#TuesdayBluesDay 10.6.15 Near You

What's Playing at the Flamingo?

This week's #TuesdayBluesDay suggestion came from my Tumblr fan mail and was unsigned. I can just picture the scene, swaying on a smoky darkened dance floor. This sounds perfect for something that Archie Goodwin might have danced to on a cool night in October of 1947.

I would love to give credit where credit is due, so please feel free to include your contact information in your submissions, along with the hashtag #TuesdayBluesDay so I know what it's for!
You can submit them:

Here on the blog as a comment!

On Twitter @nonsteader!

Through fan mail on Tumblr

Email me at nonsteader@gmail.com!

Artist: The Andrews Sisters

Song: "Near You"

Released: 1947

Chart: US No. 2

Label: Decca Records

#TuesdayBluesDay Submissions Requested!

What's Playing at the Flamingo?

Every Tuesday, I hope to showcase a classic song from roughly 1929 to 1975. They may be fast or slow, vocal or instrumental, well known, or hidden gem. I'm still looking for submissions and suggestions for this week's post. Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have something!

You can submit songs in a few ways:

Here on the blog as a comment!

On Twitter @nonsteader!

Through fan mail on Tumblr!

Email me at nonsteader@gmail.com!

If you danced the night away to a special song during this era, please let me know. Include artist, title and if possible where and when you heard it!

If you spend time watching shows set in this time-span, you probably have some great suggestions!

If you love the blues, jazz or big band, pick some favorites from that era and educate some youngsters!

If you love stockings, high heels and anything with some glamour, poke around for a song or two!

If you are all about all things noir, this is the perfect way to set the mood!

Please, ask your parents, your grandparents, aunts, uncles, whoever, and get those answers in!

Thank you in advance for helping me recreate this tiny slice of history.

#TuesdayBluesDay

Well, I've decided to open yet another new feature here on this blog... What's Playing at the Flamingo?

Every Tuesday, we will showcase a classic from 1929 to 1975. These will be songs that could have swept Archie Goodwin and Lily Rowen (or any number of willing suspects- er, partners) into a passionate embrace. They may be fast or slow, vocal or instrumental, well known, or hidden gem.

They will (attempt to) be songs that would have been heard in the fabulous dinner/dance clubs of NYC during this period of history. I know the real Flamingo was in London, but we're working with the fictional one created by Rex Stout.

I will try to make it historically accurate and even set the scene a little with some pictures if I can figure that out. We will call it #TuesdayBluesDay and I'll always be looking for suggestions over the weekends before each post.

If you danced the night away to a special song during this era, please let me know. Send a message here, Twitter, Tumblr, G+. Just use the hashtag so I know what it's for! Include artist, title and if possible where and when you heard it!

If you spend time watching shows set in this time-span, you probably have some great suggestions!

If you love the blues, jazz or big band, pick some favorites from that era and educate some youngsters!

If you love stockings, high heels and anything with some glamour, poke around for a song or two!

If you are all about all things noir, this is the perfect way to set the mood!

Please, ask your parents, your grandparents, aunts, uncles, whoever, and get those answers in!

Thank you in advance for helping me recreate this tiny slice of history.

The Importance of Being Musical

I've been working on a few separate projects recently. One thing I've noticed is that my music really tends to reflect in my writing. Whether it's short punchy sentences for comedy, concise answers for How To, or the long flowing melodies for poetry, what I'm listening to seems to have a direct correlation to what I'm writing. The odd part? I don't make the choices, the music does.

Waking up on any given morning, I may or may not feel like writing. It's one of those things. Sometimes I have to talk myself into it, or some days I just declare a Mental Health Day and goof off with Netflix and my cats.

Occasionally I'll be in the mood to read, or do something else. There are some mornings where I just pull the cover back up and sleep in.

But on the days I want to write, I notice that I pick the music first. Whatever I'm in the mood for musically tends to somehow translate into what I'm going to write that moment. Sometimes that will switch fairly quickly, just kind of flowing from one genre to another, project to project.

Just a thought. Maybe listening to a different type of music could expand your written horizon?