Fuzz Bunnies and Blanched Peanuts
A tour through the Wild West of my brain, where great ideas go to disappear. Plus - the latest news, events, a book, and an album review too.
The Wandering Mind of a Writer
I was inside my head again at the start of this week. A place I visit quite often. Not for long extended vacations, more like a quick pop into the fun factory to watch the wheels whirl. It was Sunday, and Brenda’s wonderful Sunday Sip was out in the wild, pollinating hearts and minds. I was thinking, I’m on deck for the Sunday Sip. What the hell am I going to share with you? As I started to imagine the conversation, it seemed to be going swimmingly. The sentences sounded wonderful, and the thoughts to be shared sounded fun and engaging. I thought, “Hell, this may have some legs!” Then I immediately realized that I hadn’t written any of this fabulous prose that was pouring out of me. Oh no! I panicked and opened a document to try to capture these darling phrases that felt ordained by a higher order. Bordering on magic, you might say.
Document open, my hands finding their home upon the keyboard, ready for telepathic transformation, and then—nothing. I missed the muse’s whispers inside my head. The yawning chasm of white space, the beating heart of the cursor, and my empty head. No dazzling prose, no words of infinite wisdom, no charming quips. Just a blank page and the ringing reminder of my hearing, lost so many years ago.
I probably should be physically jotting down thoughts and ideas for my Sunday Sip as they pop up. However, it seems like I’m either in bed searching for sleep or I’m out on a walk, listening to a book, and wandering away from the narration to focus on my own inner dialogue. The bedtime Sunday Sip idea factory dilemma is problematic. I don’t want to disturb Brenda, even though she is a champion sleeper, by getting up to make a note. And let’s face it, I’m comfortable, damn it, I don’t want to get out of bed.
Same deal with the ideas blossoming on a walk. I’m miles from home, and I don’t carry a notebook. I’ve tried saving a voice memo, but I feel like an idiot talking into my phone while walking. Also, the stupid voice memo app seems to shut down as I’m talking. I’m sure it’s operator error, but I’m too lazy to try to address it.
No, instead, my solution has been to try to burn the ideas into my hippocampus through repetition. You see, while I’m 62, my brain is still tack-sharp. Or at least I think it is. Since I was a kid, I’ve had a great capacity to keep a lot of stuff in my head. This came in handy when I was a big cheese at U of M running meetings. Right after the meeting, I’d be able to recall all the notes and whip them up to send out to attendees. I think of it as my superpower.
Despite my incredible ability to remember action items and notes from a meeting, I’ll be damned if I can tuck away a sweet sentence or a nifty thought that would be perfect for a Sunday Sip. Or for that matter, anything else I may be working on, such as a Life In Michigan story or a concert review. I’ll repeat the phrase or thought, over and over and over. As if I’m carefully stowing these gems in my mental footlocker. Later, in my office, I’ll open the footlocker to find only a fuzz bunny and half a blanched peanut from the night before.
Once in a blue moon, the ideas will stick, but more often than not, they sail on the river of thoughts, drifting like lost ships into the minds of others. There are probably people who wake up from sleep thinking, “Why on Earth was I dreaming about a long hike on a sunny afternoon near a cornfield in Pinckney, Michigan?” Or there are folks in their homes, just doing their thing, who suddenly have a flash of the psychotic staccato stabbing of a death metal guitar solo, and they don’t even listen to metal. My conjured sentences have eluded capture and found purchase inside some innocent soul.
Back in my office, staring at the page and willing the words, the flycatcher in my brain will snag a thought and begin to chew. The taste is tantalizing. I can’t help but get jacked up on that buzz that only a stream of consciousness ready to hit the page can give. This is when I need to interrupt the process and tempt fate.
You see, this is something else I do when I’m trying to write just about anything, from the Sunday Sip to a concert review, to a Life In Michigan experience. I’ll start writing, and then within minutes my brain says, “Let’s stop and check the email,” or “Tunes! I need tunes! Let’s get an album going,” or “Oh shit! I’ve been sitting for half an hour thinking about what to write. Time to stand up and do some stretching.”
Strangely, I do this “take a break” thing when I actually have some ideas to write about. It is as if I’m so excited by the act of writing that I need to stop and marvel at the thoughts. That high of finding something worth writing becomes overwhelming. This is probably some weird psychological trait that is only shared by people named Chuck Marshall.
Side note: It also feels really bizarre to write out my full name in the context of a conversation. I imagine a future historian stumbling upon this and going, “There it is, Roger! The clue to his madness! Right there, Bob. He’s referring to himself in the third person. Clearly a psycho!” Of course, now, I’m thinking of that Seinfeld episode with Jimmy, aren’t you?
Back to my writing idiosyncrasies, let me share one more tidbit: backward writing. Not that I spell words completely backward or put them in reverse order. No, I tend to come up with a few sentences in a paragraph or a fragment that actually need to go at the end rather than the beginning. Essentially, I’m writing the ending before I flesh out the lead, if that makes any sense. As I sit here trying to summon a concrete example, of course, things are flowing along as you’d expect, so I don’t have an illustration. Take my word for it, when I’m rolling, I can get ahead of myself quickly.
I suppose that everyone who writes has these same foibles. It is fascinating and perhaps mystifying how we go about turning thoughts into words, words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, and on and on. Building something completely out of nothing, even with all the little traps and stumbling blocks we erect on our journey to sharing our stories. There you have it, there it is, folks. If you were curious about what it’s like in the Wild West of my head, now you have a taste. For those of you who write, I’d love to hear about your weirdisms and habits.
Upcoming Events You Won’t Want to Miss
Our events calendar on Life In Michigan is a treasure trove of events we’ve scoured the interwebs to bring to you. There are a ton of great events coming up. From that list, here are a few highlights:
Sound & Sights on Thursday Nights with Kate Hinote Trio and more in Chelsea on June 11.
Hard Candy at Inverness Tavern in Chelsea on Friday, June 12.
Finality with Voyag3r, Centenary, and more at The Token Lounge in Westland on June 13.
Jennifer Westwood and the Handsome Devils at The Rumpus Room in Chelsea on June 20.
Enjoy a weekend packed with Improv at the Yes, Ann Festival on June 25-27
In Other News
First off, I have a photo that was selected by a blind jury to be included in the new Chelsea Art Alley (located between 105 and 107 S. Main St., Chelsea). You can see my photo on the Geek Brush Studio website and in person! If you dig the photo and find it worthy, you can vote for it too.
We had a fantastic Full Moon Paddle with Eclipse Yoga out at Bruin Lake near Gregory.
Life In Michigan Podcast
We had a fun talk with Kristin Danko (Artistic & Executive Director) and Greg Pizzino (Technical Director) from The Neighborhood Theatre Group (NTG). For over a decade, this scrappy, award-winning ensemble has been doing something incredibly rare: producing 100% original theater, written by locals, for locals.
Creating a "Sense of Place" with The Neighborhood Theatre Group
This week on Life In Michigan, Chuck and Brenda Marshall sit down with Kristin Danko (Artistic & Executive Director) and Greg Pizzino (Technical Director) from The Neighborhood Theatre Group (NTG). For over a decade, this scrappy, award-winning ensemble has been doing something incredibly rare: producing 100% original theater, written by locals, for loc…
Substack Restack Attack
Substack is where it’s at. Check out these other superb publications:
Bryan Mitchell shares some of the angst that I’m sure we all feel about the assault on public lands as well as some wonderful images.
I’ve got to be honest, most of the music that josh terry recommends in No Expectations is not my cup of tea. But I dig the writing, and it does push me to step outside of my typical listening.
I love that my buddy Justin Allen- Photographer is all about the ordinary photos that capture the moments of our lives. Fuck the algorithms and fuck perfect.
Jenn Woltjen shared this terrific photo essay of a trip to the Nordic lands of Sweden, Norway, Estonia, and Denmark. I’ve wanted to go to Sweden for a while, as it is the birthplace of one of my favorite bands, At The Gates. These images make us want to go there soon!
Adventures Yet To Print
The beauty of Life In Michigan is that there is never a shortage of adventures to share. In other words, Brenda has a recap on some of our recent birding adventures, including a quick trip to Grayling in search of Kirtland’s Warbler. This past week, we experienced a bounty of music as the summer outdoor concert series kicked off. First, we had Sonic Lunch in Ann Arbor with our friend Kate Peterson opening for bluegrass sensation Lindsay Lou (a Michigan native). Then we were in Chelsea for the start of Sounds & Sights, which features tons of great music, including our friends from Detroit, Sonic Smut! We also managed to stop by the Ypsi Alehouse to talk with head brewer Taylor for an upcoming story about the brewery, which recently won.
Sunday Sip Flashback
Now that we have a couple of years of Sunday Sips under our belt, I thought it was time to dip into the archives for a Sunday Sip Flashback.
☕ Welcome to Your Sunday Sip
Hey there, fabulous humans! I’m glad you are back and ready for another Sunday Sip.
Sunday Sip
Happy Sunday Morning to you all! You know the drill: grab a gigantic mug of brew, and let’s get this party started.
What Are You Reading?
My latest read was a panic-inducing onslaught called Angel Down by Daniel Kraus. The book is set in the trenches of the Western Front during World War I’s Meuse-Argonne Offensive. A con-man named Bagger and the squad of ne’er-do-wells he is part of are sent on a mission to deal with someone outside the trench who is screaming. They discover that the screamer is, in fact, an angel who is trapped in razor wire. From here, a battle to determine what to do with the angel ensues.
This book, which won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, is written as one long, jagged, and overwhelmingly descriptive sentence. The pacing is frantic at the start, lags in the middle, and finishes with shock and awe. The brutality and filth of war are described in vicious detail that taps all the senses. You can see, smell, and most importantly, hear the war and its effects on the people involved.
I won’t give away the plot, but the primary theme is of a man, Bagger, coming to grips with his past, present, and future. The Hero’s Journey is very much present in this story. While the artillery-fire pacing and graphic imagery made for a tense and enthralling start to the book, this eventually became tiresome. The lack of dimension in the surrounding cast, as well as their clichéd actions, misses the mark for me. Then there is the use of repetition or cataloging (a la Moby Dick) to create an exhausting listing. The end was especially flat and left me annoyed. I guess I’m not high-brow enough to see the Pulitzer-worthiness of repetition and flat supporting characters.
What Are You Spinning?
Not so much a spin as an advance listen to the upcoming Prosthetic Memories by Coyote Man. I plan to write a more in-depth review for Fans With Bands on this album, but I couldn’t let an opportunity pass to share my deep joy after listening to this remarkable recording.
I stumbled upon Coyote Man (from Chicago) during Oigs Fest in Kalamazoo in 2024. I was enthralled with their brand of instrumental progressive rock that leans toward metal. I immediately heard elements of Porcupine Tree and Mastodon with traces of The Mars Volta and Deftones. While these and other influences can be heard, the music of Coyote Man is uniquely their own.
What I love about the new album is its cinematic feel and amplified intensity of the music. They have always had a movie-soundtrack quality to their tunes, but this album makes me conjure vivid visual scenes with each track. Plus, in this release, they include a beautiful song with vocals! I promise I’ll go into this in more detail, with a full review coming soon.
In the meantime, mark your calendars for June 10th, as Coyote Man drops their first single from Prosthetic Memories, “War Hatchet.” A couple of weeks later, on June 24th, you can check out a new music video for “Zealotry.” Finally, be sure to get your very own copy of this majestic album on August 14th.
That’s A Wrap
As my buddy Sturgill once said:
“Keep your head out of the clouds
And remember to be kind
And just stay in school
Stay off the drugs
And keep between the lines.”
Thank you for reading. Seriously, thank you! I hope your week is excellent! Don’t forget to kick out the jams!
Now, here is your moment of zen:
Whatever gets you there, right? Part of what makes you unique.
And what works for one doesn’t work for another.
You’ve found the sweet spot, and the writing here shows it.
I laughed when I read that you tend to write a backwards, with some of your thoughts at the beginning needing to go at the end. I do the opposite. I’ll write and then realize that the back half of what I’ve written should actually be the start!
Also, that photo of the cardinal? Amazing.