“Projects” (Revised)

c. 2018 Rod Ice

All rights reserved

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Procrastinator.

Not a pretty label, spoken aloud or rendered in print. Yet the connotation of delay without purpose or intent is familiar in the Ice household. I have never been certain if it came from being overwhelmed with potential ideas, or simply from the dwindling inertia of age. My father set the tempo, which I have found intensifying in myself, over each passing year.

A friend who had been an executive for General Electric once advised me to “Create the job you want and then go for it!” So in my business career, I sought the position of ‘Idea Man’ for my company. Years later, in retirement, I found that brainstorming was still my best skill. But in execution and implementation, suddenly the environment of my childhood took hold.

As my brother once described it, “Dad doesn’t fix something, he just gets used to it being broken.”

My personal intent was never to waste ideas. But with a wealth of spare time suddenly on hand, I have found myself making a mental catalog of possibilities. Then, revising this extended list over and over again. The result has been like a plant stunted by having not enough light and water to fully develop.

But, sitting at the keyboard, I eternally revive the hope that at least one of these might disappear from my list into completion:

Projects 2018

1. Transferring old videos to a modern, digital format - Like footage from my television show ‘Punk-Out!’ which ran from January 1979 to February of 1980. Or of driveway sessions with my late friend Paul Race playing guitar. Somewhere, there is even a quick tour through the abandoned home of my grandparents, in Columbus, Ohio. All these memories deserve resurrection. But after a recent attempt had my VHS player eating tape, I lost the courage. Soon, I will try again.

2. Transferring cassette tapes in the same fashion - My personal archives include some 500 demo tracks, written in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Also, live recordings with various friends in New York State. My musical chops have diminished over years of neglect. But these bits of yesterday remain. During the 1990’s I was particularly active in my basement studio at the College Hills condominiums. Because of the three levels of living space, I could record in late hours after work, without disturbing my wife and our son. With Lou Reed as my muse, I would sometimes write and record two or three songs while having my dinner and adult refreshments. Copies of the results went to friends in New York. Today, those recordings are part of my personal legacy. I would like to have them in a format more easily shared via cyberspace.

3. Scanning magazine issues - My collection from the 70’s and 80’s is packed away in an old egg box retrieved from a local supermarket. Included are many issues of ‘Biker Lifestyle’ when I was a contributor, from 1983 to 1988. I have always thought that having such material posted online would be useful. The culture represented in those pages has changed with time. Young rebels have become parents and grandparents. But the realism and power of that era remains valid. I reckon having that material scanned and preserved would be useful to anyone interested in motorcycle culture.

4. Organizing my wordsmithing files - After 36 years of professional writing, my saved work remains a mess. Some early stories were written on paper, using my Royal KMM typewriter. Better print quality came when I purchased a modern device at Fisher’s Big Wheel. Later manuscripts were copied on 1.44 MB diskettes in versions of the Word format. On a primitive word processor and then, various computers. Eventually, they were saved on CD-Rs and finally, on USB drives. Yet I have no complete inventory of what exists. Finding old files has been a hit-or-miss chore. Having a database of some sort would aid the composition of future projects.

5. Taking out the guitars, again - Though my writing ability has continued to develop over years of practice, I have not maintained a competent relationship with my musical instruments. When spur-of-the-moment flashes of inspiration appear, I tend to struggle. Most recently, I have written lyrics on my cell phone, then transferred the result to my computer. Capturing a demo of these ideas has involved pulling out one of the acoustic guitars and fumbling through quick takes. In my head, these visions have meaning. But when rendered on the fretboard, they plunk and plod without the flow I intended. Retirement has re-opened the door. I need to play on a day-to-day basis, as in yonder years.

While trying not to stress to much over my negligence, I remember the paradigm of my father. He did what came naturally. Not always what needed to be done. Eventually, a sense of balance appeared. With the fullness of years, I have become much the same.

As Hank Williams Jr. sang: “It’s a family tradition!”

Comments about ‘Words On The Loose’ may be sent to: icewritesforyou@gmail.com

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