Michael Wojciechowski

I just checked toolband.com and saw that Tool (the greatest band ever) is planning a summer tour.  People often ask me what my fascination with Tool is.  It's simple really.  They're the most talented band to ever make music.  Last year the top selling record was "As I Am" by Alicia Keys.  There are 14 songs on that album and 13 of them are about love.  Big surprise, huh?  Rap is all about pimping, killing, and clubing, Pop is about love/relationships.  Punk is about being a geek but embracing your geekness.  Country is about whisky, tractors, and guns (which, ironically are being sung by guys with earrings and hair highlights).  It's like I said in my last blog: we embrace the average.  How many different times do we need to hear a song about heartbreak?  How many whores can 50 Cent nail and how many brothers can he kill until we grow tired of it all?  The beauty of Tool is that they explore different realms.  A Tool album will consist of 12 songs, but they are 12 different songs.  They've written songs about the theory of consequentalism, our DNA structure, government hypocrisy, religious fundamentalism, lateral thinking, vicarious living,  becoming desensitized.  Tool connects with their fans through their music.  They sell their ideas, not their image.  Would Britney Spears be famous if she were ugly?  Could she perform at a show behind a curtain?  Of course not because her fans are buying into her, not her music.  Go buy a Tool CD and start thinking.  And if the music store is sold out, Pearl Jam is a nice alternative.      

Over sixty years ago a lady named Ayn Rand wrote a novel called The Fountainhead.  My brother gave me the book for my birthday and I finished it a few weeks ago.  My only regret it that I waited 28 years to read it.  It tells the story of Howard Roark, an uncompromising architect and his inability to embrace mediocrity.  See, that's what we do.  We adore the average.  How else can one explain the popularity of rap music and Matthew McConaughey?  How does one justify why Paul Blart: Mall Cop opened on more than 3,000 movie screens nationwide while Milk played on less than 20?  If something is original, we kill it dead.  If something is predictable, we promote it.  Market it.  Sell it.  And make a sequel.  Transformers 2 comes it this summer.  A third is already in the works.  But don't worry.  If you can't wait until the summer.  Another Fast and Furious movie is coming out next month.  Is there a worse actor than Vin Diesel?      

When I started this website a few days ago, I promised myself I would never talk politics.  I understand that people will see and hear what they want to see and hear, so it would be a waste of time and energy to put my politcal preferences on my blog.  But try as I might,I can't stay silent. 

All week the biggest news story has been the AIG executives taking bonuses from bailout money given by taxpayers.  The biggest news story of the last year has been the economy.  Republicans blame Clinton.  Democrates blame Bush.  Obama is trying to fix it by giving more money to failed businesses ran by corrupt leaders.  Republicans call Obama a Socialist.  Democrats call Bush an idiot whose time in office was spent on hidden agendas. 

Here's the thing: If the President (whoever it may be) takes away executive bonuses from large corporations, then the government is meddling in said businesses affairs, that's socialism.  So if the government doesn't meddle in the affairs of the large businesses, that's capitalism.  The AIG bonuses went through and republicans are pissed, But republicans, tradionally, are advocates of capitalism, so shouldn't they have wanted the bonuses given to AIG?  If the bonuses don't go through because the government stepped in, that's Socialism, and tradionally, Democrat ideals are rooted in Socialism.  And we don't want Socialism because then we come one step closer to Communism, right?  Health care in another issue.  Democrats think all should have it -- Socialism.  Republicans think that only those who can afford it should have it-- Capitalism.  Education, on the other hand, both parties believe all students should have an opportunity at an education.  I can't charge a student with ADD or ADHD extra for sitting in my classroom because they have a "pre-exsisting condidtion."  But a health insurance company can charge a diabetic extra.  Education: Solcialism.  Health care: Capitalism.  Does this make any sense?       

The hypocrisy of it all makes my head hurt; finger pointing has to stop.  But what is really upsetting is that when I tell my students I did not vote for McCain, they automatcially assume I voted for Obama.  When I tell them i didn't vote for Obama either, they assume I didn't vote.  Why do we only recognize two parties?  Why is it that the only cannidates we're ever familiar with are the ones with ties to large corporations?  That in itself should show us that both parties are corrupt.  So asking me which is better, a democrat or a republican is as arbitary as asking me which is less painful: getting kicked in the crotch or punched in the face.  Us lowly middle/lower class people will just continue standing in the soup line as a limo pulls up, a man in a suit gets out carryiing a sack of hamburgers, and asks if he can butt in line.      

 

A couple weeks ago I was at the video store.  I rented the movie, In Bruges.  If you haven't seen it, you need to.  Anyway, there was a man there who had two pistols tatooed on his face.  The pistols were pointed at one another, the barrels of the guns stretched across his forehead, meeting in the middle.  The hand grips of the guns extended down both sides of his face, like lambchop sideburns.  He caught me staring at him and asked what the fuck I was staring at.  I calmy asked him if his guns were loaded.  He angrily asked if I had a problem.  Now, it should be known that, yes, I have many problems, and I would have loved to open up with gun face about the many afflictions that consume my life, but I noticed that he had Scary Movie 3 tucked under his arm, and I know better than to reveal my miseries to a man with such evolved taste in movies.  So I told my friend I was sorry for staring; he told me I should be.  The whole encounter left me confused because I thought the reason people got tatooes was so that other people would admire them.  Evidently, this just leads people to believe that the observer has problems.  Overall, it was a good night.  I went home and watched a great movie, and I like to think that tatoo man did too.       

I signed the contract to have my book published on January 14th, 2009.  The contract stated that the publishing company has one year from the date I signed to start the publishing process.  They asked me to send them my most polished draft ASAP.  I made some revisions and sent the manuscript about a month ago.  Now their editors are going through it.  I don't have a release date yet.  It's still in the early stages.  Any info I get, I'll post.  I've already started on a second novel.  Details on that later.  This summer I hope to get a lot of writing done.  I should be able to finish a screenplay I've been kicking around. 

Hello.  My name is Michael Wojciechowski.  This website and blog have been created to help . . . promote myself and my developing writing career.  I recently signed a contract with the publishing company, Comfort Publishing (comfortpublishing.com).  They are in the process of publishing my first novel, "Cameron's Road" (title for now).  It should be in a bookstore near you in a few months  So, if anyone would like to stop by and see what I've been up to or how the publishing process is coming along, feel free.  Browse the site and let me know what you think.  I'm new to the game, so any feedback will be helpful.

I just returned from the gym.  I don't have television at my house, so if I want to watch "The Office" I have to go to the gym and run on the treadmill every Thursday at 8.  It's the only show I watch. 

People often ask me why I don't have television.  I do have a television, but I don't have television.  If one were to turn on my TV and try to watch TV, all that would appear is fuzz.  I can watch movies, though.  That is an important element, obviously.  I read a couple weeks ago that Americans watch 151 hours of television a month.  That works out to 5 hours a day.  What a waste.  We'll watch sitcoms, sporting events, reality shows.  Anything to fill the silence, the void, of our mundane lives.  We fill our living rooms with people we wouldn't want to fill our living rooms with.  What would happen if we did away with the media?  I guess you wouldn't be reading this, and I wouldn't be writing it either.  But more importantly, all of us would be forced into thinking.  We'd read more than silly blogs and text messages.  We'd write more than silly blogs and text messages.  We'd take a moment for personal introspection and figure out how to not fall victim to the routine, to a life whose greatest achievement is whether our favorite football team wins the Super Bowl, thus giving us the opportunity to walk into work with our chests out and our chins high.  Surely, there has to be more to life than that. 

Until next time. . . . .