One of the myriad online influencers had something to say the other day about the holiday season. I can't remember exactly, but essentially he said instead of "settling down" during this time of year, it should rather be used as a time for "separation."

Immediate red flag. Do I want to separate from my family in this most "family" of times. Of course not. Idiotic, dangerous, all the rest of it.

But, when I read a little more, and perhaps that was the tactic, what he meant was to separate yourself from your competition. Everyone else is sitting on their laurels, drinking egg nog and going to Christmas parties.

Not that Christmas parties are bad, they are typically a pain in the ass. And, although, I have a tight circle of friends, most of them are scattered amongst the 50 states anc beyond. Nor do I have a core group where I live. Maybe another year down the road.

Point is, we can do more when we get just a little time. So, I took it to heart today and made some good progress on a book I started writing in the summer. I knocked out more than 9,000 new words today over three drafts. We're getting close... but probably not going to reach the year-end goal that I had in mind.

If you've been with me since the summer, you know I have a fondness for the late songwriter Dennis Linde, and this book I'm working on uses his life and his songs as a background to explore music and business in a way that not many people do it.

I updated my Linde resource page with a Spotify playlist I found that includes all known and available recordings of Dennis Linde songs. There are many (though there are at least a couple that I'm not sure Dennis wrote, perhaps a case of mistaken identity).

I'm glad someone did the work, because this playlist was going to be another one of my side-projects that I'd probably never complete. Either way, check it out if you want to spend a few hours in the world Dennis Linde created for all of us to enjoy.

It's eclectic to say the least.

As always,

Brian