![the act of just being [t]here](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!McXN!,w_80,h_80,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fab2fad98-6f90-4e0d-bd57-65f637318d2f_500x500.png)
![the act of just being [t]here](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Cdwc!,e_trim:10:white/e_trim:10:transparent/h_72,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5847ef94-3036-47ca-9b03-809c7e95fb65_1344x256.png)
Q: Jim, dude, what is up with this?
A: Hey. Yeah, so I started a Substack. I have been toying with this idea for a while but haven’t pulled the trigger until now, as they say.
You know that sensation where you know you’re awake, but everything feels like you are lucid dreaming? That feeling that nothing happening to you is real, but it is and you’re not dreaming? That was much of 2024 for me. This project is part of my way back out of that slump. Onwards and upwards, if you will.
Q: I feel you. What’s with the name, the act of just being [t]here? What does it mean? What’s with the pretentious brackets?
A: Interesting story. A bit of a long one, too.
In 2005, I thought I had a heart attack, but it turned out to be a severe case of pericarditis. There was a one-week period when the trajectory of my whole life looked very different than what I had imagined for myself at 32. Once the doctors confirmed the diagnosis and it was clear I was going to be more than okay, I started my very first blog while I was home recovering. I named it [the act of just being here] (lowercase styling and pretentious brackets intentional) after a lyric in the song “What I’m Trying to Say” by Stars, off their 2004 album, Set Yourself on Fire.
The title suited that project: many cringe-worthy diary-like entries, with the occasional venture into music and culture writing. From that first online foray, I set up Quick Before it Melts the following year and DOMINIONATED in 2016. I always liked the name, so I chose it for this Substack, keeping the lowercase styling, but I moved those pretentious brackets around a bit.
Q: Yeah, I remember that blog. Wasn’t there a post about buying a new pair of sneakers? Is that what you have planned for this project?
A: Yeah, not my finest work, but cut me some slack. That was almost twenty years ago. This will be like the writing I did with DOMINIONATED, except that my focus will not be exclusively on Canadian content. There will be current and contemporary music writing, but I’ll primarily be focusing on retrospective thoughts and responses to music that shaped my tastes and perspectives earlier in life; music that I would have loved to write about at the time if only there had been an easily accessible public forum like the internet to publish on.
Q: So, this is a mid-life existential crisis-inspired throwback to your formative years? Couldn’t you just go to therapy for that?
A: Don’t be so reductive or quick to judge. I have a feeling things are going to be more nuanced than that.
Q: Any plans for more weird Q&As with yourself?
A: Nope, just this one.
Q: Will you write about books, movies, or anything culture-related?
A: Possibly.
Q: Are you going to post memes?
A: Not likely.
Q: What about video games?
A: (pauses) No.
Q: And you’re putting all this behind a Substack paywall?
A: Substack has options to set up membership tiers and subscriptions. I’ve set up those options, but for now, I plan on keeping everything public and just going from there.
Q: I get that. So, one more question about the name: is it the act of just being here, or is it the act of just being there?
A: Yes.
Q: Yes?
A: Yes. It’s both. Any contemporary music I write about will be featured in a section called here and now, and the retrospective work will be in a section called then and there. I’m not starting this project with any other preconceived notions or expectations beyond that framework. Like everything in my life, this project is perpetually in beta. It’s unlikely I’ll post here daily, but I will aim for some regularity. And if not, that’s fine, too. It’s in my nature to have some structure and regularity, but ultimately, I want the act of just being [t]here to be a loose experiment in creativity, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it takes me. I hope others will want to go with me wherever that will be.
Q: Cool. That’s a good note to end on.
A: Or you could say it’s a good note to start on.
