Five Good Things about Tuesdays

Now that the blog is up and running again, I feel obligated to post daily even if I have nothing particularly insightful to say. But it's much like nightly news broadcasts: there's always something to say, even if it's just a human interest story.

Tuesday is, according to the people who study these things, the busiest day of the week. In fact, they've sliced it even finer: apparently 11:45 on a Tuesday morning is the most stressful time of the week. But Tuesday is also my favorite day of the week, and this is why:

1. Tuesday is trivia night. At least it is at The Liberal Cup, central Maine's finest brewpub, and at Nanny O'Brien's in Cleveland Park, and at Samuel Beckett's in Shirlington, and probably someplace close to you as well. Why is that? Because otherwise it would be a slow night for your neighborhood watering hole. (And actually, The Liberal Cup's trivia night is on winter break until next month. But if you're in the area, you should go there anyway.)

2. Airfares are cheaper on Tuesday mornings. I got that tip from my friend Karen E. Olson, who used to be a travel editor, and I have found it to be true. Last Tuesday morning I booked a round-trip flight to New York for $146.

3. Tuesday has good theme songs for both the morning AND the afternoon.

First, "Tuesday Morning" by The Pogues:


And then, "Tuesday Afternoon" by The Moody Blues:



The field's still open if you want to write a song about Tuesday night.

4. New books AND new records come out on Tuesday. Today, Rosanne Cash and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings have new albums out, both of which I covet. If the weather holds, I will drive over to One More Page Bookstore tonight for the launch of THE DESCENT by Alma Katsu, even though Martha Grimes is at Politics & Prose tonight, and if I could be in both places, I would. Chances are good that someplace near you has a book event tonight, and/or a record launch. Artists survive by people buying their work, so do your part.

5. Tuesday is ABC to XTC night on RTE 2XM. My friend and client John Connolly, author, raconteur and man-about-town, hosts a weekly Internet radio show that celebrates the punk, post-punk and New Wave music of his (and my) youth. It airs for an hour on Tuesday nights (and again on Saturdays) at 10:00 p.m. Dublin time, which is 5:00 p.m. Eastern time. Through the magic of the Internet you can listen to it anywhere, and pretend that you are 18 again. At least, you can pretend that I am 18 again. I don't know how old you were in 1984.