123. Power Ballad Fridays

Working in Children's Publishing used to involve the weekly stuffing of 500+ envelopes, as we sent proof copies of new books, and letters, and various sales materials out to the booksellers. It's BORING. So every Friday afternoon, when most people had found some excuse or other to go home early, my colleagues and I would organize ourselves into a mini-production line, and put on the Power Ballads. This was my idea.

The great thing about Power Ballads is that most women and gay men know the words, particularly to the classics, like Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart, and Alone by Heart, which means that the lip-synching is of a very high standard. And as Children's Publishing is staffed almost exclusively by women and gay men, we were onto a winner.

So we'd put the old CD into the machine, crank it up as high as we dared, and spend a couple of hours making fools of ourselves, laughing hysterically, and stuffing envelopes. Made the time fly by, and then it would be time to go to the pub. Perfect.

So today, in the solitude of my eyrie, I resurrected Power Ballad Fridays. It was killer, and it got me past a little creative block I was experiencing. As a pastime, I highly recommend it.