Time To Up The Ante
Recently I was telling somebody about this project and they had one question: What did I hope to accomplish by listening to every Billy Joel song?
I thought I had made that pretty clear. I haven’t been a fan of Billy Joel and I’m trying to give him an honest chance but is that an accomplishment?
Well now that I think about it, no. I want to have an informed opinion about Billy Joel but maybe I need something more.
I think I need to pick what is known as a stretch goal; something to strive for beyond just hearing and writing about every song.
After a few days of deliberation I have decided on that goal. I’m going to go all out on this…In addition to writing about every song I am going to try to convince Billy Joel to have lunch with me.
I realize that the chances of Billy Joel reading this are practically nonexistent and the chances of him reading this and then saying “I’d like to meet this guy” are a million times less than almost none but here’s something you don’t know about me: I’m ridiculously optimistic.
I believe that good things happen to people who work hard and do nice things. This might make me a sucker but I don’t care. I used to be jaded and cynical and I was miserable all the time. Today I approach every day like it could be the best day of my life and I act accordingly because the best day of your life is never going to be the one where you were angry and mean.
So, as part of my ridiculous optimism I am inclined to believe that there is a tiny chance that someone who knows Billy Joel might read this and say: “Hey Billy, this guy seems cool, you should have lunch with him.”
With that in mind, here is my official offer:
Dear Billy Joel,
You don’t know this but you and I have had our differences. The main difference between us was that you have been putting out records and I haven’t been listening to them. Awkward!
Well that’s behind us now. I’m listening to everything and sharing it with the world. Now that we’re working things out I was wondering if you wanted to meet up for lunch sometime. Nothing fancy, just two guys from Long Island getting a nice sandwich somewhere.
Don’t worry, I can pay my own way. I’m not trying to get a free sandwich from you.
Please let me know a time that works for you. You can email me at ayearofbillyjoel@gmail.com to schedule this. Please include LUNCH PLANS in the subject line so I don’t miss it. I get a lot of email but you know how that is…see, we have things in common LOL!
Awaiting your reply,
Will
Now the waiting game begins.
P.S. - This is totally going to work.
