words, words, words
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If I begin to detail myself here, will you understand?
P. I am me
Q. I don't always know exactly who that is
R. I am Quaker
S. I like words and playing with them
T. I like genmaicha tea
U. I like the word napkin more than most others
V. I spend time walking my neighborhood
W. I cook rice often
X. I sleep well most every night
Y. I eat large amounts of fruit and vegetables
Z. I munch, sleep, write, create, cook, bike, watch, walk, listen, hope, learn, drink, live, breathe, touch, know, question, taste, copy, read, stare, carry, talk, dance, finger, try.
raisin@gmail.com
albums:
Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs
Erasure: I Say, I Say, I Say
Depeche Mode: Black Celebration
The Beach Boys: Pet Sounds
Marvin Gaye: What's Going On?
David Bowie: Hunky Dory
George Michael: Listen without Prejudice
George Gershwin: Porgy and Bess
Yo La Tengo: And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out
songs:
Wild is the Wind: Nina Simone
Come Undone: Duran Duran
Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini: Rachmaninov
My Funny Valentine: Chet Baker
Feeling Yourself Disintegrate: The Flaming Lips
This Must Be the Place: The Talking Heads
Hyperballad: Bjork
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Sunday, September 21, 2003
Last night, my friends Jeff and Rob and I talked with a lovely stranger, a European lady whose name I don't remember, about normality and commonness. it seems to be an american ideal for people to seek normality and shun their individuality, to ridicule intellectualism. I know from my parents, this was true because their concept of christianity did not allow for intellectuals; too much thinking leads you away from God. I've since found that religion and thought fit just as well as philosophy and thought, as if they are one and the same. But what I still struggle with is how to be intellectual without being snobbish. How to appreciate difficult art without frowning on those who can't yet see it. I think partly, education is the answer, that when I am in a situation where I feel I understand the art or the concept better than those around me, i need to be willing and able to explain it, for their benefit, the difference between raising them up to my level and me seeking the lowest common denominator like many of us did in high school in our response to peer pressure. What I don't want to lose though, is the appreciation of what is average and common. That is, learning to enjoy and appreciate good wine while still enjoying a coke when you're in the mood. I reproach myself with music far too often, forcing myself to listen to independent music with a guitar and feeling that somehow fun electronic music is never as artistic or thought provoking. Liking something that is easy to like is not a crime, and although it shouldn't stop you from learning to like something else that may not be so easy, you shouldn't look down on what is easy to like, just because it doesn't challenge you as much. I suppose this argument is why I love Andy Warhol, because he took things that were common and normal and tried to elevate them to art, forcing us to look at them in a different way, perhaps stripping them of their normality. Or was he responding to the lowest common denominator as well, using these objects because he knew people would understand them?
I can't answer my own questions; i've struggled with this since i can remember, being challenged by my brother to read high literature, instead of the Hardy Boys. I appreciate that challenge, but it's given me another challenge, to question my intentions, to give myself enough time to learn many things I don't know while still be able to enjoy what I already have, not looking down on what I have because it is not new or especially challenging. or perhaps, find a way to be challenged by what I already know, by approaching it in a different manner.
12:30 PM
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