February 12, 2011

Its 8 and I’m listening to Alexi Murdoch …“All My Days”, and some other of his work. The guy is pretty good. Fingered guitar backing lyrics that are down to earth and describe a life being lived. It’s music that he never intended writing to make him millions of dollars. It’s pure. It’s the stuff that makes me think…his music brings pushed back emotions up to the surface to be explored once again…

I wish I could write like that. I wish I could write poetry like Rilke, or books like Dos Passos or Steinbeck…maybe some day something half decent will spill out of me. Not necessarily a book, but just something. I’d be happy with just a few lines…

I’ve been thinking…
What would take you to the streets? My friend Chris asked me this question in the context of the events in Egypt. What would move you to risk all you have, may it be even so very little, to throw yourself at an uncertain change? I have taken part in simple demonstrations before – the last was called “Eyes Wide Open” where I helped to place shoes on the lawn at Independence Mall in Philadelphia. Each pair of shoes represented a civilian life ended during the Iraq invasion. In the news these deaths were dehumanized by calling these beings “collateral damage”. There were thousands of pairs of shoes. We also placed a pair of combat boots for every US soldier killed. Back then, only 361 had died. The number is now 4436 dead (and 32973 persons wounded). Who knows how many Iraqi civilians are dead by now…how many children? Collateral damage isn’t counted.

Yet, this is not really what Chris meant. He didn’t mean a passive means of expression. He meant “What would make you become disobedient?” For myself, I really don’t know. Guess I am lucky that so far I haven’t had to make that decision – but there are so many others who have had to. It takes a lot of guts to risk your life, and to do it without any certainty.

I can’t Google any news these days without having a story about Lady Gaga, Lindsey Lohan, or about some kid named Justin Beiber pop up. Am I only one of a few who doesn’t care about pop culture? It rather bores me with its seen it all before predictability powered on with sideshow like marketing campaigns. I was having a conversation with another friend and we decided we felt the same way, but neither of us was sure if it is because we are older and grumpy or because we are aged enough to recognize that what is cycling back “new” is just the “old” repackaged…shock doesn’t shock us any longer, or at least not how it did before. And in the end, a lot of it is just wind – never here to stay. They will have left nothing that mattered much.

Just some advice for everyone – people who do not have good hand-eye coordination should not use hammers….I’m still bleeding from where I struck myself on the wing of skin between my thumb and forefinger this morning….that was dumb.

Guess I am ready for spring and some warmer sun. I’m sitting inside thinking of too many things and thinking too much of those things…and I am sure its beginning to show…but I am not really thinking of dumb things or things that you would send me to therapy for. Yet.

One last thing. Did you know that Oreo cookies are vegan?

Ingredients: SUGAR, ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), HIGH OLEIC CANOLA OIL AND/OR PALM OIL AND/OR CANOLA OIL, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, BAKING SODA, CORNSTARCH, SALT, SOY LECITHIN (EMULSIFIER), VANILLIN-AN ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, CHOCOLATE.

I didn’t say they were healthy….

Now I‘m ready for therapy.