They say money can't buy you happiness
Just some food on your table or a place to rest
Just some clothes for your kids or some medicine
But money can't buy you happiness, my friend
Dear Internauts,
How's your winter going?
So far, I got to switch my car to the ultra-special 2 mode down there toward the bottom, whatever that means, for the first time. Oh yeah, and I left the back two windows down all night for some reason. Didn't want the inside of the car to feel left out from the snow, I guess.
Thank you, by the by, for making last weeks post the most viewed I've had probably ever if not just in a VERY long time. Honestly, I don't have very high expectations for readership or statistics, but it is nice to know that maybe some folks other than me get something out of this little space.
So I guess the Grammys happened tonight. I mean this is a music blog or something, but I've never been very in touch with popular music. I think I've heard most of the winning songs and artists at least a few times in stores or on the radio, but most of the music I listen to regularly is either stuff from a decade ago or from folks I've played on the bill with or that one Acoustic Africa CD my mom got me a while back. I've no idea what they're saying, but it's very upbeat and relaxing. So, congrats to the winners, but mostly here's to all the kids out there who watched it and thought that maybe someday they could be up there on that stage. I've been you, and kinda still am you as far as those dreams go.
Generally, I think we're in an age well past the days of the Record Labels as gate-keepers. The big decline probably started even before Napster, but it has much less to do with file sharing than it does with the infinite niche cultures springing from the interconnectivity of the online age. Streaming sites allow for some personal curating of style based on similar sounds, but I believe the biggest cause for anyone listening to a particular artist or style is what it has always been—word of mouth. That word may come via text or facebook chat or reblog of a video, but when it comes to music, movies, tv shows, and games, who do we ultimately trust more than our friends? Even if those friends are only known to us by way of the similar groups we belong to online, there's a connection there which weighs heavy with reasonable authority because of our similarities.
When I was a kid, I remember playing with a bunch of other kids who lived on the same street. Besides where we lived (and our reason for living there often having to do with where our folks worked), there was nothing immediately tying us together based on our interests. Proximity was all it took. Far as I know, none of us live within walking distance of that street now. I'll hear bits and pieces, but for the most part I've no idea where they are or what they're doing with their lives these days. School is kinda like that too, in that you're forced into a big social group with kids of like age, and somewhere in there friends form up. Or not. Like I imagine it may have been with you, there were some years I had a good friend or two and some years I really didn't. Still, in both cases of housing and education, friendships form of a kind of social necessity. You're gonna be around them anyway, so you might as well make the most of it.
While I think there's something optimistic and wholesome to the idea that we can get along with those around us and build attachment into a source of happiness without needing the other person first to fit a checklist of basic criteria, I actually find the kind of communities formed online to be a fascinating and positive development in human society. Not only can I join in conversation, learning, sharing, and fun with a group of people with similar interests, but that group can consist of people whose lives and locations mean we never would have met otherwise. Sure, this can lead to enormous echo chambers and a massive case of confirmation bias, but it can also mean we maybe don't have to feel quite so alone.
It was either in high school or college that we had a day in which each student was given a number before lunch. Each would sit at the table of that number, with the goal being to spend at least one meal with people you may not otherwise interact. As an introvert who had enough trouble sitting near anyone during meals, the hours (or weeks) leading up to this lunch filled me with more dread than reassurance. Sure, I didn't have to pass some silent test to determine whether or not I could sit at a certain table without being told off or the rest of the table getting up to leave, but it also put a weird pressure on me to interact with people I didn't know. Granted, my college and high school both had relatively tiny student populations, so we'd at least likely recognize each other...
Maybe I should present to you the challenge of getting out there and getting to know new people. Maybe this post should be about how a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet (or a friend is just an enemy you haven't made yet). But morals and platitudes frustrate and bore me.
Besides, we just lost power for the second time then got it back again, which reminded me to look at the time and set my alarm for tomorrow. Monday and Tuesday of this week—presuming I can get my car out of the driveway—I'll be delivering flowers for all the lovely lovebirds out there. Should be interesting.
Latest update on the EP is that Joe Casey has finished getting the drums all shuffled around and is laying down some bass tracks before he'll send the early drafts. Being as he (and like nine other people I know) just became a parent, it may be a little while, but I really like the drummer for these songs and def think some good stuff is on its way.
I've been trying to get out to open mics when I can. Often it's snowing because apparently that happens in New England sometimes. Or I'm just wiped of all energy because that's the way I roll lately. Still, it's important to keep trying, right?
For my recommendations this week, I choose the film Paterson
The graphic novel Blame! by Tsutomu Nihei
and
The book Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
To finish off, here are some sketches I've been working on of late:
Odist
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