The greatest disorder of the mind is to let will direct belief. – Louis Pasteur
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Month: March 2016
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The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all. – John F. Kennedy
by Carl Sandburg
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Humor does not rescue us from unhappiness, but enables us to move back from it a little. – Mason Cooley
Just finished this biography of Thomas Jefferson. It’s one of those biographies that focus less than I’d prefer on the facts of Jefferson’s life and more on what the author thinks about Jefferson, or what the author thinks Jefferson might have thought.
Jefferson was a real weirdo, my kind of guy. Walked around singing to himself all the time. So shy he couldn’t speak in front of large groups, so instead wrote all his ideas down, which was good for history but must have been frustrating for his contemporaries. Two terms as president and almost never spoke to Congress, and not often with his own cabinet.
Bummer to learn that the “small government” and “states rights” mumbo-jumbo GOP-speak started with Jefferson. At least Jefferson held these ideas because he was afraid of a return of a monarchy, not because he wanted shut down government assistance programs.
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I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. – Henry David Thoreau
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Out of the rolling ocean the crowd
by Walt Whitman
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A Father to His Son
by Carl Sandburg
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The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. – Henry David Thoreau
Went to my first National Capital Dahlia Society meeting tonight. Pretty awesome. A member did a detailed demonstration of potting dahlias, very informative. Bought six tubers of various types, plus some fertilizer. Lot of people at the meeting, many were really into it. I’ll go again.
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Laurie Anderson Show at the Kennedy Center
Went to see Laurie Anderson’s show, Language of the Future, last Saturday night.
Anderson has always appealed to me, even though she is about as far way as you can get from my musical sweet spot, American root music. I don’t know a lot about her type of art, but it seems to me her way of combining music, words, and multi-media is something special. I also have an affinity for her existential themes, and her relationship with the Beat generation.
I wish I could buy a dvd of the concert; type of thing it would nice to watch over and over.
An oldie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH2x5pARGdE
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A man is as old as his arteries. – Thomas Sydenham
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Realists do not fear the results of their study. – Fyodor Dostoevsky
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Steve Fobert Show
Went to see my old favorite, Steve Forbert, Friday night. His first album, Alive on Arrival, come out on 1978. The song Going Down to Laurel got a little bit of radio airplay. I was hooked immediately.
Forbert may not be one of the greats like Paul Simon or Bob Dylan, but I feel he’s definitely in the next tier down. He has a lyrical gift, which I believe is what drew me in long ago.
Well, well I’m goin’ down to Laurel
It’s a dirty stinkin’ town, yeah
But me I know exactly
What I’m going to findLittle girl I’m goin’ to see
She is a fool for lovin’ me
But she’s in love
And love’s a funny state of mind
Alive on Arrival really nailed what it’s like to be a young, carefree and careless guy out to have a good time. It’s probably his best album, but he has continued to make high quality records up to this day. He’s worth checking out.
The show was highly enjoyable. He played a good mix of old and new tunes. It was nice to see all the fellow fans. I felt like a member of a special, secret club. Too bad so few people know him.
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Film – I Smile Back
I’m watching I Smile Back right now, starring Sarah Silverman, one of my favorite comics. I can’t say it’s an enjoyable movie to watch – so bleak, the characters so unlikable, so much white privilege. It is a good story though, and Silverman is surprisingly good, convincing as an out-of-control druggie with serious psychological problems. Good role for her.
I think maybe the filmmakers need to do something more than just keep focusing scene after scene on her self-destructive behavior. On the other hand, I like how it doesn’t have a nice tidy uplifting ending. Screw that bullshit.
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If you miss the first buttonhole, you can’t ever get fully buttoned up. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe