I'm going back to Ohio. I'm leaving a week from Monday or Tuesday, whichever I can swing. I'm playing the gathering music for Jon Case and Rachel Manthey's wedding. And I'm super looking forward to seeing some friends. I'm completely not looking forward to performing. I'm completely looking forward to the wedding and being a part of it, but I'm not looking forward to the actual putting of the plectrum to the strings and the vibrating of the vocal chords. I wouldn't feel emotionally nervous about playing in front of the President (although I'd be mentally nervous on a grand scale), but if I screw something up here, you know, it's a wedding! It's an actual Thing That Matters. These are my Friends. This a Big Moment.
I just hope my laid back singer-songwriter stylings help chill me out as much as I hope they chill everybody else out. Mike "The Big Chill" Prewett. That should be my record label. Big Chill Records.
Anyway, back to Ohio. And I know that in some way, my city is gone. I haven't even gotten back yet, but there's been a really strong swing away from city life for me. There's a certain lack of groundedness, lack of honesty and integrity about cities. Cities are places where people think they have actually achieved something notable. Big buildings. Big egos in small bars. Big, utopian ideas. Success. Lights. Concrete. Grocery stores. Malls. Culture.
That's not to say that cities are cess pools. Not at all. I enjoy all of these same things (except big egos in small bars, that's always a load of bull.), but I'm feeling very wary of these lies. Of course, cities are also places of respite from the harshness of the world, a dose of tame in the surrounding jungle. And that can lead to a Gentleness and Compassion. And that, that I miss about city life.
So it's going to be very strange for me to spend some time in the city after having spent a year outside of it.
But mostly, I'm looking forward to being with Friends.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Pissing in public
I just responded to a post over at my friend Ben Bunting's blog, and I feel kinda bad about it because it was maybe a little like pissing on somebody else's house, in public. That's just not really cool.
The gist of my point is this: face reality. God himself knows I have an incredibly hard time doing that exact thing, but I guess there are certain situations for which I do that better than others and recently it's been in the area of the philosophy of economics.
There comes a time for all kinds of companies when the reality is they can't keep operating in the way that they have. Sometimes a restructuring of the business can keep the company alive, but often it means shutting the company down for good. And it's sad. People lose their jobs, their identities (to some extent), their dreams, and everything dies. But it's also necessary. You shouldn't try to pretend that something is working, or could work, that isn't or won't. That's even sadder than being forthright about the death of the company. In the end, it will end, and your pretending will have only brought extended sorrow. It also ends up looking a bit like a 50-year old women trying to look 20-year old again. You can't be what you're not, and it's sad when people try.
But all that is a digression. What I really want to say is that I really enjoy reading Ben's blog.
I've been reading his blogging for a few years now and it's really cool to see how he's changed, what he talks about and why. I enjoy his writing style, especially the spastic rambling personal posts, I enjoy the random self-movies, I love the Madden Football coverage, the continuous coffeetable-book offering of photos, the snippets of news, the occasional dietary posts, etc. Of the blogs I've run across, Ben is more diversely himself than most. The long, serious diaristic entries are bookended with random thoughts about food or music or the building he's currently in. And with all the photos and movies and such, there's a very complete, if distant, communication about who Ben Bunting is. From maudlin to mockery.
So, I'm sorry to have kinda pissed on Ben's blog, because, you know, I really like it.
Cheers.
The gist of my point is this: face reality. God himself knows I have an incredibly hard time doing that exact thing, but I guess there are certain situations for which I do that better than others and recently it's been in the area of the philosophy of economics.
There comes a time for all kinds of companies when the reality is they can't keep operating in the way that they have. Sometimes a restructuring of the business can keep the company alive, but often it means shutting the company down for good. And it's sad. People lose their jobs, their identities (to some extent), their dreams, and everything dies. But it's also necessary. You shouldn't try to pretend that something is working, or could work, that isn't or won't. That's even sadder than being forthright about the death of the company. In the end, it will end, and your pretending will have only brought extended sorrow. It also ends up looking a bit like a 50-year old women trying to look 20-year old again. You can't be what you're not, and it's sad when people try.
But all that is a digression. What I really want to say is that I really enjoy reading Ben's blog.
I've been reading his blogging for a few years now and it's really cool to see how he's changed, what he talks about and why. I enjoy his writing style, especially the spastic rambling personal posts, I enjoy the random self-movies, I love the Madden Football coverage, the continuous coffeetable-book offering of photos, the snippets of news, the occasional dietary posts, etc. Of the blogs I've run across, Ben is more diversely himself than most. The long, serious diaristic entries are bookended with random thoughts about food or music or the building he's currently in. And with all the photos and movies and such, there's a very complete, if distant, communication about who Ben Bunting is. From maudlin to mockery.
So, I'm sorry to have kinda pissed on Ben's blog, because, you know, I really like it.
Cheers.
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