For some reason, these are posting at odd times and dates...
the hell?
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Rhythm
Bear with me today...this might be a bit of a ramble.
I was thinking about this last night as I fell asleep, and thought I'd put it down before it evaporated. The more I get used to pouring things out on electrons here, the more I have to, because my head just pushes it out on it's own now.
Stupid head.
Regardless, rhythm.
If you know me, and none of you do, you might notice that I drum incessantly on every available surface. Car wheel, legs, desk, people, etc. If I'm not drumming I'm tapping my fingers, or feet, or something.
True, a great deal of that probably has something to do with the massive amounts of caffeine I consume on a daily basis, but, and this is why this came up in mah brain, I think I hear things differently.
Take this example. For a few years now, there's a fan running while I sleep. That goes back all the way to college, when sleeping in my 2ND floor, greatest room ever created, apartment, I'd swelter in the summer months, so a box fan was a permanent addition to the window frame.
Now, I sleep with a white noise machine. Until that noise machine was turned on, I didn't realize the difference in sleep, because without fan/noise machine, I sleep like a rock.
With Fan, I slept fine.
With Machine? I think I die for about 6 hours. Insomnia, good bye!
So I finally figured out the difference.
It's the rhythm of the fan that keeps me awake longer. I hear it, and in my head I'm counting beats, and filling in rolls.
When I was a kid, I decided to go with sax for my instrument of choice, because it seemed the coolest to a kid who thought Springsteen and through him The Big Man, was a god. I still stuck around and fooled around with the drums a bit though, every chance I got. Knowing how loud I am on a normal basis, I knew my parents weren't going to fund me on the drums at all, so it just became a sometimes thing...until College.
College I found out the girl across the hall, who was SO god-damned cute, and totally broke my heart, had a bongo drum...and a Guster CD.
Here was a guy, with no formal training, slapping away at a bongo until his hands bled, and I suddenly was drumming allllllll the time and I realized what I'd always been listening to.
Now, if you happen to be driving in the Boston area, and you glance over, and see someone pounding furiously at their steering wheel, It just might be me.
In order to channel this addiction of mine?
Oh hell yes Rock Band.
Oh.
Hell
yes.
I was thinking about this last night as I fell asleep, and thought I'd put it down before it evaporated. The more I get used to pouring things out on electrons here, the more I have to, because my head just pushes it out on it's own now.
Stupid head.
Regardless, rhythm.
If you know me, and none of you do, you might notice that I drum incessantly on every available surface. Car wheel, legs, desk, people, etc. If I'm not drumming I'm tapping my fingers, or feet, or something.
True, a great deal of that probably has something to do with the massive amounts of caffeine I consume on a daily basis, but, and this is why this came up in mah brain, I think I hear things differently.
Take this example. For a few years now, there's a fan running while I sleep. That goes back all the way to college, when sleeping in my 2ND floor, greatest room ever created, apartment, I'd swelter in the summer months, so a box fan was a permanent addition to the window frame.
Now, I sleep with a white noise machine. Until that noise machine was turned on, I didn't realize the difference in sleep, because without fan/noise machine, I sleep like a rock.
With Fan, I slept fine.
With Machine? I think I die for about 6 hours. Insomnia, good bye!
So I finally figured out the difference.
It's the rhythm of the fan that keeps me awake longer. I hear it, and in my head I'm counting beats, and filling in rolls.
When I was a kid, I decided to go with sax for my instrument of choice, because it seemed the coolest to a kid who thought Springsteen and through him The Big Man, was a god. I still stuck around and fooled around with the drums a bit though, every chance I got. Knowing how loud I am on a normal basis, I knew my parents weren't going to fund me on the drums at all, so it just became a sometimes thing...until College.
College I found out the girl across the hall, who was SO god-damned cute, and totally broke my heart, had a bongo drum...and a Guster CD.
Here was a guy, with no formal training, slapping away at a bongo until his hands bled, and I suddenly was drumming allllllll the time and I realized what I'd always been listening to.
Now, if you happen to be driving in the Boston area, and you glance over, and see someone pounding furiously at their steering wheel, It just might be me.
In order to channel this addiction of mine?
Oh hell yes Rock Band.
Oh.
Hell
yes.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Empire Building
And not the one Spider-Man sticks to.
Fareed Zakaria: The Future of American Power
Long as hell, but a great read for history obsessives like myself, who also worry about the future of this tired little nation of ours.
Worth a read if you have a half-hour or so to dedicate to it.
But you don't have to take my word for it. (see below)
Fareed Zakaria: The Future of American Power
Long as hell, but a great read for history obsessives like myself, who also worry about the future of this tired little nation of ours.
Worth a read if you have a half-hour or so to dedicate to it.
But you don't have to take my word for it. (see below)
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
People Watching.
Yes, people watching. You see a Latin quote and you think I'm going to have this in-depth profound post? Not so much. Sorry to disappoint. Next time I'll do a lecture on why Iago is the true protagonist of Othello, and how his lack of anything approaching morals makes him one of the most dynamic characters in the Bard's folio.
Bygones, on to the meat of the matter.
When I say people watching I'm not talking creepy surveillance methods, like a stakeout, or what-not, but the act of going to a very public place like a park, and just observing the people around you doing people-like things.
I remember one particular instance of such activity, in college, that was one of those days you remember for a long long time. Perfect weather, just warm enough to be outside and laying on the lawn, and throngs of people walking by, stopping to talk, and interacting all in plain view. My girlfriend at the time and I skipped our morning class to get breakfast in town, and came back to the lawn next to the campus center of school (20,000+ undergrads = lots of people to watch), and we proceeded to sit there for the full day. We talked, ate, and had friends stop and join us for different lengths of time throughout, and we all had an ongoing discussion about the people strolling by.
A great deal of it was just silent appraisal of how people walk, fashion trends, backpacks, etc. Another chunk dealt with making fun of acquaintances and friends as they passed us, unaware that we were there. The majority was just straight observation, noticing faces, expressions, and the distinct differences between people.
Faces are one of the most fascinating things on earth. You know your own well enough, yet your mental image of what you look like is slightly skewed, which is made apparent anytime you pass a mirror and that first second is slightly odd. Seeing people walk by you without them knowing that you're there, (in public remember, I'm not talking creepy shit.), a lot of time they have their guard down, and you can see them for who they really are.
The reason I'm mentioning all this is because I've had a full people watching weekend. I went to two Sox games, on Saturday and on Sunday, and passing through the crowds on the T and at Kenmore gives one plenty of ammo.
A few key moments stand out.
The homeless man who always says:
silently sitting on the subway reading the Weekly Dig Crossword puzzle.
Another homeless man with a sign that stated, "All I need is money for a case of beer and a hooker."
The tiny Asian woman who was stuck in front of me for the rush for the Kenmore train who thanked me in broken English for not running her over.
The woman on the redline who used a fabric marker to draw an intricate symbol from her wrist to the inside of her elbow for nearly 10 minutes as we were stuck between stations.
The little beanhead (translation, tiny kid.) who played peek-a-boo with a very patient dog.
And the kid who might have been 13, who was covered with Guns N Roses stuff. THAT was awesome.
and so many more.
We're one of the only species on the earth that can watch each other for not other reason than to just take a look, to empathise, to try to feel what it's like to be someone else, if just for a moment.
It's well worth the time.
Yes, people watching. You see a Latin quote and you think I'm going to have this in-depth profound post? Not so much. Sorry to disappoint. Next time I'll do a lecture on why Iago is the true protagonist of Othello, and how his lack of anything approaching morals makes him one of the most dynamic characters in the Bard's folio.
Bygones, on to the meat of the matter.
When I say people watching I'm not talking creepy surveillance methods, like a stakeout, or what-not, but the act of going to a very public place like a park, and just observing the people around you doing people-like things.
I remember one particular instance of such activity, in college, that was one of those days you remember for a long long time. Perfect weather, just warm enough to be outside and laying on the lawn, and throngs of people walking by, stopping to talk, and interacting all in plain view. My girlfriend at the time and I skipped our morning class to get breakfast in town, and came back to the lawn next to the campus center of school (20,000+ undergrads = lots of people to watch), and we proceeded to sit there for the full day. We talked, ate, and had friends stop and join us for different lengths of time throughout, and we all had an ongoing discussion about the people strolling by.
A great deal of it was just silent appraisal of how people walk, fashion trends, backpacks, etc. Another chunk dealt with making fun of acquaintances and friends as they passed us, unaware that we were there. The majority was just straight observation, noticing faces, expressions, and the distinct differences between people.
Faces are one of the most fascinating things on earth. You know your own well enough, yet your mental image of what you look like is slightly skewed, which is made apparent anytime you pass a mirror and that first second is slightly odd. Seeing people walk by you without them knowing that you're there, (in public remember, I'm not talking creepy shit.), a lot of time they have their guard down, and you can see them for who they really are.
The reason I'm mentioning all this is because I've had a full people watching weekend. I went to two Sox games, on Saturday and on Sunday, and passing through the crowds on the T and at Kenmore gives one plenty of ammo.
A few key moments stand out.
The homeless man who always says:
DO YOU HAPPPEN TO HAAAAAVE ANNNNNY SPARRRRRRRRE CHANNNNNNNNNNGE?
silently sitting on the subway reading the Weekly Dig Crossword puzzle.
Another homeless man with a sign that stated, "All I need is money for a case of beer and a hooker."
The tiny Asian woman who was stuck in front of me for the rush for the Kenmore train who thanked me in broken English for not running her over.
The woman on the redline who used a fabric marker to draw an intricate symbol from her wrist to the inside of her elbow for nearly 10 minutes as we were stuck between stations.
The little beanhead (translation, tiny kid.) who played peek-a-boo with a very patient dog.
And the kid who might have been 13, who was covered with Guns N Roses stuff. THAT was awesome.
and so many more.
We're one of the only species on the earth that can watch each other for not other reason than to just take a look, to empathise, to try to feel what it's like to be someone else, if just for a moment.
It's well worth the time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)