So I was doing this thing and I told a friend about it and she kind of took over the thing. Then when I was like "this isn't really the thing I was looking to do" she got very angry and now I have no desire for the thing nor the friend. How does one "people"? Sometimes these little things reassure me that I'm in the right field working solo as an artist.
What will really matter 300 years from now? /
When civilization finally crumbles, the videos of funny quips and the overabundance of podcasts will have been forgotten as if they never existed. The digital monuments that are worshipped today are fleeting blips on a self-destructing radar, none taking the responsibility of recording now as it will be seen then. What stands as a symbol for history of man’s spirit is the art that is made with the intention of doing so. This is what is important.
Today there are no paintings from Ancient Rome. Books have suffered through several changes of ideology and lost millions to mass burnings. The few glimpses we have are slices of time, treasured for the spirit of the human state densely packed in each piece.
I suppose the lack of interest the general population has in creating a historic time may stem from a psychological fear that nothing in this time is worth recording. Nihilism’s finest hour may be upon us. Oh, Kant, I hear you moaning from the grave.
April 2, 2014
The state of comedy today /
Cattiness is a charade of wittiness. Wit is a multifaceted prism, magnifying several levels of whichever subject it's applied to. While all things do have shortcomings, cattiness' focus on only that one negative aspect is akin to replacing the complex aroma of a gourmet kitchen with a scratch-n-sniff sticker. It's flat. It's fake. It kind of gets the idea across, in the least comprehensive and incredibly lazy way possible.
But it is not only the social norm but the social expectation now to guise humor in the cloak of catty bullshit. It is also the social norm for women to be "crazy" and black people to be "lazy". So much weight is put into the belief of what's cool for the current time that we lose strength in holding up those things which should be the heaviest; those of obliterating ignorance through actual social discourse. That weight is an opportunity for true wit to shine, as discussion can be grown from the seeds of humor.
Yours truly,
A hopeless romantic
April 1, 2014
Skillz /
Recently a very handsome, very talented local artist tried his hand at stand-up. He crushed. My friend leaned over and said "That's not fair! He can't be good at this too!" What? Why not?
It makes sense that if you're skilled in one artistic area you may excel in another. Artistic endeavors are a different mental playing field than those of business, sports, retail, etc. But those who thrive in art may starve in retail. They could be horribly untalented in customer service. Restlessness might constantly chase them back into their studios. There's a trade-off somewhere.
Also, if it suddenly came to light that one of your heroes had additional talents it would only increase your adoration for them. If you discovered Louis CK was also an amazing comic illustrator what would you think? Why is it so much harder to admire a peer than to envy them?
Envy is described as a sin, but let's remove that cringy religious connotation and simplify: Envy is a behavior with no positive outward outcomes. Actions towards others motivated by envy are fully expected to have a negative effect. Confidences get broken in multiple ways, skills become shrouded with doubt, collaborative growth drifts to impossible. Envy flings words behind backs with the secret hope of tremendous failure falling on their figure of choice.
Perhaps it's a necessary evil. Maybe they all are. But they sure are tiring.