New Beginnings
This morning finds me waking up in a new city, anticipating a new job, and thinking much about this blog I've been neglecting so terribly. It strikes me that I perhaps ought to either reinvest myself in it a bit, or else quit altogether. Since quitting seems both easy and comfortable, it's clearly the wrong choice--one should pursue challenges, always, especially those that require exercise and discipline.
But I'm inclined to change the tenor of the blog a bit. For one thing: no more politics, or at least, no more direct commentary on policy--political opinion should be based on research and reflection, and while I've plenty of the latter, I've little enough of the former. Plus, if I'm going to fulminate, it ought to be about something that you can't find in spades elsewhere. (By the way, if you do want first-rate political commentary, check out ginandtacos.com - great stuff, smart guy, he's going places.)
Looking back over my work, it strikes me that the stuff of mine that was most interesting and most fun to write was cultural stuff--pop cultural, mostly, but you work with what's handed to you. So I'm thinking of turning this blog over into a primarily cultural-commentary-based venue. Mind you, this too will be limited; I freely admit that I'm aware only dimly of most contemporary music--I'm aware of, say, 50 Cent in the way that I'm aware of the planet Neptune--I know he exists, but I've never seen him. Rap eludes me for the same reason punk eluded me; for me, music is escapism, not expressionism--I want to forget my anger and frustration, not embrace/celebrate it. Sorry, Violent Femmes, I just can't; just leave me alone with my complete Beatles anthology, and be on your way.
So this, I think, will be the 'tone' and framework of the blog from hereon--commentary on film, television, 'trends', and the various instances of the signpost that indicate where our society is headed. And lest this seem trivial, remember: Thomas Carlyle--probably the greatest English philosopher of the 19th century (unless you're into utilitarianism--then it's John Stuart Mill)--wrote a compellingly fascinating faux-analysis of the philosophy of clothes, arguing both sincerely and ironically that fashion was as indicative of civilization as art, architecture, or military achievement. If it's good enough for Carlyle, it's good enough for me.
Let's see what happens.
But I'm inclined to change the tenor of the blog a bit. For one thing: no more politics, or at least, no more direct commentary on policy--political opinion should be based on research and reflection, and while I've plenty of the latter, I've little enough of the former. Plus, if I'm going to fulminate, it ought to be about something that you can't find in spades elsewhere. (By the way, if you do want first-rate political commentary, check out ginandtacos.com - great stuff, smart guy, he's going places.)
Looking back over my work, it strikes me that the stuff of mine that was most interesting and most fun to write was cultural stuff--pop cultural, mostly, but you work with what's handed to you. So I'm thinking of turning this blog over into a primarily cultural-commentary-based venue. Mind you, this too will be limited; I freely admit that I'm aware only dimly of most contemporary music--I'm aware of, say, 50 Cent in the way that I'm aware of the planet Neptune--I know he exists, but I've never seen him. Rap eludes me for the same reason punk eluded me; for me, music is escapism, not expressionism--I want to forget my anger and frustration, not embrace/celebrate it. Sorry, Violent Femmes, I just can't; just leave me alone with my complete Beatles anthology, and be on your way.
So this, I think, will be the 'tone' and framework of the blog from hereon--commentary on film, television, 'trends', and the various instances of the signpost that indicate where our society is headed. And lest this seem trivial, remember: Thomas Carlyle--probably the greatest English philosopher of the 19th century (unless you're into utilitarianism--then it's John Stuart Mill)--wrote a compellingly fascinating faux-analysis of the philosophy of clothes, arguing both sincerely and ironically that fashion was as indicative of civilization as art, architecture, or military achievement. If it's good enough for Carlyle, it's good enough for me.
Let's see what happens.
posted by Yr. Hmbl. & Obdt. at 7:11 AM
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