Happy New Year everyone. The holidays were great for Sharon and I as we spent a week in Oklahoma City with family. Great cheer prevailed.
The Friday after Christmas, we spent and excellent evening with old friends. It is a wonderful thing to have a group of friends that you are able to grow older with; when time and geography seem to have no effect on the common affection and admiration between you. Tom, Carrie, Tim, Bec. Thanks for a great night. We'll see you in July.
I shall now use the word, behoove, in a sentence:
It behooves us to be patient with our neighbors, even when we feel that they play their music to loudly after we are in bed for the night.
I exchanged salty words with my neighbor last night over the abundant volume of his music. In my hoodie and ball-cap, I strode wraith-like towards my ruckus intruders, firing my high powered flash light at them as I hissed verbal venom, demanding explanation for my sleeps murder.
Sound melodramatic? It was. My reaction was overkill and snarly, and almost immediately after I'd berated my neighbor, I felt ridiculous. My neighbor is a decent guy and loud music has never been much of an issue before. In addition, my complaint smacked of hypocrisy. Most afternoons I paint to music than could easily be enjoyed from the sidewalk outside my front door. Of course it's not unreasonable to expet my neighbors to keep noise levels low after dark, but this is the city, and we have chosen to live where we do, for benefits that for us far outweigh the negatives. Also, my neighbor is not the most advantaged fellow, and I hate attacking someone who doesn't have nearly the ammunition that I've got in my arsenal. Dangerously, my mouth is a delicately balanced model that comes fully loaded, and is standard equipped with a factory installed hair-trigger. Sometimes it's better to just empy the chamber in my mind and put in ear plugs.
I apologized to my neighbor this afternoon. I feel much better, and everything's cool between us again.
Despite possible feather ruffling, I'd like to continue a debate, which possibly only I care about. So with all due respect.
Earlier this week, the discussion came up of whether or not it is appropriate for a group of entertainers to interrupt their performance to solicit donations to benefit a non-profit organization. In this case, the band the Flobots were promoting their own non-profit, Fight With Tools, whose mission is according to their website: to "create a community of empowered music fans, that are actively engaged in social change". Exactly what this means I'm not sure, but I can always appreciate any group of people who use their talents and passion to lift people up, to give them a sense of worth.
Now, I understand when you go to a concert, art opening, theater performance, rodeo, or any other event that you've paid good money to attend, that the idea of paying more money to fund yet another altruistic vision, might cause some of us to stiffen and become annoyed, but let me point out, that when an artist or group takes the time to promote a cause and perhaps even ask for donations, the giving of donations is entirely optional. You will not be scoffed at if you don't donate and it's perfectly fine not to lend your money to every cause and charity. Perhaps hour budget won't allow it. Maybe you don't agree with a groups politics. The question was not meant to personally offend and it's ok to say 'no thanks'. Just today, in fact, I turned down and opportunity to underwrite Greenpeace as I walked home from work. I'll sleep fine tonight.
Unfortunately, good ideas sometimes are hampered because we become paralyzed by politeness. Stubbornly supporting only the common-form of etiquette inevitably leads us to such hypercritical and jaded points of view, as to call it bad-form when a group of musicians, who are known for promoting social justice and awareness through their music, asks that we might consider making a small donation that would put us out financially no more than the amount of money that might be wasted on a pack of cigarettes.
In the end, it's great if the art we enjoy entertains us, but we should be willing to be challenged by it as well.
Have a good weekend, Godspeed John Glenn,
Dave
I shall now use the word, behoove, in a sentence:
It behooves us to be patient with our neighbors, even when we feel that they play their music to loudly after we are in bed for the night.
I exchanged salty words with my neighbor last night over the abundant volume of his music. In my hoodie and ball-cap, I strode wraith-like towards my ruckus intruders, firing my high powered flash light at them as I hissed verbal venom, demanding explanation for my sleeps murder.
Sound melodramatic? It was. My reaction was overkill and snarly, and almost immediately after I'd berated my neighbor, I felt ridiculous. My neighbor is a decent guy and loud music has never been much of an issue before. In addition, my complaint smacked of hypocrisy. Most afternoons I paint to music than could easily be enjoyed from the sidewalk outside my front door. Of course it's not unreasonable to expet my neighbors to keep noise levels low after dark, but this is the city, and we have chosen to live where we do, for benefits that for us far outweigh the negatives. Also, my neighbor is not the most advantaged fellow, and I hate attacking someone who doesn't have nearly the ammunition that I've got in my arsenal. Dangerously, my mouth is a delicately balanced model that comes fully loaded, and is standard equipped with a factory installed hair-trigger. Sometimes it's better to just empy the chamber in my mind and put in ear plugs.
I apologized to my neighbor this afternoon. I feel much better, and everything's cool between us again.
Despite possible feather ruffling, I'd like to continue a debate, which possibly only I care about. So with all due respect.
Earlier this week, the discussion came up of whether or not it is appropriate for a group of entertainers to interrupt their performance to solicit donations to benefit a non-profit organization. In this case, the band the Flobots were promoting their own non-profit, Fight With Tools, whose mission is according to their website: to "create a community of empowered music fans, that are actively engaged in social change". Exactly what this means I'm not sure, but I can always appreciate any group of people who use their talents and passion to lift people up, to give them a sense of worth.
Now, I understand when you go to a concert, art opening, theater performance, rodeo, or any other event that you've paid good money to attend, that the idea of paying more money to fund yet another altruistic vision, might cause some of us to stiffen and become annoyed, but let me point out, that when an artist or group takes the time to promote a cause and perhaps even ask for donations, the giving of donations is entirely optional. You will not be scoffed at if you don't donate and it's perfectly fine not to lend your money to every cause and charity. Perhaps hour budget won't allow it. Maybe you don't agree with a groups politics. The question was not meant to personally offend and it's ok to say 'no thanks'. Just today, in fact, I turned down and opportunity to underwrite Greenpeace as I walked home from work. I'll sleep fine tonight.
Unfortunately, good ideas sometimes are hampered because we become paralyzed by politeness. Stubbornly supporting only the common-form of etiquette inevitably leads us to such hypercritical and jaded points of view, as to call it bad-form when a group of musicians, who are known for promoting social justice and awareness through their music, asks that we might consider making a small donation that would put us out financially no more than the amount of money that might be wasted on a pack of cigarettes.
In the end, it's great if the art we enjoy entertains us, but we should be willing to be challenged by it as well.
Have a good weekend, Godspeed John Glenn,
Dave
