Nothing can happen to any man that nature has not fitted him to endure. Your neighbour's experiences are no different from your own; yet he, being either less aware of what has happened or more eager to show his mettle, stands steady and undaunted. For shame, that ignorance and vanity should prove stronger than wisdom.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book Five
See below (sad, resigned smile).
To pursue the unattainable is insanity, yet the thoughtless can never refrain from doing so.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book Five
So, how have I read and reread the Meditations so many times and never truly learned this. Way too much of the last fifteen years was spent pursuing someone who clearly viewed me as a convenient, dependable tool. On the one hand I have no one to blame but myself, but, sadly, on the other, I caused pain to several people, some of whom I loved dearly, who got caught in the shrapnel. So, beyond the fact that I'm, according to MA, "thoughtless," which is doubtless true, why do we do these things? I'm sure with me with was some combination of vanity and cognitive dissonance, and, well, the peculiarities of the human heart. At this moment the more interesting question relates to why we choose a philosophy or religion in the first place: do we choose one that aligns with who we are, or who aligns with our failings, what we need to be. Obviously, I suck at being a Stoic, which is why I'm drawn to MA.
Wait, what, school is starting tomorrow? That means, using my Hoosier-corrupted math, that the year is two-thirds over. There were pumpkins on sale at Shaw's today, although it's Vermont and it will probably be snowing in two weeks so that's not too surprising. Still, it's another reminder of the passing of time. I'm not too certain of how I feel about this upcoming school year, my twenty-second at Champlain, and now the third at least partially destroyed by COVID (someone pointed out the other day that this year's seniors will be the only class on campus who will be able to remember a normal year, which is a sobering thought).
Bill Farrington
Southern Cross - Jimmy Buffet
The first song is generally
responsive to the prompt of a song in unexpected circumstances that made me
smile (or something like that). Two thoughts to set a frame of
reference. I have been a more than casual fan of CSN (and sometimes
Y) for a long time, and I am not a Parrot Head (or even remotely
resemble someone who is a ParrotHead). Kathy and I received an
invitation, we could not turn down, for lawn seats for a Jimmy Buffet
concert in the early 90's. We went to the concert and I was very
much a stranger in a strange land. Buffet played Southern Cross
(Stephen Stills composition) as an encore. I did smile and I did
enjoy that song.
https://open.spotify.com/track/0qmawdRliiO39sdaxUIl2e?si=58a4ca68e4494f02
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9CgMAT2ybc&ab_channel=JimmyBuffett-Topic
My Generation - The Who
Pete Townsend has been answering
questions in response to "I hope I die before I get old" since the
release of My Generation. This medley was the response for a tour in 2006
/ 2007. The medley is My Generation / new lyrics appended / and Cry if
you Want. I couldn't find a version of this on youtube. Two
substitute youtube versions follow. The first site has Townshend on
vocals, and it is from the 06 / 07 tour. I don't like it as well,
but it does give a visual sense of the song. The second site is from a
concert in Hyde Park (circa 2015). It does not have the full medley, but
it is a quality rendition - of a song written by an angry young man - by
aging rockers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI4hC0xjcZs&ab_channel=nakedeye515
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_4QrPPPcBw&ab_channel=MercuryStudios
As with all things "The
Who", if your eardrums are still able to sustain the strain, it is
better loud.
If there is any interest in the
version taken from a CD of the concert Kathy and I attended in Indianapolis in
March 2007(Daltry in good form on vocals), I believe I can share the MP3 file
on a google doc.
Lynette Vought
Heartbreak Hotel
This song has been in
my ears nearly all month, first in the form of the Paul McCartney clip that
popped up on my newsfeed, and then in a recording of a live performance by
Elvis, because I wanted to see the bass in Bill Black’s hands as well.
It is catching me
because a good blues song seems to be the proper fit for heading back into the
classroom next week during yet another year of a pandemic and all the
heartbreak it is causing.
It is fun to see
Paul McCartney be a true fan, and in his short version of Heartbreak Hotel,
he is characteristically charming as he puts on a fine display of musicianship.
I’ve heard it said that it is very difficult to sing while playing bass.
McCartney not only achieves it, he pulls his first note out of thin air before
he starts playing the bass.
Seeing Elvis in
action is a joy. Also, I think it is
Chet Atkins on guitar, and while Elvis is shaking his legs, he is playing a
solo with his teeth! You don’t see that every day. And being able to watch Bill Black play that dashing
bass on its first time around is a satisfying music history moment for me. Here
is a link to the studio
recording with much better sound quality, if you can do without looking at
Elvis and the band.
Good tunes can be
good companions if you are on Lonely Street. At the end of all this, at least
we will have a tale to tell if we end up at The Heartbreak Hotel.
Be safe.
David Kelley
I have been trying to post about newly released music in the
third installment of the Music Blog. I am deviating this month because
fuck!!!! "Inner City Blues" by Marvin Gaye is a perfect song.
Sadly it will always be relevant too. If I could be as cool as a James
Jamerson bass line just once in my life.
Gary Scudder
Basia Bulat, Once More, for the Dollhouse
This is definitely one of those instances where I went down a rabbit hole, with Spotify proposing that if I like Sarah Harmer, which I do, then I'd also like Basia Bulat, which I do. I mean, seriously, who wouldn't like an alt-country singer from Ontario who plays the auto-harp? This song, Once More, for the Dollhouse, is drawn from her first album, Heart of My Own. It's a beautiful, elegiac song about love, loss, and alienation. Early in the song she asks, "Your dreams are so quiet, don't you need them anymore?" and then, by the end, her question has been rephrased as,"Your dreams are so quiet, don't you need me anymore?" The question becomes, if our friends/lovers dreams have been fulfilled, or simply died, do they even need us anymore? It's been my experience that the answer is no.
What is the very best that can be said or done with the materials at your disposal? Be it what it may, you have the power to say it or do it; let there be no pretence that you are not a free agent.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book Ten
As usual, MA hits it dead center. Yes, on the one hand this is a "duh" moment, but only for some people. I don't know if I'm ready to go as far as T.E. Lawrence, at least as far as the cinematic Lawrence of Arabia, and propose that nothing is written (you've probably figured out that I'm headed back to Jordan, three times in 2022 - but also, inshallah, a solo trip this coming Thanksgiving). We may not have the complete control that we think we have, but I also struggle tremendously with the idea that everything we're going to say or do has been predetermined by some grouchy, anthropomorphic know-it-all divine force/farce. MA is right, we are free agents, and isn't that the key? None of this could ever make any sense, have any meaning, if we don't have the freedom to choose, even if we routinely, almost by definition, make the wrong choice?
