Navel Gazing

Ahhh, nothing worse than a lazy narcissist.

So yesterday on a bulletin board there was a conversation about blogs. Among the responses were several that were quite hostile to the whole idea of blogs. They are too boring, narcissistic, etc. This from folks who will fill up the ether with empty posts on a public bulletin board. Surprising. The majority of opinion was okay with blogs as a way to keep friends/family informed of goings on, or to make community connections by sharing experiences. I read several blogs from time to time, but most are specific to a subject, such as book reviews or cycling adventures. If someone wants to use it as a place to gather thoughts for future recollection, as mine seems to be shaping up, then that’s great. Blogs are the journals/diaries of today. It’s just that anyone anywhere can read your thoughts, no matter how boring, insightful, or even inciteful they may be.

As for my resolutions in the post from two months ago, I’m working through the book list and have completed several. Right now I’m about 2/3 of the way through Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. So far it has been an interesting read. What happens to the old gods brought to a new land once the old gods are forgotten? What happens to the mythological figures raised up to tell the story of a land when the land no longer tells their tales or venerates their adventures? Those gods and myths fight to remain alive and viable even as their names are known, but they are not given the attention they once knew. A bit fantastical, but something I would expect to find in the Literature section as opposed to the SF/F section of a library or bookstore.

Here’s another thought on music from the car ride in to work today.
“Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads. The faded in agitated acoustic guitar picking leading into the spooky synth line leading to the heavy drum beat. The percussion on this floors me. And the final minute of the drums, the slow synth line loping along, and the rhythm guitar line rising and falling. There is no singing in that final minute, which I now realize is unusual for a song that hit the charts. I’m wondering how many Top 40 DJs just talked right over the outro back in the day. I guess when I was 10 this song just was fun because of the goofy lyrics, but 24 years on it holds up as a great musical piece.