Posts
Many writers are also alcoholics. This is presumably because they have a lot of idle time on their hands and they succumb to the not entirely untrue belief that alcohol limbers the mind.
I wonder whether Hemingway would have been more prolific had he eschewed the booze. Was his genius fueled by booze? Certainly, many of his stories came from episodes of drinking and we would want for their entertainment had he not been drunk all the time.
The same inquiry can be made into F.Scott Fitzgerald's life and work or, to take from another discipline, that of Mickey Mantle. We could name hundreds of greats who seemingly drank their gifts into the ground. But for every Hemingway there is a Waylon Jennings, a talent who got off of drugs or alcohol and started making art that was inferior to their inebriated work.
Is the genius fueled or inhibited by alcohol?
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Nica, Nica, Nica
Travis and I are going to Nicaragua during my Spring Break.
"You're going to Nicaragua?!!!"
"Watch out for the Contras."
"Don't we have an embargo against them?"
Opinions die slowly. My father warned that it takes a long time to disprove a negative reputation. His words (once again) ring true. Central America's second largest country, Nicaragua has been through a great deal of political and social turmoil, suffering in the name of revolution or equality.
I was raised in a time when popular opinion believed that the U.S. backed Contras were working to oust the evil socialist Sandinistas; communism and socialism had to be quashed at any cost. I envisioned a Soviet satellite, a place from which Khrushchev or Gorbachev would ultimately stage their attack on the U.S.
Nicaragua clearly had ties to the Soviet Union but the Nicas probably did not deserve the punishment effected by U.S. support of the Contras. The Contras had no chance against the State military/police without U.S. support. Nicas are worse off from the havoc wreaked on their country. Socialism has had many casualties and I am afraid the U.S. will be next on that tragic list. But, socialism can work on some limited level in a small state. The Sandinistas may have successfully provided for their people if the U.S. had not opposed Ortega's government.
While foreign policy requires a case-by-case analysis, an isolationist paradigm is gaining ground on the battlefield of my opinion.
"You're going to Nicaragua?!!!"
"Watch out for the Contras."
"Don't we have an embargo against them?"
Opinions die slowly. My father warned that it takes a long time to disprove a negative reputation. His words (once again) ring true. Central America's second largest country, Nicaragua has been through a great deal of political and social turmoil, suffering in the name of revolution or equality.
I was raised in a time when popular opinion believed that the U.S. backed Contras were working to oust the evil socialist Sandinistas; communism and socialism had to be quashed at any cost. I envisioned a Soviet satellite, a place from which Khrushchev or Gorbachev would ultimately stage their attack on the U.S.
Nicaragua clearly had ties to the Soviet Union but the Nicas probably did not deserve the punishment effected by U.S. support of the Contras. The Contras had no chance against the State military/police without U.S. support. Nicas are worse off from the havoc wreaked on their country. Socialism has had many casualties and I am afraid the U.S. will be next on that tragic list. But, socialism can work on some limited level in a small state. The Sandinistas may have successfully provided for their people if the U.S. had not opposed Ortega's government.
While foreign policy requires a case-by-case analysis, an isolationist paradigm is gaining ground on the battlefield of my opinion.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
New Year's Resolution watch:
-Played guitar for about thirty minutes
-Iced my knee and did a little yoga. I was late for class so I skipped my pelvis stabilization exercises. This cannot become a habit.
-Did about forty five minutes of Rosetta Stone and looked up words in my Spanish phrasebook throughout the day.
-Played guitar for about thirty minutes
-Iced my knee and did a little yoga. I was late for class so I skipped my pelvis stabilization exercises. This cannot become a habit.
-Did about forty five minutes of Rosetta Stone and looked up words in my Spanish phrasebook throughout the day.
Balkan Cafe
When I first returned to Jacksonville, I was still on a Balkan obsession high. I was reading two books about the Balkans and preparing to write a paper about the conflict for use as my advanced legal writing graduation requirement. My enthusiasm has since waned and been replaced by a fervor for Nicaragua (more on that in a later post) but at the beginning of January I needed a place to get my Balkan fix. Google provided immediate answers. There is a Balkan restaurant in Jacksonville called, creatively, Balkan Cafe. The owner/operators are from Bosnia but have lived in Jacksonville for many years. They were understandably surprised by my interest in Balkan cuisine but took the time to explain the menu and answer all of my questions about their homeland.
Ednan and his father run the place. Inspired initially by a warm response to his father's tailgating performances at local Balkan soccer games, the two opened Balkan Cafe about a year ago. Ednan claims that Jacksonville has the fourth largest population of Balkan people in the U.S. Whether this is true or not is for someone else to discover. I am content taking the Balkan people at their oft embellished word.
The food was typical Balkan fare: sausage wrapped in a pita with a side of ajvar (red pepper sauce), eaten with one's hands. Ednan even told me where to find ajvar. There is a European grocery on Beach Boulevard that sells about ten different varieties of God's nectar. I went home stuffed and eager for a return trip.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
New Year's Resolution Watch
I am back. Nederland Ned lay dormant while I got situated this semester but I am committed to doing interesting things and writing about them.
My first post will be a New Year’s Resolution watch. I will dedicate at least part of every post to my progress in achieving my New Year’s Resolutions.
As you may recall, I had three of them: 1) Learn Spanish, 2) Play more guitar, 3) Run a marathon.
1) Learn Spanish
-I have been doing my Rosetta Stone lessons nearly every day. The weekend lessons have been sparse but I make time for lessons during the week. I have supplemented the lessons by watching Spanish language movies with English subtitles. Y Tu Mama Tambien and Pan’s Labyrinth are the only ones I own so far but Amores Perros is on the way. I welcome any other suggestions. Most Europeans I know say they learned English by watching American television and movies with subtitles. The movie plan seems to have had an impact on my performance thus far. Granted, this may be due to the fact that I have been extremely focused on Rosetta Stone and have been doing it for at least thirty minutes, sometimes up to an hour per session. Regardless, I am pleased with my progress.
2) Play more guitar
-This one should be modified to, “play guitar every day.” I have been doing just that and its effects are profound. Guitar soothes me. Even a few minutes worth of mindless strumming can be therapeutic as it takes me away from my reality and into some parallel universe full of mediocre music. Like Spanish, guitar is more fulfilling with practice. I have learned to play “our” song, I’m Comin’ Home by Robert Earl Keen and have been working on some simple picking.
3) Run a marathon
-This one is going to be the most difficult. My knee is already sore and I only have three workouts under my belt. I think the same knee that was mysteriously hurting in Prague is acting up once again. My workouts have been slow with plenty of time between them because I do not want to hurt myself and get set back like I did on the last marathon attempt. My new shoes feel good and fit well and I am in good spirits. I subscribed to Runner’s World magazine and have been doing some core strengthening exercises as recommended by the magazine.
I will give myself an A- so far. The first few days of the new year were not particularly productive since I was in New York and more interested in spending time with Jami than accomplishing any of the above goals. Jacksonville has yielded greater progress.
My only real criticism is that school and my job search have not been given appropriate attention. I need a job and I need to graduate from law school so these two things should be given greater focus.
My first post will be a New Year’s Resolution watch. I will dedicate at least part of every post to my progress in achieving my New Year’s Resolutions.
As you may recall, I had three of them: 1) Learn Spanish, 2) Play more guitar, 3) Run a marathon.
1) Learn Spanish
-I have been doing my Rosetta Stone lessons nearly every day. The weekend lessons have been sparse but I make time for lessons during the week. I have supplemented the lessons by watching Spanish language movies with English subtitles. Y Tu Mama Tambien and Pan’s Labyrinth are the only ones I own so far but Amores Perros is on the way. I welcome any other suggestions. Most Europeans I know say they learned English by watching American television and movies with subtitles. The movie plan seems to have had an impact on my performance thus far. Granted, this may be due to the fact that I have been extremely focused on Rosetta Stone and have been doing it for at least thirty minutes, sometimes up to an hour per session. Regardless, I am pleased with my progress.
2) Play more guitar
-This one should be modified to, “play guitar every day.” I have been doing just that and its effects are profound. Guitar soothes me. Even a few minutes worth of mindless strumming can be therapeutic as it takes me away from my reality and into some parallel universe full of mediocre music. Like Spanish, guitar is more fulfilling with practice. I have learned to play “our” song, I’m Comin’ Home by Robert Earl Keen and have been working on some simple picking.
3) Run a marathon
-This one is going to be the most difficult. My knee is already sore and I only have three workouts under my belt. I think the same knee that was mysteriously hurting in Prague is acting up once again. My workouts have been slow with plenty of time between them because I do not want to hurt myself and get set back like I did on the last marathon attempt. My new shoes feel good and fit well and I am in good spirits. I subscribed to Runner’s World magazine and have been doing some core strengthening exercises as recommended by the magazine.
I will give myself an A- so far. The first few days of the new year were not particularly productive since I was in New York and more interested in spending time with Jami than accomplishing any of the above goals. Jacksonville has yielded greater progress.
My only real criticism is that school and my job search have not been given appropriate attention. I need a job and I need to graduate from law school so these two things should be given greater focus.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
I'm Back
January was a pretty busy and interesting month. On New Year’s Eve, at about four o’clock, Jami and I had no plans. She mentioned that My Morning Jacket was playing Madison Square Garden and that some of her co-workers were going. I figured it was a long shot but looked into tickets just in case. There was an ad on craigslist.com for two tickets so I called the guy. He claimed to have several tickets in several price ranges. I settled on the $40 ones and hoped for the best. It seemed sketchy but Jami made a good point, it was like playing a $40 hand of black jack. Worst case scenario we buy fake tickets, are out $40, and end up celebrating the New Year at her apartment like we planned.
The tickets were real and the show was incredible. Our seats were in the lower part of the second level. My Morning Jacket was awesome. They played new stuff, old stuff, and covers. The only negative came right before midnight. The band showed some sort of film while they took a break just before midnight. It was in black and white and initially flashed commercials like you would see in a movie theater in the 1950’s. About ten minutes before midnight, the Star Spangled Banner started playing with several pictures of soldiers and then a picture of Barack Obama looking up at the sky with a waving American flag in the background. Just after Premier Obama’s likeness, an actor came on the screen dressed in a military uniform with a Hitler haircut and moustache. In rousing Hitler style, the speaker went on about the end of consumerism, a new day in which the workers of the world will unite and overthrow the evil corporations. I was offended but not surprised. The kind of music I listen to is not patronized or performed by libertarians. These shows are almost always communist love fests that I endure because the music is really good. And, that is the beauty of music; it is what you want it to be. Plus I tend to overreact to anything that even smells of socialism. Jami on the other hand, does not get bent out of shape about politics and generally thinks of it as something about which she is ill-informed. It was her reaction to the film that made clear its blatant communist/fascist nature. She was outraged by the ignorance and gall of the band and its followers. The roof came off the place when this Hitleresque figure gave his rousing speech denouncing the individual and praising the collective effort. I mentioned this to my father who pointed out that we are witnessing a cultural sea change. Americans no longer want individual freedom or responsibility, they want the paternal government to make decisions for them, to take care of them. I hope we are able to survive this zeitgeist.
The tickets were real and the show was incredible. Our seats were in the lower part of the second level. My Morning Jacket was awesome. They played new stuff, old stuff, and covers. The only negative came right before midnight. The band showed some sort of film while they took a break just before midnight. It was in black and white and initially flashed commercials like you would see in a movie theater in the 1950’s. About ten minutes before midnight, the Star Spangled Banner started playing with several pictures of soldiers and then a picture of Barack Obama looking up at the sky with a waving American flag in the background. Just after Premier Obama’s likeness, an actor came on the screen dressed in a military uniform with a Hitler haircut and moustache. In rousing Hitler style, the speaker went on about the end of consumerism, a new day in which the workers of the world will unite and overthrow the evil corporations. I was offended but not surprised. The kind of music I listen to is not patronized or performed by libertarians. These shows are almost always communist love fests that I endure because the music is really good. And, that is the beauty of music; it is what you want it to be. Plus I tend to overreact to anything that even smells of socialism. Jami on the other hand, does not get bent out of shape about politics and generally thinks of it as something about which she is ill-informed. It was her reaction to the film that made clear its blatant communist/fascist nature. She was outraged by the ignorance and gall of the band and its followers. The roof came off the place when this Hitleresque figure gave his rousing speech denouncing the individual and praising the collective effort. I mentioned this to my father who pointed out that we are witnessing a cultural sea change. Americans no longer want individual freedom or responsibility, they want the paternal government to make decisions for them, to take care of them. I hope we are able to survive this zeitgeist.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)