Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Playing Air Guitar In The Shower

So it’s 2009. I know how disappointed we all are that 2008 is over. We are equally as disappointed that George W. Bush’s presidency is over. It’s been a rough ride but an era of jack-assed stupidity seems to be coming to a close. Or does it? Something is over. Something new is beginning. It is as it ever was and what is really important is the fact that it’s always actually right now. I love the simplicity and smart assedness of this kind of a comment. 2008 is over. Bush is out. Ben is now 32. But guess what folks, it’s still just right now and when it comes down to it, that’s all that really matters.

I’m not really one to write blog posts about all the mundane details of my day to day life, partly because it feels a bit presumptuous to assume that my life is that interesting, and partly because I’m more interested in experiencing my life as it happens rather than spending much time reliving and documenting it. And also because I doubt any of you give a shit about what I had for lunch today or whether or not I had trouble locating my car keys this morning. If those kinds of things about another person’s life actually do interest you then, friend to friend, Iet me suggest that you seek some psychological counseling because that can’t be healthy.

However, having said that, sometimes you just sit down to write without anything particular to write about (like now) and the little goings on of your life tend to come out. It’s been hard to actually sit down and do this lately. There are so many areas of interest out there and try as I may, I can’t cover all the territory I’d like to in any given day or week. Of all things I am taking guitar lessons now. I’ve messed around on the guitar for years now and I can do fairly well but until three weeks ago I didn’t know the major scale from a fish scale.

Now I’m diving into the world of music theory and one particular character trait in my personality is becoming very clear to me. I don’t precisely know how you’d word it but let’s just say, whatever the endeavor, my tendency is to attempt to run full speed prior to learning the basics of walking. Occasionally I succeed at this or get somewhere in the ballpark of it, which leads to interesting results. This guitar thing is a great example. I can do some advanced things but am quite baffled by the fundamentals and I’m kind of having to learn it backwards now. That’s alright though.

The bottom line is that I like to cut out the fluff. So much of life is fluff, and by fluff I mean unnecessary bullshit that you needn’t waste your time or get involved with. If one is not careful, one’s life will be dominated by fluff (unnecessary bullshit). Now a more critical perspective on this approach would be to say that I try to shortcut everything. That may be so. But…I believe there is a shortcut to everything, or almost everything. A better way to say it is that I believe there is a direct route to most any destination. There is also the non direct route which, for whatever reason, seems to be the most popular. I’m being vague here but I know you get what I’m saying.

It’s been tempting to write more about politics but the more I’ve delved into it, the more of a quagmire I realize that it really is. Now I can make my point and back up my positions and that can be fun but I would love nothing more than to get over the need or desire to prove how right I am on any given subject. That’s just an ego thing. It’s a game. It doesn’t matter that I’m right. I like the challenge of a good debate but still, just more ego. What’s the point?

Does this mean I won’t be taking the Fox News and Rush Limbaugh crowd to task when the opportunity presents itself? Of course not. But I won’t be making a career out of it, although that would be both easy and fun. Because of the fact that it’s so easy and fun, there are already a million other people out there doing a fine job of it.

Okay…I’m rambling here, doing a little self-analysis too. There is neither time nor topic for a serious blog entry right now but I did want to check in and wish everyone a seriously happy 2009. It’s bound to be an adventure.