I took a quick trip downtown to a soho bookstore....They were giving a reading with Robert Pinskey, of the new book he's edited on reading poetry aloud...called ESSENTIAL PLEASURES....an anthology of poetry from down the ages, with thoughts towards those which lend themselves to being read aloud, I THINK,...Anyway, There were guest readers..including my one of my favorite CA-NOOKS: MARK STRAND, who not only deeply affected my ideas on poetry, but I also discovered, after the fact, was one of our POET LAUREATES a few years ago....AND he as cool as I could hope: very dry sense of humor, which I love...I was pretty stoked because I'd never heard him read, and also it gave me a chance to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!
So, afterwards, I am waiting for a friend who is in town....so I sat at a bowery bar, waiting and sippin a beer. These 2 guys come in and order a beer...an ANCHOR STEAM which was one of the first "micro brews" I had...freshly in college...and I started thinking about who I was then, and what kind of beer that was and how they probably have changed it, made a corporate recipe outta it...."It probably's nothing like it used to be...", I thought...
And I became aware of how I was joining THAT stupid club again...the ranks of people who love to say "I LOVED THAT BAND BACK BEFORE THEY WERE POPULAR"...or "THAT USED TO BE SO GOOD WHEN IT CAME OUT"....or "THAT LUBRICANT WAS SO MUCH MORE LOOBIE WHEN THEY FIRST PUT IT ON THE MARKET..." blah blah blah ad infinitum....
I guess it's a way if saying "I've been around", or "I KNOW SOMETHING!!" (as my friend K. likes to joke...).
I have already had my fill of those crusty old New Yorkers (even as I drink them in, and get off on them..) who always like to tell you how New York "HAS CHANGED SO MUCH", and "AIN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE"...
We live in a world of CONSTANT CHANGE...
And so the thought for today is:
"NOTHING IS WHAT IT USED TO BE"...
Let's all just get on with it SHALL WE?
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2 comments:
...I knew John back before he was gay. He's all different now....
plus, loobie is an offensive word.
Glad to see you caught yourself before sliding down that slippery slope of 'been there, done that'. I think we all have a friend (or former friend) or two who still subscribe to the notion that they will seem more hip, more 'in the know' or more perhaps more confident if they repeatedly assure those around them that they've already experienced all life has to offer, back before it was popular.
At one time I think I was fooled by this bit of faux-confidence trickery, but as I've aged the veil has lifted, and the scared child hiding behind the bold proclamations was revealed. It became obvious how belittling these statements are - devaluing the experiences of others in order to build up the waning self-confidence of the all-knowing bully.
I find myself hoping this is a trap of youth - of teens trying to fit in and twenty-somethings looking for somewhere to belong - but then I'm reminded of a thirty-something acquaintance here in Seattle who regularly reminds those around him of how terminally hip he is, and I realize some people might not grow out it.
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