I like things. I like a lot of things I used to like because they caused me happiness in youth, but that was a long time ago and I'm supposed to be more discerning now. Take music, I am impressed by names of groups --they are personal to the members selecting them. My favorite?"Jimmy Eat World" .
Title was taken from crayola drawing Tom Linton's little brother, Ed, did of his other little brother, Jim, when they were children. I am a grape-big man now and cannot help liking the fun of permanent kid-expressions of teasing affection.
Then there's Grace. 12-year-old kid gets on an internationally televised show. Her costume is her playclothes. She has a little ukulele. When I was 12 (and unchanged at 69), carrying a tune was an awful burden for me. She stands before an audience of thousands, and a panel of judges with a song she composed. Listen:
Courage always impresses me. So do venues,like the one above and the one above that --the excellent video of a party that closes encouraging the rewards of peaceful and sincere individualism under hedonistic peer pressure. I have not tried to define what is honorable here, what is dignified --there is no simple definition, but I am working on it.
Courage, on the part of youth, has always impressed me too. Once I thought i might be mostly inexperience, lack of knowledge, etc when their views didn't mesh with mine. I've found the opposite is true. Many things I once thought graven in stone are in fact written in dirt, washed away by events of the next day. I've got a few years on you, Geo. No wisdom that I can discern. Sometimes the best we can do is just step aside, for people like my daughters, your kids, etc. best to you, my friend.
ReplyDeleteDear Mike, The fun we had as kids doing projects that evolved into arts and sciences inside us certainly shaped our futures --good thing too. I am so happy to see kids rewarded for their efforts; there are magically constructive fascinations in youth that never leave us alone, not ever.
DeleteYour work as a VJ is most appreciated. Both videos are feel good pieces and heaven knows we can all use more feel good moments.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if courage is an inexhaustible issue? Or is like something that can be "recharged" through out life?
At any rate Grace is indeed a courageous and adorable talent. And the courage of the boy and girl who found themselves late in the Jimmy Eat World speaks volumes about thinking for yourself eh? Oh and when I was a school kid I never got invited to a party like that!
Kind Tom, I remember the intimacies of youth being best enjoyed in relative privacy, not in naked parties. There was more to relationships than that, and less sense of urgency. Like you, I'm pleased to see a couple leaving hand in hand.
DeleteYoung Grace has talent and a delightful way about her, too. I can't imagine standing up in front of so many people and performing at that age.
ReplyDeleteI like to hear the stories behind band names. This is a good one!
0_Jenny, I have trouble imagining what reserve of courage she exploited to maintain dignity and composure on that stage, but she did. Brave and confident kid.
Delete"Jimmy Eat World" is so close to the silly doodles and captions I did of my elder siblings as a child, that I found it indelibly memorable.
I remember a lot of the little toys and the penny candy that we had and loved so much. Each year I search for some of them to use as stocking stuffers for my offspring. They like them too.
ReplyDeleteDear Emma, I find myself looking around in the supermarket checkout line for just the same items you mention, and by golly they're often there. Yes, I fridge them toward holidays, but sometimes somnambulate after them in the middle of the night. Childhood never leaves the unconscious mind --or, in all honesty the conscious one either.
DeleteThat little singer has an infectious laugh, too. I loved the "aftermath" even more than her performance.
ReplyDeleteShe sure does have memorable laugh and voice. I agree, the supportive treatment by family and stage-staff was most impressive.
DeleteI haven't seem a ukulele player since the Rudy Vallee era. And I haven't enjoyed one since Groucho Marx serenaded Thelma Todd in a rowboat. But it was refreshing to see sweet 12-year-old Grace reviving the Ukulele art.
ReplyDeleteI never heard of Jimmy Eat World. I have trouble enough trying to eat an artichoke....
In the mid-1960s my friend Will acquired a mandolin, which I re-tuned to uke notes (4 strings) and we had a lot of fun with it but never got the hang of singing. When I see someone like Grace cranking up the courage to sing and play, I am amazed and delighted, like you.
DeleteJimmy Eat World is a caption very and embarrassingly similar to what I used to scribble under my early sibling caricatures. I am mostly forgiven.
I have seen kids with all the confidence in the world turn into shy adults... is it because at some point someone made a comment that made them question their bold courage? I am amazed that a man of 69 is listening to new music. I’m a bit younger (but still in my 6th decade, and tend to listen to older music).
ReplyDeletewww.thepulpitandthepen.com
Dear Sage, yes, I shall be 70 later this year --an old man but still a young student of music. My interests span ancient, classical, baroque, avant garde, jazz, opera, folk, rock --anything that turns human experience, especially humor and compassion, into melody, into sculpture of sound. Two abiding hymns that remain with me always are "I Come To The Garden Alone..." possibly because I was a professional gardener for 37 years, and Roger Miller's "My Uncle Used To Love Me But She Died" --because I'm a Democrat.
DeleteI still try to think young and believe in possibilities, although my courage for many things has dissipated. I love and embrace much of the music of today because of the talent. I was blown away by Grace from AGT. The new singer/songwriters talents are not that much different from what I loved years ago. My grandchildren like that I can appreciate what they like because we have great music in common. That makes me feel good.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Arleen, I agree completely. The arts are in safe hands with our grandchildren. Happily our generation and those that followed have encouraged fine composers and performers, as did generations that preceded us. That is what I call successful navigation of possibilities. Makes me feel good too!
DeleteIn my country, people often visit us in boats. Especially in the long Nordic night, they sing across the water to tell us of their approach. Song is so much a practical part of our social lives, you see. But here I read of worldwide cohesiveness in song. Might we not be friends announcing our approach to one another? -Sven
ReplyDeleteI sure hope so, Sven, in friendship and peace.
DeleteGrace blew me away! What a talent, a brave girl.
ReplyDeleteI will not get the images of Jimmy Eat World for a few days.
Susan, I'm so impressed by this new generation, the ages of my children and grandchildren. It makes me happy they are mastering skills beyond my aptitude. Their confidence gives me confidence in the future.
DeleteWhen I was a young girl, my people used to say that I was wise beyond my years … Now, that I am an old girl, I know, that where along the way, I proved them wrong … Love, cat(age 63). Love, cat.
ReplyDeleteDear beautiful Cat, we have succeeded in internalizing the '60s. Well done!
DeleteMy PC's sound card works in an on-again-off-again manner, and unfortunately, it's currently choosing not to work, so I couldn't hear the videos. I did watch the first one, though, and I can say I've never attended a party quite like that one. With the unusual name of that group, I kinda hope their music has some humor in it.
ReplyDeleteAs for Grace, I saw her on TV. She's got a heckuva lot more poise and self-confidence than I did at that age. A lot more talent, too.
Having an eclectic taste in music is a good thing, I think. When our kids were growing up, we took turns choosing a music tape to play in the background while we shot pool or played some other games. When they were in their teens, I can't say that a lot of their "alternative" music floated my boat, but it was a good thing for us all to be familiar with the others' tastes. They still share their music (and books) with me. Keeps me young. (On the inside, anyway. :) )
Dear Susan, I sure like performers like Grace --who really did win the million-$ 1st prize that year-- and delight in groups, like Tom Linton's, that provide teachable moments in their videos. Hope you get the sound fixed on your p.c. I use a headset with mine --offsets my deafness.
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