Where I want to be
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Its a cloudy day outside and I'm sitting in my Physical Environments class, blazing through so many idears besides the earthquake models on the screen. The teacher is young and would be a pretty good guy to talk to outside class but all norms of casual social interaction goes out the window once class begins, which is when he turns on his Formal Teacher in Class mode and starts rambling not out of enthusiasm but rather uncertainty, just probably because he's young and feels more comfortable in front of a computer. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, but its a shame because he's doomed to never make a single thing in this class interesting. Which is exactly why I'm grinding so hard on articles here in the back. The Boston Globe has a stupendous column online called the Ideas section, where they publish all sorts of great finding in an array of different field and how they apply to everyday life. That article on Grit is a perfect example. Dig through the archives if you want to learn something.
I've got lots of thoughts on Pitchfork. I love their colourful, no holds barred style album reviews. Most reviews you'll read will be wishy-washy, "its good, its just not for me", "the lovechild of blahblah and blahblah" nonsense that leaves a void where you want your initial opinion of an article to be. Pitchfork drives their knife deep, giving the good and bad equal respect but definitely siding with one or the other. Even for albums I love and they lambast, there is always something in the review I can agree with. When they called the Kings of Leon "Yall2" in one album review, I about died laughing. True and fucking hilarious. What I can't stand is the one thing I appreciate, which is their opinionating. They come across a little too caustic and incisive sometimes when they should give the music a chance. The great thinker Paul de Man once said "Irony is endless negativity." Critical thinking is a fantastic mechanism to have at your disposal, but don't let it lose the heart of it all. You'll never have fun at a show if you're standing back arms crossed, analyzing and criticizing the joy outta the band playing. It's not hip or retro, its fun you asshole. I mean, I love you but cmon now, shut the fuck up and dance. Jam don't stare. Check out the rest of the articles too and challenge yourself to read something deeper and longer than a fucking tweet. Class is out and I'm getting Subway.
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