‘Remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.’ That was the only time I ever heard Atticus say it was a sin to do something, and I asked Miss Maudie about it. ‘Your father’s right,’ she said. ‘Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.’
fromTo Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Then he told me something I will never forget: ‘Miles, you hear that bird outside the window? He’s a mockingbird. He don’t have a sound of his own. He copies everybody’s sound, and you don’t want to do that. You want to be your own man, have your own sound. That’s what it’s really about. So, don’t be nobody else but yourself. You know what you got to do and I trust your judgement. And don’t worry, I’ll keep sending you money until you get on your feet.’
from Miles, The Autobiography by Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe
This is one of those ironic post titles. During the last couple weeks, I was getting tons of kicks from Champaign, but now I am livin’ it up in Cambridge. Here’s a video of my last night, dong something it looks like I won’t be able to do with all these buildings and people hanging around.
Apparently, there is a band called the Soviettes. That’s pretty good, but I can do one better. If I ever get my own variety show, nothing can stop me from naming the back-up dancers the Moist Towelettes.
Update: I have heard the Soviettes, and their music is as good as their name.
What is the deal with people writing things like ’said bill has been stuck in committee since last September’ or ’said roomate has been exhibiting general whininess’ in contexts where it’s absolutely clear which bill or roomate is being referred to? THE bill, THE roomate or even better, just use he, she or it when there’s no question. Sorry to single anyone out as a target of a rant, but it’s really baffling me how this got started and why it didn’t whither on the vine soon after said start.
Update: Couldn’t think of a good title for this post until now. It’s still pretty lame though, I know.
I must be superficial. I felt out of sorts today because of spending all of the last few days either at the company’s annual conference, with its associated stress, or at the bar trying to unwind before the start of the next marathon day. Then I wake to find that it’s noon on Sunday and I
have one day to not think about work as much as possible, and not really anything to do and no one to do it with. So, I putz around for a while and try to think of something interesting. I go to an okay move. Then, finally I get my new speakers working in my car.! The bass is so loud and the sound is clear! Now I feel great! I must be superficial.
strong>Update: I just realized this is also subject of my second post on this blog. A wheel within a wheel. Everything comes full circle. Or maybe just get some new subject material you tired old blowhard!
I need a gang of invisible sidekicks who will follow me around everywhere. Hopefully their leader will be called Maceo. When I am in the middle of a boring conversation that I can’t escape, I’ll just yell “Maceo! To the bridge!” and they’ll start to play a bunch of nasty funk so loud that no one can talk. It would be even better if whoever was around was compelled to dance to the funk all goofy-like, but that’s just crazy talk.
I had another dream about Argentina the other night. It was the middle of the day, and I was looking for some pastries or croissants, as I often did because they are so delicious and cheap there. Every storefront was an inviting, wholesome cafe or bakery, and there were even more pastry stands in the middle of the street. Behind every counter was a smiling, attentive baker, but I was the only non-worker in sight as I paced from one block to another. I could have any sweets that I wanted, but there was no possibility of sharing them with anyone. “This is exactly what’s wrong with my life right now,” I remember thinking.
Search
About
Archive for Joe Bolte.
Longer entries are truncated. Click the headline of an entry to read it in its entirety.
