tBlog - The Devil Is In the Details...

The Devil Is In the Details...

Blog For Free!

Archives
Home
2007 May
2006 October
2006 July
2006 June
2006 May
2006 April
2005 November
2005 October
2005 September
2005 August
2005 July
2005 June
2005 May
2005 April
2005 March
2005 February
2005 January
2004 November
2004 October
2004 September
2004 August
2004 July
2004 June
2004 May
2004 April
2004 March
2004 February

My Links
Filbert
The Jongleur

tBlog
My Profile
Send tMail
My tFriends
My Images

Sponsored
Blog

The Devil Is In the Details...

04.05.05 (3:58 am) [edit]

Oddly enough, in the last few hours I've had occasion to discuss with two different people my tendency to focus on the minutia of things rather than on the big picture. While this is certainly true of music, it's not limited to that topic by any stretch of the imagination. I get lost entirely in brief snippets of conversation or find myself swimming in the sound of a single word. Some people find this greatly annoying. Others tolerate it gently... and to them I am grateful.

To that end, my good friend [url=http://lindy.tblog.com]Lindy[/url] reminded me of a post from *almost* a year ago when I found myself intensley focused on such minutia. We had a good time laughing about it and making fun of my eccentricity (note: not the same as wacky/wacko) and she suggested I post it again.

So... here goes nothing.

Originally titled:

A True Story

[i]The following is the transcript of a conversation about music that I witnessed earlier this afternoon.

----------

When I walked into the student lounge she was the only one there. It was impossible not to notice her; she was sitting at a table in the middle of the room, writing in a spiral notebook and singing. Not singing in the way that one normally does in a public place ~ barely discernable and so far under the breath that it sounds almost like praying. No. this was singing in the way that one does when they forget that they are not alone: not quite loud enough to be an obvious performance, but sufficiently loud to indicate that she was completely unaware that anyone could hear her.

As I took a seat a few tables away, and set my lunch down in front of me, I expected her to look up in embarrassment, silenced by the appearance of another person. But she didn’t. In fact, she didn’t look up at all. Rather, she continued to write, and more notably, to sing. Her head down, she seemed equally intent on the words flowing from the ends of her fingers as she did on those leaving her lips. I scanned for headphones, but found none. Cleared my throat. No reaction. Hmmm… I thought, and mentally shrugged as I opened a book and began to eat before ‘clocking in’ for work.

A few moments later a young blonde girl walked in, scanned the vending machine and said “doesn’t that honey bun look delicious?” Her question didn’t seem aimed at anyone in particular, but the singer looked up, silenced herself and tugged awkwardly at her pink t-shirt which read in bold black letters: [i][b]ASPEN. [/b][/i] And then just below it: [i][b]Better In Powder.[/b][/i]

Then she turned to the blonde and said: “Have you noticed how everything is emo this year? I mean, I’ve been emo since I was fucking 12 years old. Seriously, I was fucking hardcore.”

The blonde looked intimidated, shifting on her feet. She said, “I know. It’s lame.”

“No, I’m serious” the singer shot back. By this time, she was on the edge of her seat. “First it was metal heads. Then it was goth.”

“And now it’s emo” said the blonde with kind of pride that comes from having guessed the punchline to a joke moments before its delivery.

[i]“No…” [/i]the singer said seriously, “[i]then[/i] it was punk. Now it’s emo.”

All the blonde could do was giggle.

“It’s so gay,” the singer went on, closing her notebook with a long sigh, deep with resentment. “They’re all just preps in other clothes.”

Silence.

“And you know what it’s going to be next year?” she asked.

“No” the blonde replied sincerely, as though her answer really mattered.

“It’s going to be fucking hardcore,” she said shaking her head. “It’s going to be fucking hardcore. And then… then I’m going to slit my fucking wrists.”

And with that, she gathered her pen and her notebook and walked out of the room with the blonde tagging along behind. And I was left there, in silence, without so much as the honey bun for consolation.[/i]

To be honest, one of the best parts of this post had to be some of the comments I received in response. They were classic. You can check some of them out [url=http://www.tblog.com/template...]here[/url] .

Thanks again [url=http://lindy.tblog.com]Lindy[/url] for suggesting it. This is quite possibly the ultimate indulgence.

posted by: BerlinBear (reply)
post date: 04.05.05 (2:33 am)

Umm, I'm almost embarrassed to say this, but I have read all the comments on that old post and I *still* don't know what emo is. Am I the only one?

And one other thing I was wondering: did the singing girl actually *know* the honey bun girl? Cos if not, that is a truly whacked conversation, which, I appreciate, may have been your point in the first place.

Feeling *tres* hampered by not understanding emo, as you can see.

posted by: juniperflux (reply)
post date: 04.05.05 (7:31 am)

Reply to: BerlinBear

Here you go dearest: http://www.fourfa.com/
Although, I cannot be certain, I think cmaze did a post on "emo" during this same time period, you can always go digging there if you're feeling particularly curious. But this page provides a short and sweet definition. :)

Thanks for going to all the trouble to look at the prior post and its related comments. :)

j

posted by: BerlinBear (reply)
post date: 04.05.05 (8:21 am)

Reply to: juniperflux

OK, don't know whether to feel better or worse now. I looked at that site, and discovered that I had never heard of a single band listed as examples from phase 1 - 4. It wasn't until phase 5, post-emo hardcore rock (you what?) that I recognised the Hives and the White Stripes. But even then, I couldn't name a single song by either band. Clearly, emo has passed me by irretrievably. Can't say I'm that sorry, but the sounds of the descriptions though. ;-)

posted by: juniperflux (reply)
post date: 04.05.05 (9:18 am)

Reply to: BerlinBear

Well... that's fair enough. I was never very enamoured by emo either... but then again, I've never been one to hang with the cool kids.

What kind of music do you dig?

j

posted by: altricial (reply)
post date: 04.05.05 (8:55 pm)

I love this post. this kind of conversation.... Well, daughter #1 and I share a passion for the slice of life treats one stumbles upon occasionally. We would have had fun with this one for days, weeks, perchance forever. Frankly, I think you were blessed, although I may have missed your point musically.

Also, a honey bun out of a machine would be poor consolation, indeed. And what would you have needed consoling for??? (oh, that's the part I missed, huh???)

posted by: BerlinBear (reply)
post date: 04.05.05 (9:55 pm)

Reply to: juniperflux

Oh, lots of stuff. Jazz, esp. Miles, Coletrane, Joshua Redman. Also had a big German rap and hip-hop phase to which I return occasionally. I really like Jamiroquai, Morcheeba, Barenakedladies, Dire Straits and plenty of others. Oh, and also lounge music, both acid-jazz sort of stuff like St Germain, but also much older crooner stuff like Frank, Bobby Darin, Dean Martin etc. And of course, homegrown NZ stuff, of which there is much more than you'd think. So you see, I'm all over the place. But you did ask.

posted by: juniperflux (reply)
post date: 04.06.05 (1:25 am)

Reply to: altricial

To tell the truth, I loved being the rather obvious fly on the wall during this conversation. It sticks with me and I can remember it very clearly. Musically, I just had to sigh at how relevant the one girl thought she was to it all. I think the point is that, perhaps, I'm more of a (musical) snob than I care to admit. Yikes! :)

posted by: juniperflux (reply)
post date: 04.06.05 (1:27 am)

Reply to: BerlinBear

And I'm glad I did! Diverse musical tastes are, I'm convinced, a key component to being a.) happy b.) very cool.

Perhaps one day we can swap BNL stories. :)

j

posted by: altricial (reply)
post date: 04.06.05 (3:26 am)

That's where the fun begins. As we're judging others (and sometimes rightly so) still others are judging us. Every critic has another critic. She was willing to be so "out there" that it practically performance art. Actually, it was. And much better than some of the contrived stuff. Perhaps music just wasn't her calling. I had forgotten what great fun campus could be!!

posted by: BerlinBear (reply)
post date: 04.06.05 (8:35 am)

Reply to: juniperflux

Ooooh! Would love to. I've seen them twice live, and Tyler, the drummer, once said hello to me on the street (honestly!), so I have plenty to say.

Oh, and I'm pleased to read that I must be a) happy and b) very cool. And that despite not knowing what emo is! ;-)