Music is for Everone – Why I love Banjos

Most people like music. But most people don’t do music. I hope I’m not stereotyping the whole of American society here, but whether the suburbs did it or the Internet did it or whatever it was did it – we’ve lost a lot of the shared experience of doing music together and are pretty much exclusive consumers of the stuff.

Think about the times that “non-musical” people do sing in public just for fun. They are almost always drinking or in junior high. In either case, they’re tapped further into their true messy humanity than the rest of us, and they are having a wonderful time. But we’re afraid to do this ‘in real life’ because A) someone might judge us and B) we at some point collectively decided that singing songs with friends or family is a stupid way to spend free time.

Folk music means music of folk, music of the people. But when we say it now, we usually refer to a specific kind of music associated with a specific group of people or a specific period of time. When we think of American folk music, we’re thinking of something very particular, and even though it’s pretty cool, most of us see it as a novelty or as a hobby of those in that particular musical scene.

But we like it.

Note the recent rock(ish) renaissance of the banjo. I don’t think it’s only because of hipsters (though they’ve surely helped). I think it’s because the banjo lets us access access a musical feeling that we don’t touch anywhere else (maybe some churches, but then you have to be on good behavior).

The banjo is approachable, inviting, humble, democratic. Would this happen with an electric guitar or anything autotuned?

Look how happy that crowd is! They are having a fantastic time. This is folk music not because of the instrument but because of the crowd. It does not matter at ALL how good of a singer you are. And I want more of it.

I want to revive folk music. Real folk music. I don’t care if it’s Seeger or Gaga – if you’re singing it in your house or your yard with people you know and like, then it is folk music and it is awesome.

Roundup: Health, fungus, Scandanavia.

Domestic animals are fragile. Poor cat is at the animal hospital overnight with abdominal pain, a sad cat IV strapped to her foot, and a “NEEDS BATH” tag on her cage because she peed herself in fear. My brother lost two young rabbits to the cold last night. One friend’s dog may have lymphoma, another’s was put down this week, as was a cousin’s cat of 17 years… on my birthday. Animals, why are you having such a bad week?

Insurance = peace of mind = invaluable. Rejected insurance claims are terrifying; fighting and winning reversal brings relief, which is gradually eroded by having to repeat the process every. single. time. But I’m lucky, because I can afford insurance and have the time and energy to go to bat for myself. Still, I feel more secure about my cat’s and car’s policies than my own. Maybe they’re better policies, or maybe your own body is just scarier to be scared about. But it still feels like something is off about this, and I’m not even amongst the 45.7 million uninsured. Yep. Off.

My brother sent me a fantastically grotesque shitake-growing kit for my birthday! It balances out everything non-fungal in my life.

Contrast is essential. I credit it for me finally getting back to my normal buzzing self after… months? years? too long. I’d list examples of quiet/noisy time and rest/action, but they’re self-explanatory, and anyway I just keep ending up at that Byrds song. I will say, though, that I enjoy my weekly practice of Science and Art – master gardening classes on Tuesdays and choir on Wednesday. Both foster new growth.

“The people” matter. Firstly, Go Egypt! I’m curious to see what happens, but it hope it’s representative of the people’s will. I trust them to run their own country; it doesn’t really matter what American thinks.

Secondly, Wisconsin could take a lesson from this. I’m all for balancing the budget, and state workers shouldn’t get an excessively sweet deal (read: why weren’t they already paying into their pensions?), but you can’t balance the whole thing on the backs of the workers alone. Thanks for taking away collective bargaining rights, Scott Walker. I know my girlfriend’s $6,900 salary + tuition remission + health insurance she’s never used are really bleeding you dry. Better push her below the poverty line so you can keep those tax cuts for businesses! Maybe one of them will hire her.

You are great. Seriously. People make my world go round, and I’m lucky to know a lot of really great ones. And with overpopulation on the trajectory it is, who knows how many I will never meet? Like reading great books and really-listening to great music, there’s just so much. You gotta savor what you can soak.

So is Sweden. This is not new, but I melt for strong vocal harmony. And so can you!

Urban hiking

This afternoon I hiked around a lake-side park, enjoying the sun and taking too many pictures. To share my journey, I bring you an Anna-style post, but with less colors (because it’s winter) and less fun formatting (because I don’t have much to say). It was just a nice winter afternoon, very cold and very bright.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And my favorite:

 

friendwords

my good friend wrote a letter to her good friend and saved the following excerpt so as not to forget it. i post it here for the same reason:

for the record, my wholly uneducated belief is that our salvation as human beings lies in each other. that art of all kinds lets us keep our sanity long enough to fight back. that we should love each other so much that our hearts threaten to break. that we should sacrifice our defenses and walls and worries and hesitations until we experience the joy we were born for. that evil is indifference. that god is a verb. that it is worth the work to transform the self from shattered to whole. that the world is worth it, too. that there is always hope because everything turns out alright in the end, and if it’s not alright, then it’s not the end.

good job good friend, peacock, sister, whatever you will be called then or now. i’m glad you make words.

Well then.

I fully support a move away from unnecessary public shyness and reservation. But I’m a little perplexed as to why the girl video-chatting with a toddler (I’m hoping anyway) chose one of the few shared tables in this coffee shop. It’s hard to ignore a pirate patch, fake mustache, and exaggerated choreography happening just over the brim of my laptop. Ope, now she is giving herself a fauxhawk and pretending to pour coffee down her shirt. Well, life is not boring.

And let it be noted, Metroplis Coffee is pretty darn good!