10.03.06
A little aside about music (kind of)…
I’ve always been, what I consider, a fairly musical guy. I come from a musical family. I play a few instruments, some well, and others not well. When I was in college, I listened to a fairly wide musical group; classic rock, blues, jazz, classical, old-school punk, etc. What I couldn’t stand though was the music that was current at the time. I hated the whole Nirvana thing, and the same goes for most other trends that have come and gone since the early 90’s. That really didn’t change until a couple of years ago.
I was working with Justin. He listens to everything. I mean everything. He would bring in music I had never heard of and didn’t really care to. A lot of times what he brought in to listen to would just piss me off. Especially the stuff from more recent times. The music was either over-worked or composed to hide a tremendous lack of talent. And it seems that no one can sing anymore. Did you ever notice that? Everyone just yells. I’ve always like the Lou Reed and Neil Youngs of the world, but their music is more about the poetry of the lyrics than the deliverance, in my opinion.
One day, Justin brings in some music and I decided to give a good try. Much to my dismay, I liked it. Over the course of the next few years, Justin would bring in album after album of music by bands I had never heard before. A lot of it I didn’t like, but some of it I fell in love with. One of those bands, much to Justin’s shock, was Blink-182. The music is up tempo, the vocals are well done, the musical complexity of the music is just right; not too stiff and not too relaxed. Justin’s surprise came due to the fact that their lyrics tended to be a bit immature, but, if you look at their target audience, the lyrics make sense (remember back to when you were 16).
OK. The stage is set. I can get to my point.
Last weekend, my family and I went to a teachers’ union meeting that my wife had been invited to. The meetings are almost always in Columbus, so when she’s at the meetings, I take the kids to the zoo (free plug for the Columbus Zoo: It’s awesome!), COSI, or one of the little parks or amusements around the area. This meeting was a little different, because my wife, the intelligent, devoted woman she is, was appointed to be on this committee out of everyone in the northeastern Ohio area (right, Honey? Correct me if you have to). This was a big deal. She’s in there with the movers and the shakers of the OEA, a reasonably powerful union in the state, and she was on a board to study policy guidelines for negotiations (or some such thing). I was there with the kids for a trip to COSI.
Now, let’s look at this, shall we?
She’s there because she’s a talented professional, her peers recognize this, and they want her input on matters of importance to them.
I’m not working right now and I’m trying to get a comic book published and I don’t even know yet if we will have national distribution yet or not.
She’s educating the youth of tomorrow.
I’m drawing pictures in the basement.
She’s contributing to the (hopefully) welfare of an entire group of professionals.
I make up stories that I don’t even know for sure if anyone wants to hear.
As I pondered this situation, it reminded me of a few lyrics from the oh so clever guys in Blink-182. I think the song is “Green Apple Shampoo” and it is off of the “Dude Ranch” album. The lyrics, not necessarily in order, or overly accurate for that matter, go like this:
“She’s so important; I’m so retarded…
I know just where I stand, a boy, trapped in the body of a man and
I’ll take what you’re willing to give, and I’ll teach myself to live
with a walk on part in a background shot from a movie I’m not in…”
It really summed up my feelings at the end of the trip. I’m not advocating for my wife to step down or anything like that. I guess what I’m advocating is that I need to step up. Your partner should never have to lower their place in life to suit you. You should always strive to elevate yourself to that higher status. I just have to wonder if I even have the ability. I’m always getting myself into situations where I don’t know as much as I should to tackle a project. If you’ve ever been in that situation, you know how it can make you feel like you’re ten years old again. Courage, I guess. Courage is what you need to get past those spots in life and soar to your potential, how ever high that might be.
I gotta go try and soar.
Until next time,
Rhys