Job
*
Started work this week. I rode around the general area of central PA thurs and fri unloading boxes from a 36ft tractor trailer. Can’t say it’s easy work, but I certainly didn’t start feeling the effects on my body until today. The driver I’ve been riding with (we’ll call him R) is a great guy and we’ve had some decent conversation and haven’t had any problems. I’m putting more effort in to this job, and it feels strange, mainly because I had always put in the minimum requirement in college and most of high school. It’s strange, I actually want to do a good job. Though it’s easy to say to me “who cares, you’re just moving boxes”…but really, no matter what, poet, accountant, carpet installer, lawyer, professor, nurse, we’re always moving things (literally, but metaphorically if you’d like). I’m looking forward to being with this company for awhile, it’s good money, I don’t have to deal with a lot of authoritative garbage, and I get to see a lot of PA, places I never saw before.
One of the places was a neglected tomb of a Molly Maguire outside of Gerardville or some such down around on 54 east. The Mollies were definitely interesting figures, I want to read about them, figure out who these men were that weren’t afraid to give the coal companies the hard justice they deserved from all of the people they were barely keeping alive. [Note: Dylan's "North Country Blues" is a great song that captures what the coal industry did and the effects of its collapse.]
Thoughts
*
While I was working I’ve had time to think about some things I learned in college, things I might’ve come to myself had I read them, but that’s fine. I should mention, I only went to school for my mother. She says one day I’ll be glad that I have a BA, but it doesn’t matter to me.
Anyway, I thought about Kant’s Dichotomy of the Noumenal and Phenomenal worlds. I was wondering how a composite object, when split in to its component parts, is explained within Kant’s Philosophy [this is something that indirectly pops up in Wittgenstein where he distinguishes between the difference in use between the complete "broom" object in the command "Bring me the broom" rather than "Bring me the Brush with the handle attached to it" (#60, Philosophical Investigations). ] If we break up a chair, (whether or not it ceases to be a chair is irrelevant), we must have names and experiences of those parts that remain. Are these parts covered by the Noumenal world? As in, are we still experiencing the representation of the Noumenal displayed in the phenomenal? Now here is where it gets tricky. I’ve read Kant’s Dichotomy as being blended rather than separated (the separation is probably the “correct” way to read it) from one another, i.e. the Noumenal is dependent on the Phenomenal and vice versa….a symbiotic relationship. A strange question that arises from this is: Is the analysis of the Phenomenal representation (of a composite and its parts for example) a Phenomenal experience of analysis and representation or is this one of the loopholes that might allow us to genuinely experience some aspect of the Noumenal????
That was something that came up at work. That right there is why manual labor is a great thing. I wouldn’t have the time or energy to entertain that at school because school doesn’t encourage that we spend our time having a type of thought like this and articulating it. Does anybody else find that schooling not encouraging a type of thought or thinking kind of defeats the purpose of what education should be all about? Or maybe I’m mixing education and self-discovery together, clearly two things that should be more emphasized together in any institution that claims to educate.
Music
*
Last night (Friday), after getting out of work at 3pm I practiced and went to Cherry Alley Cafe in Lewisburg to host an open mic for my stepfather (who normally hosts). Of course, as a host, if nobody’s there or nobody’s playing then you have to play. I ended up playing a good 45 minutes and shook hands with people, gave my info to the manager for a call to do it again and maybe have a gig down the road. The songs I performed last night were, The Times They Are A-Chaning’ (Dylan) Heart of Gold (Neil Young), It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (Dylan), Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (Dylan) Alive (Pearl Jam), Thick as a Brick (Jethro Tull), Song to Woody (Dylan), and an original song from 3 or 4 years ago called “Cold Wind Blowin”.
As it stands, I have three originals (including CWB) and am putting together a forth. The process behind these songs is to make each song different and not just straight strumming a chord progression. I should also mention it isn’t a very contemporary sound, it’s more along the lines of country or older commercial folk, (dylan, young for ex). I don’t want the audience to get bored, and more importantly, I don’t want to get bored. I still consider myself a poet first, but I am certainly using my poetic interest to fuel the songs I’ve been writing. Also, to make things a little more interesting I purchased a set of 7 harmonicas and a neckrack.
Basically I want to go with this music thing. I was in a band in college and I loved the music we were playing, we called ourselves the Turnstile Troubadours. We should be putting together a CD in July, but after that I’m sure the band is probably going to be done. It’s sad too. Besides enjoying the music, the best thing about the band was that we weren’t trying to be somebody else, we were honest with one another and with our audience, that kind of honesty is rare in modern music and the looming industry that haunts it.
Like I said, I want to try and pursue this thing. Nothing big like record contracts, but I just want to play music and play out for anyone that would enjoy the kind of music, musician, and person that I am. I’m going to start off in the local coffeehouse/cafe scene and hopefully get some personal gigs and then I’ll see what happens.
Personally, I think more people should get involved in the music scene, even just as audience members. The open mic night last night was basically people that were just there to play, which is fine, but at the same time, I don’t think people understand that going to see some local music is just as, if not more, rewarding, and it’s cheap. Why pay $7.50 for a movie that’s going to move like a slow handjob that stops just before you finish?
Seriously, get out and see some local music.
Stay Alive,
peace.
Ca
–4:52pm. 6/7/08
