Am I Getting Stupid?
Sometimes I fear I am getting more stupid the older I get. I worry that all the years of TV and USA movies are finally catching up with me, that I am losing the ability to think with clarity and nimbleness. Recently the first draft of the novel I'm working on for thesis was torn apart, bit by bit, leaving me a twitching shambles. You'd think by the sixth book I'd have the hang of this by now, but maybe I really am getting stupider. Is stupider really a word? I just don't know.
I can only hope that I am not getting stupider, but instead a clearing out process is happening deep within me, a sort of approach to the runway of Zen as I try to put my landing gear down.
Do you see my point? What the hell kind of analogy was that? Does anyone else ever feel this way?
Blogagaard Loves to Ponder
About Me
- David Oppegaard
- St. Paul, Minnesota
- I am the author of And the Hills Opened Up, The Suicide Collectors, and Wormwood, Nevada.
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11 comments:
Not sure where that prolific poet Anony was goin' there, but to answer the question presented--daily.
I feel nothing of your pain, Mr. Oppegaard. I am getting smarter by the minute.
Lisa Simpson says that as your intelligent level rises your happiness level descends. I pity you, smart guy.
Clurg, I'm listening to Beethoven right now to help with the problem. And you know, I do feel a tiny bit smarter...
BUT IS IT ENOUGH???
Stravinsky, my man. Stravinsky.
Or Varese.
I can't agree with Stravinksy. We need Oppegaard to think clearly. He is already Stravinsky-innovative. Perhaps too innovative. Age of Reason composers, real classical composers, seem perfect for him. Even a Baroque Bach played by anyone but Glenn Gould -- complex, but terribly rational -- and also beautiful. And when I say classical Oppegaard, I do not mean the classic hair band metal you seem to find so delicious.
Who ripped your novel? Mary Rock?
I didn't know he wanted to actually think clearly.
I thought he wanted to give the appearance of "smartness."
That way, you can Just talk about Xenakis's relation to hip-hop without hearing either.
Talk about Stockhausen's "Helicopter Quartet."
Mention non-idiomatic improvisation. You know you want to.
I can talk about this kind of crap all day. I can even make up some "theories" about it all.
But thinking clearly? I can't help there. I just thought you wanted some cultural capital to throw around.
Hmmmm. Maybe turn the music off?
Yeah. That's my final answer.
Turn the music off.
Clurg, you could be correct re cultural capital. I don't know. Maybe he should turn off the music and start making his own? Dave... Dave... I know a wonderful Suzuki Method violin teacher. May I buy you a tiny violin? Will you play me twinkle twinkle?
if the voilin is made out of cheddar cheese, and i can eat it.
Take your critisism and like it Davey. What good would grad school be if you weren't a better writer in the end?
Try blogging, Oppe. Nothing makes me feel smarter than talk of frozen sidewalk squirrels and unicorn orgies.
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