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When I was just a little young boy Papa said "Son, you'll never get far I'll tell you the reason, if you want to know 'Cause child of mine, there isn't really very far to go"

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Tramps Like Us



At some point on Friday night I had an extremely insightful and elaborate piece to post on here. I hesitate to use the term 'blog' as either verb or noun. For starters, I don't know which is the proper use. And I would hate to be caught with bad grammar on the internet. And it makes it sound like I am hunched over a computer for 7 hours a day researching and writing about grand international conspiracies, campaign finance reform or online computer games. Nothing could be farther from my mind.

We saw Bruce Springsteen on Friday night. I do hope that the novelty of living in a place where I can go to concerts and sporting events via public transit or a 5-10 minute truck ride never wears off.

Bruce played at the Rose Garden. Everything out here is named after roses. Apparently we live in ideal conditions for rose growing. Damn things grow everywhere. E Street Band in tow. We took the bus home after work. Had some leftover sweet potato and bean casserole for dinner. I would like to again thank Mr. Mark Brittman. Washed it down with a whiskey sour or 2. We drove to the Lloyd Center, dropped off the truck and took the Max to the Rose Garden. I know, i know... i'm using insider big city terminology.

We had floor seats. Band came out ripped it up for a couple of hours and then came out for a 5 song encore. I do have to say that I was most impressed with Clarence Clemens. I was actually thinking to myself during the concert that somebody should nominate him for a Nobel Prize. Peace would be find. But I hear they have others. Set List:

Night
Radio Nowhere
Lonesome Day
Gypsy Biker
Magic
Reason To Believe
Candy's Room
Prove It All Night
She's The One
Livin' In The Future
The Promised Land
For You
Lost In The Flood
Devil's Arcade
The Rising
Last To Die
Long Walk Home
Badlands

Girls In Their Summer Clothes
Jungleland
Born To Run
Dancing In The Dark
American Land

I am not one for music reviews. They tend to cheapen the experience. Either that or i'm not good enough at it. Suffice it to say that I had a thoroughly good time. I do believe that we both did. Matter of fact I just received confirmation on my beliefs. Clarence Clemmons. I have always associated saxophones and rock n' roll as some terrible, terrible mistake. Like mixing peanut butter and rare steak or asparagus and maple syrup or maybe ice cream and sweet potatos. Point is, they are two things that most people like but don't often mix. Mr. Clemmons changed my perception on that. The encore was particularly good. 'American Land' is an old timey folk or irish tune. Perfect cap on the night.

I really did have just about the best darn blog to post on here. I know, I used the term 'blog'. Fear not, I am still not allowed to invest my entire life into World of Warcraft. I'm not allowed to even think about it to tell the truth. At any rate, I had it all written out. I was going to write an insightful and deeply personal essay on the nature of class. How come some poor folk like rap? Others country? Where does Bruce Springsteen fit in? I think I got mixed up along the way. I fell through a box. I ain't country folk. And I sure as shit ain't city folk. I'm not some working class stiff. Although that was the path laid a head of me. I am no professional. I'm educated. But I hide it well.

I remember the last year or two that I was in Amherst I absolutely detested being around the educated. I could not stand the culture that I was living in. This feeling was so strong in my that it lead me to falsely believe that I desired the exact opposite. I saw no greater polar opposite. from Amherst, Massachusetts than Pittsfield, Massachusetts. I moved a full 50 miles away. But I did not find the simple living or the honest folks or whatever the hell I thought it was that I was missing. I liked Pittsfield only nominally more than Amherst.

Looking back on it now it was not education that I detested. That was actually that kept me going through it all. It is what I was able to thrive on. Rather, it was being surrounded by such ignorance. The collective privilege of the Umass Student Body had put a veil so heavy, thick and black around the entire atmosphere of the school that it is a wonder that people were able to find their way to class. Boston Globe wrote an article to this effect. More or less. Google me for more info.

Problem was that I had to become a part of that in oder to make it through college. I detached myself best I could. Or at least I thought I did. But it is impossible to live amongst a society and not adopt some of the popular modes of thinking. And if it is not impossible it is certainly difficult and requires more effort than I was able to give.

I have developed a real aversion to putting myself in debt. It is nothing but economic slavery. I intend on doing this one more time in my life. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no other way that we will ever own a house. We are on a plan to own a house in 3 years. I will wrote more extensively later on how we will do it. But I do wonder if it was worth my time to go to college. Maybe I should have stopped at BCC or gone to MCLA. I probably should have studied something that would have gotten me a job. But how was I to know? Sure, it was a learning experience. But i'm going to be paying of $30,000 for a damn long time. Just to have learned something. I often think of what I could do or what we could do if we were free from the immense burden of student loan debt.

Like I said, I had a really great essay to put on here. I was going to cover class and culture and their changing roles and somehow analyze how I fit into all of it. But I have covered none of what I meant to. The idea wore off. Or maybe it was just the whiskey.

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