The Passion of the Zeitgeist
I just finished reading another book. That makes three in the past month, which I think is a personal record last achieved when I was pwning bedwetting 4-year-olds in pre-school. Man, even then being a nerd seemed to repel the ladies.
Anyway, the book is called How Soon Is Never? The title is a play on the Smiths' hit "How Soon Is Now," which pretty much everyone ages 18-45 has heard. They probably don't know it, though, which is why most people ages 18-45 have no idea who the Smiths are. The book is about the utterly depressing life of Joe Green, a JAP-turned-punk-turned-New Waver-turned-rock journalist. Basically, it's about me if I were Jewish and born in 1969. As it is, I'll probably end up writing the same exact book in 12 years, except it'll be entitled Say It Ain't Not So.
Essentially, Joe Green's mission for most of the book is trying to get the Smiths (who broke up in 1987) back together. In the process, he's also trying to get the woman (who has a boyfriend) he's in love with to love him back. It's got something for everyone. By the end of the book, his mission is an unsuccessful one. Sorry to ruin the ending, but as of now the Smiths have yet to reunite anyway, so it shouldn't be a surprise. He realizes at the end that getting the Smiths back together wouldn't make him happy, since he can't be with the woman he loves.
But the whole book is so passionate. There are a couple gaping plot holes, but it doesn't really matter if you've ever loved some band (or any collective group of strangers) the way Joe loves the Smiths. It's books like this that make me wonder why I ever wane on my dreams of being a rock journalist. Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in.
It got me thinking about my goals. What happens when you reach a goal? You can't be satisfied for long, because there are other goals to achieve. Life's a real bitch that way. But everyone has one or two things that they want more than anything else in their lives. For me, that involves having kids I love with a woman I love. It may or may not also involve career goals. But I'll get to that later.
My high school physics teacher, Mr. Cipolla, gave our class some very wise words before the end of the school year. Most of the class were seniors (I was a junior) so it was fitting. He told us that we should always have a goal in mind, and that we should make sure everything we do in life is directed towards reaching that goal.
Now, how does one concentrate on finding a woman to marry? I mean, the starting point of every relationship, romantic or otherwise, is, as the immortal band Deep Blue Something once said, "common ground to start from." So basically, I have to find a woman who wants to get married and have kids with me somewhere around 5-10 years from now and who is a snobby bitch about her taste in pop music. No problem.
Unfortunately, we live in a very real world, a world where you can't survive without money. That means I have to concentrate on college until I graduate and get a job I can survive on. So in between maintaining a positive outward appearance and a social life, I have to be a student, too. And in the short-term, I may or may not have to work for a very paltry salary.
Before I come off as too bitchy, trust me--I have no grounds on which I can bitch. This is a normal lifestyle, if not just a little bit unfocused. At least my dad would think it's unfocused. But my point is that, wise words that they were, my beloved Mr. Cipolla's advice was not meant to be taken as literally as he made it seem. I guess that's where common sense comes into play. Obviously, this was a misjudgment of character on his part, since nobody has any business giving me advice that involves adjusting for common sense. Unless they want to put themselves and everyone they know in grave danger.
Obviously, in life, you can't focus all your energy on just one or two things. If you do, you're going to miss out on a lot. I think that's something that I share in common with Joe Green. When he focuses on his two missions, he invests a lot of time and energy in them--and neither of them work out. I'm not saying people should worry about missing their goals, but you gotta have something else in your life to keep you afloat.
Personally, if I have a problem with my goals in any way, it's the opposite. I think I stretch myself too thin. I want to listen to music, but I also want to play music. I want to write for the humor magazine, but I also want to be a rock writer. I want to run my own music site, but I also want to graduate college. I want to have a social life, but I also want to have money. It's a life of Catch-22s.
There are so many damned distractions in this life that it's hard to maintain the passion for the most important things. It's the reason relationships don't last, in a lot of cases. There's no passion left because the two people are busy trying to maintain a lifestyle and fulfill their other goals. It's the reason bands like the Smiths don't stay together. Maybe there's still passion for music, but if that passion isn't all channelled towards the same thing, there are creative differences.
The real trouble comes along when you're an individual, and you're having creative differences with yourself. I hope it's easier to reunite two (or more) sides of myself than it is to get Morrissey and Johnny Marr back together.
Anyway, the book is called How Soon Is Never? The title is a play on the Smiths' hit "How Soon Is Now," which pretty much everyone ages 18-45 has heard. They probably don't know it, though, which is why most people ages 18-45 have no idea who the Smiths are. The book is about the utterly depressing life of Joe Green, a JAP-turned-punk-turned-New Waver-turned-rock journalist. Basically, it's about me if I were Jewish and born in 1969. As it is, I'll probably end up writing the same exact book in 12 years, except it'll be entitled Say It Ain't Not So.
Essentially, Joe Green's mission for most of the book is trying to get the Smiths (who broke up in 1987) back together. In the process, he's also trying to get the woman (who has a boyfriend) he's in love with to love him back. It's got something for everyone. By the end of the book, his mission is an unsuccessful one. Sorry to ruin the ending, but as of now the Smiths have yet to reunite anyway, so it shouldn't be a surprise. He realizes at the end that getting the Smiths back together wouldn't make him happy, since he can't be with the woman he loves.
But the whole book is so passionate. There are a couple gaping plot holes, but it doesn't really matter if you've ever loved some band (or any collective group of strangers) the way Joe loves the Smiths. It's books like this that make me wonder why I ever wane on my dreams of being a rock journalist. Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in.
It got me thinking about my goals. What happens when you reach a goal? You can't be satisfied for long, because there are other goals to achieve. Life's a real bitch that way. But everyone has one or two things that they want more than anything else in their lives. For me, that involves having kids I love with a woman I love. It may or may not also involve career goals. But I'll get to that later.
My high school physics teacher, Mr. Cipolla, gave our class some very wise words before the end of the school year. Most of the class were seniors (I was a junior) so it was fitting. He told us that we should always have a goal in mind, and that we should make sure everything we do in life is directed towards reaching that goal.
Now, how does one concentrate on finding a woman to marry? I mean, the starting point of every relationship, romantic or otherwise, is, as the immortal band Deep Blue Something once said, "common ground to start from." So basically, I have to find a woman who wants to get married and have kids with me somewhere around 5-10 years from now and who is a snobby bitch about her taste in pop music. No problem.
Unfortunately, we live in a very real world, a world where you can't survive without money. That means I have to concentrate on college until I graduate and get a job I can survive on. So in between maintaining a positive outward appearance and a social life, I have to be a student, too. And in the short-term, I may or may not have to work for a very paltry salary.
Before I come off as too bitchy, trust me--I have no grounds on which I can bitch. This is a normal lifestyle, if not just a little bit unfocused. At least my dad would think it's unfocused. But my point is that, wise words that they were, my beloved Mr. Cipolla's advice was not meant to be taken as literally as he made it seem. I guess that's where common sense comes into play. Obviously, this was a misjudgment of character on his part, since nobody has any business giving me advice that involves adjusting for common sense. Unless they want to put themselves and everyone they know in grave danger.
Obviously, in life, you can't focus all your energy on just one or two things. If you do, you're going to miss out on a lot. I think that's something that I share in common with Joe Green. When he focuses on his two missions, he invests a lot of time and energy in them--and neither of them work out. I'm not saying people should worry about missing their goals, but you gotta have something else in your life to keep you afloat.
Personally, if I have a problem with my goals in any way, it's the opposite. I think I stretch myself too thin. I want to listen to music, but I also want to play music. I want to write for the humor magazine, but I also want to be a rock writer. I want to run my own music site, but I also want to graduate college. I want to have a social life, but I also want to have money. It's a life of Catch-22s.
There are so many damned distractions in this life that it's hard to maintain the passion for the most important things. It's the reason relationships don't last, in a lot of cases. There's no passion left because the two people are busy trying to maintain a lifestyle and fulfill their other goals. It's the reason bands like the Smiths don't stay together. Maybe there's still passion for music, but if that passion isn't all channelled towards the same thing, there are creative differences.
The real trouble comes along when you're an individual, and you're having creative differences with yourself. I hope it's easier to reunite two (or more) sides of myself than it is to get Morrissey and Johnny Marr back together.
posted by Kevin A. Doran at 3:50 AM
1 Comments:
I don't think that your goals are unfocused. I think your priorities are out of whack. While a college degree is a priority (because todays college degrees are yesteryears high school diplomas) I think taking your time to enjoy the college life is just as important. You just can't stay to enjoy the college life if you don't take care of the business of school.
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