Driving up to Vermont last night I saw gas for $1.69 and it gave me the creeps. I'm not sure why but I think there's something wrong with cheap gas. Is it a flashback thing? I'm not comfortable when something triggers powerful feelings of being in the past? Do I think it's an OPEC or a Bush administration plot? Maybe it's just that I know gasoline is a dying fuel so it shouldn't be that easy to come by?
The other night Pete, Marc and I were out at a bar that was playing some 80's revival band's music. It sounded pretty good. It had a very accurate 80's sound. I was giving them credit but not that much credit. The music made me remember why I really liked New Wave almost thirty years ago: because it sounded new, like the future. Now the "New Wave" sound is retro. Its sounds fresh(ish) to people who are nineteen now and weren't around to hear it then. It's not ground breaking anymore, it's nostalgic.
Someone out there right now is making the new sound, the sound that will make us think of the future as progress. I can never imagine what it is. When it registers with the popular culture and I finally hear about it I know I'll be really surprised. I certainly didn't predict Grunge (Actually I found Grunge disappointing after Punk. Not in a Robert Hughes "young people today can't produce anything but trash" way though. Grunge just seemed apathetic to me - I couldn't relate so well)
I probably do have an aversion to being propelled into the past. I'd like to preserve some distance between me and the mistakes I've made. I keep hoping that the future can provide something better than what's already been. In my experience I keep becoming better equipped to deal with whatever arises. I consider that improvement.
Some things just seem to be getting worse and worse though. Then I think, "well people have always felt that way". That doesn't mean they were wrong - some things have been getting worse and worse. But we find ways to adjust. Sometimes we find ways to improve things. For example there's a flock of wild turkeys living in the Brookline High neighborhood.
I hope to God we can improve on gasoline.
No comments:
Post a Comment