August 29th, 2009 / 12:08 pm
Snippets
Snippets
Blake Butler—
It’s really not OK to like and support everything. It’s just not.
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Meta
co-sign, for what it’s worth.
co-sign, for what it’s worth.
if only people understood that…..
if only people understood that…..
Cardinal Sin.
Cardinal Sin.
Excellent book on this is “Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste” by Carl Wilson. Can’t say enough good about that little book, although he complicates the issue of taste tremendously.
It’s part of the 33 1/3 series– books about specific albums of music. Go on, google it. Dare you.
Excellent book on this is “Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste” by Carl Wilson. Can’t say enough good about that little book, although he complicates the issue of taste tremendously.
It’s part of the 33 1/3 series– books about specific albums of music. Go on, google it. Dare you.
hehe. yeah i’ve been meaning to check that one out. i need to read a few of the 33 1/3. i’ll order that one. any other ones worth picking up from them? i’ve found it hard to guess which would be good.
hehe. yeah i’ve been meaning to check that one out. i need to read a few of the 33 1/3. i’ll order that one. any other ones worth picking up from them? i’ve found it hard to guess which would be good.
Here Here!!
It’s much better to hate and undermine everything. Or at least everything you don’t like. Which should be a lot. I like very few things, so I really do hate most things. And people give me shit for it. They would rather I like everything and not hate anything. But I hate so much, so very very much, that it would not be me if I didn’t. I think a lot of people hate things but are scared to say they hate them. Supporting everything makes everything wishy-washy. If you can’t say anything nice about people, then, by all means, say it. Or you’ll just confuse everyone by your lying.
Here Here!!
It’s much better to hate and undermine everything. Or at least everything you don’t like. Which should be a lot. I like very few things, so I really do hate most things. And people give me shit for it. They would rather I like everything and not hate anything. But I hate so much, so very very much, that it would not be me if I didn’t. I think a lot of people hate things but are scared to say they hate them. Supporting everything makes everything wishy-washy. If you can’t say anything nice about people, then, by all means, say it. Or you’ll just confuse everyone by your lying.
You know the thing where you’re on a first date, and the conversation gets around to music and you ask the person what they’re into, and they say, “Everything!”
Or, worse: “Everything but country [or rap]!”
And then it’s really pulling teeth to get then to even name a single artist they’re into?
But they’re still good looking, albeit less so since this topic came up?
And as it happens your already back at their place? And a little drunk? And it’s the Q train after midnight on a wknd?
Maybe “date” isn’t quite the right word for this.
You know the thing where you’re on a first date, and the conversation gets around to music and you ask the person what they’re into, and they say, “Everything!”
Or, worse: “Everything but country [or rap]!”
And then it’s really pulling teeth to get then to even name a single artist they’re into?
But they’re still good looking, albeit less so since this topic came up?
And as it happens your already back at their place? And a little drunk? And it’s the Q train after midnight on a wknd?
Maybe “date” isn’t quite the right word for this.
I hate that.
I hate that.
I think it takes more courage to say that you like something that no one else likes, not caring about whether you’ll be seen as uncool…
I think it takes more courage to say that you like something that no one else likes, not caring about whether you’ll be seen as uncool…
Of course. If I like something, I say it. My taste in men, for example. I used to date a disabled 400lb 60 year old man. Some people thought that was uncool. Especially my mother.
Of course. If I like something, I say it. My taste in men, for example. I used to date a disabled 400lb 60 year old man. Some people thought that was uncool. Especially my mother.
Who or what is he reacting too…
*to
Who or what is he reacting too…
*to
i like being far away
i like being far away
Out with it, man–what’s it you’re sick of?
Out with it, man–what’s it you’re sick of?
i hate this comment. it seems like a stupid thing to say on the internet, which is too full of stupid, self-interested bullshit already. why make a forum for things you dont like?
edify me.
i hate this comment. it seems like a stupid thing to say on the internet, which is too full of stupid, self-interested bullshit already. why make a forum for things you dont like?
edify me.
Ask less obnoxious questions. Or go through their computer/mp3 player/cd collection. Or forego judging their taste until the morning.
“What are you listening to now?” is better, too. I usually demand a more specific question, but I used to say something like that.
Ask less obnoxious questions. Or go through their computer/mp3 player/cd collection. Or forego judging their taste until the morning.
“What are you listening to now?” is better, too. I usually demand a more specific question, but I used to say something like that.
Is outspoken detraction or mere quiet indifference the better alternative?
Or, put another way, can you continue to eat at the restaurant after ripping the chef a new a-hole?
Is outspoken detraction or mere quiet indifference the better alternative?
Or, put another way, can you continue to eat at the restaurant after ripping the chef a new a-hole?
right, see in this scenario, forgot to say, the hypothetical dude i’m talking to has just said, “How about some music? What do you want to listen to?” sort of forcing the issue. your “go through their computer/mp3 player” is probably the right answer — in my experience, guys like this are happy to hand over the music reins to someone else, cos they don’t really care.
also: am i reading you right that if someone asks you what music you’re into, you make them continue to refine the question until you find its focus sufficiently narrow? (as opposed to, say, answering: “lately i’ve been listening to x, y, z.”) if so, sounds like it might be another form of tooth-pulling.
right, see in this scenario, forgot to say, the hypothetical dude i’m talking to has just said, “How about some music? What do you want to listen to?” sort of forcing the issue. your “go through their computer/mp3 player” is probably the right answer — in my experience, guys like this are happy to hand over the music reins to someone else, cos they don’t really care.
also: am i reading you right that if someone asks you what music you’re into, you make them continue to refine the question until you find its focus sufficiently narrow? (as opposed to, say, answering: “lately i’ve been listening to x, y, z.”) if so, sounds like it might be another form of tooth-pulling.
Adam R,
Are you saying you hate my comment? I kind of hate it too.
Adam R,
Are you saying you hate my comment? I kind of hate it too.
Yeah, it’s just when there’s no pertinent context that it’s irritating. I kind of loathe being asked that, as it often seems like the asker’s just trying to figure out how much they care about my personhood. In which case, yeah, I retaliate by forcing teeth-pulling. Also because I agonize when it comes to offering x, y, and z as representative.
What do you want to listen to is specific, itself, though. I’m now on your side of the scenario with your hypothetical guy.
Yeah, it’s just when there’s no pertinent context that it’s irritating. I kind of loathe being asked that, as it often seems like the asker’s just trying to figure out how much they care about my personhood. In which case, yeah, I retaliate by forcing teeth-pulling. Also because I agonize when it comes to offering x, y, and z as representative.
What do you want to listen to is specific, itself, though. I’m now on your side of the scenario with your hypothetical guy.
i dislike everything i like in some way.
i dislike everything i like in some way.
haha, yeah, having yr personhood devalued in the type of one-night-stand situation outlined above is the worst. like if some dude says something snide about my taste in music on account of, ahh, something like me not knowing some song off an amy winehouse record, i get this instant flare up in my brain of “my taste could annihilate you, you stupid idiot”!!! but because life is not a larry david episode, and, ya know, it’s not like i’m there for music lessons, i normally just hurry things along to where nature take its course and mouths can no longer be used so well for talking aesthetics.
that said: i have this total fantasy of going home with some guy and him saying, “hey, i’ve always wanted to do it to the first feelies album. that cool?”
haha, yeah, having yr personhood devalued in the type of one-night-stand situation outlined above is the worst. like if some dude says something snide about my taste in music on account of, ahh, something like me not knowing some song off an amy winehouse record, i get this instant flare up in my brain of “my taste could annihilate you, you stupid idiot”!!! but because life is not a larry david episode, and, ya know, it’s not like i’m there for music lessons, i normally just hurry things along to where nature take its course and mouths can no longer be used so well for talking aesthetics.
that said: i have this total fantasy of going home with some guy and him saying, “hey, i’ve always wanted to do it to the first feelies album. that cool?”
Blake didn’t say you had to shout from the rooftops your hatred of everything. There’s a difference between stating your preferences and adding to the din of pointless negativity. What I understood from this admittedly cryptic statement is that it’s not cool to appear to like everything, and he’s right. Because it’s impossible for anyone to like EVERYthing and if you purport to, you come off as a liar.
That said, Blake, it’s an interesting statement and I’ve read some similar (?) statements from you on Twitter recently, which leads me to believe something is bothering you and I get that, I think. However, on HTMLG, since you are the editor and it’s a collaborative thing, statements of this nature can appear as though you are setting the direction for the site or speaking for the whole group. Which may or may not be the case, I don’t know, but what can be misinterpreted will be, you get me?
Blake didn’t say you had to shout from the rooftops your hatred of everything. There’s a difference between stating your preferences and adding to the din of pointless negativity. What I understood from this admittedly cryptic statement is that it’s not cool to appear to like everything, and he’s right. Because it’s impossible for anyone to like EVERYthing and if you purport to, you come off as a liar.
That said, Blake, it’s an interesting statement and I’ve read some similar (?) statements from you on Twitter recently, which leads me to believe something is bothering you and I get that, I think. However, on HTMLG, since you are the editor and it’s a collaborative thing, statements of this nature can appear as though you are setting the direction for the site or speaking for the whole group. Which may or may not be the case, I don’t know, but what can be misinterpreted will be, you get me?
i had an english teacher in (public) high school who was a lapsed priest, and given his politics, i’m thinking jesuit. he said two things to my class that i’ve remembered. first he told us, and i’m not sure how he was not drummed out of the school for this kind of thing (this is high school, remember), that he thought that, if life is so hopelessly painful and despairing, then suicide is a legitimate option. second, he once asked us, is it okay to hate? we all dutifully answered, no. he said, don’t you hate war and the killing of innocents? as a sixteen year old, i was floored by this. anyway, i get where you’re coming from, BB, though the moral imperative of your comment bugs me.
i had an english teacher in (public) high school who was a lapsed priest, and given his politics, i’m thinking jesuit. he said two things to my class that i’ve remembered. first he told us, and i’m not sure how he was not drummed out of the school for this kind of thing (this is high school, remember), that he thought that, if life is so hopelessly painful and despairing, then suicide is a legitimate option. second, he once asked us, is it okay to hate? we all dutifully answered, no. he said, don’t you hate war and the killing of innocents? as a sixteen year old, i was floored by this. anyway, i get where you’re coming from, BB, though the moral imperative of your comment bugs me.
i believe in absolutes
i believe in absolutes
well, i am the editor here, so i guess setting the direction is to some extent ‘my bag’
that said, i do very little ‘content management’ on the site once a post is made: the editing is mostly ornamental and appearance based. my ‘content management’ comes from selecting writers that i think would have good viewpoints to share to a wide group, and who i feel a connection to, and sometimes suggesting ideas or building threads, etc. the site mostly builds itself: the writers generate their own direction, but they are people i can get down with, and that’s as much speaking for the group as i’d mostly ever like to do. seeing my name on the post should be enough to flag that the opinion stated is mine, even though also, in some way, each piece adds to the whole, which to me is the beauty of this kind of forum.
well, i am the editor here, so i guess setting the direction is to some extent ‘my bag’
that said, i do very little ‘content management’ on the site once a post is made: the editing is mostly ornamental and appearance based. my ‘content management’ comes from selecting writers that i think would have good viewpoints to share to a wide group, and who i feel a connection to, and sometimes suggesting ideas or building threads, etc. the site mostly builds itself: the writers generate their own direction, but they are people i can get down with, and that’s as much speaking for the group as i’d mostly ever like to do. seeing my name on the post should be enough to flag that the opinion stated is mine, even though also, in some way, each piece adds to the whole, which to me is the beauty of this kind of forum.
You get it.
Hatred ultimately results one’s own destruction, as hostility cuts inward as it cuts out. There’s perhaps no greater self-effacing act than the one to which you made implicit reference: expressing contempt for the food that you eat anyway.
That said, sometimes a situation requires such a personal sacrifice, in order to protect the well-being of the whole. A harmful element must be driven out, an action that can only be committed with the level of passion incurred by hatred.
But you’ve got to have a whole worth saving. A person who refuses to hate improve the lives of everyone, by proving that it’s possible to calm the fuck down, live in peace, support in an unbiased way the well-being of one another, etc. That each day is, you know, a blessing.
So it’s really about what the world needs, and what you’re capable of providing. I know a lot of good people who can’t stop being hostile because of bad childhoods or just the way their brain pumps chemicals. So they take on a protective role, attacking all those who act in cruelty and hypocrisy, always grateful that there are people worthy of that protection.
You get it.
Hatred ultimately results one’s own destruction, as hostility cuts inward as it cuts out. There’s perhaps no greater self-effacing act than the one to which you made implicit reference: expressing contempt for the food that you eat anyway.
That said, sometimes a situation requires such a personal sacrifice, in order to protect the well-being of the whole. A harmful element must be driven out, an action that can only be committed with the level of passion incurred by hatred.
But you’ve got to have a whole worth saving. A person who refuses to hate improve the lives of everyone, by proving that it’s possible to calm the fuck down, live in peace, support in an unbiased way the well-being of one another, etc. That each day is, you know, a blessing.
So it’s really about what the world needs, and what you’re capable of providing. I know a lot of good people who can’t stop being hostile because of bad childhoods or just the way their brain pumps chemicals. So they take on a protective role, attacking all those who act in cruelty and hypocrisy, always grateful that there are people worthy of that protection.
I should have said, I think it’s normal to occupy both roles at one time or another, it’s all about the dynamics faced throughout an individual’s life.
I should have said, I think it’s normal to occupy both roles at one time or another, it’s all about the dynamics faced throughout an individual’s life.
“I Phillip Garrido have clearly demonstrated the ability to control sound with my mind and have developed a device for others to witness this phenomena,” he wrote. “I have produced a set of voices by effectively controlling the sound to pronounce words through my own mental powers.”
“I Phillip Garrido have clearly demonstrated the ability to control sound with my mind and have developed a device for others to witness this phenomena,” he wrote. “I have produced a set of voices by effectively controlling the sound to pronounce words through my own mental powers.”