A Sign of Ageing, I Guess

One evening last week, I took the kids to Buddy's for pizza and anti-pasto.  I'm not sure which they liked better, the pizza or the salad!  Each of the three had two plates of salad, knowing the pizza was yet to arrive.  (For me, at Buddy's, I can make up my mind if I like the cheese or the crust better.  I guess I can really enjoy both, can't I?)

Anyway, the point is that on the way home I had Bopper plug several Motown CDs in the player and we listened to some great Detroit music.  I made a point to emphasize the rich baritone of Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops.  And, I noted, "Listen to the music, not just the words."  It was as if there was a classical concert going on behind the words--the violins, the big horns, not to mention the famous beat.  I'm not sure what they thought of Grandpa, but they were moving to the beat(s).

I was thinking, later, how today's generations (well, at least those whose music has spanned the past twenty or so years) have missed out.  Most of their music, I guess, is now electric, canned.  There are no big bands, music that can stand on its own (that is, without words), and, in live productions, the choreography.  I think I've mention here before how I think so few of today's "stars" can really sing or, at least, sing well.  Obviously, some can; others sound like alley cats screeching.

OK, OK, that's a sign of ageing......

I enjoy discourse, discussion, be it of politics or baseball or education or history or......  Especially as time marches, I find myself learning more and more.  I picked up another tidbit last week, actually inadvertently.  Someone cautioned against too often painting people in groups with too broad a paint brush; "They may have some things in common, but not all."  My take on that was, with some groups,  the only us you can find is opposition to them.  And I immediately thought of how so many people are so quick to disparage the Tea Partiers.  I'm not a Tea Partier, but I do sympathize with some of their concerns--who can't, esp if they really stop disparaging and think about things? Read the op-ed pages and see if that's not true of the Tea Party.  If someone is to be marginalized, even polarized, the quickest way, politically, is to tie him/her in with the Tea Party.  A case in point is an ongoing scandal in the Michigan State Legislature.  The details are like those silly reality shows, which I like to call unreality shows.  Regardless, the first two articles I read about those involved were clear in citing the Tea Party ties, as if that would lead readers to "Um hum, that explains a lot."  But, does it?

I just finished a book about "sempervirens," people who live, not forever, but for several centuries.  The lead character served at the court of Louis XIV of France, the Sun King, and also witnessed the first moon landing and now communicates by text messaging!  It's an interesting concept and the author does nice work in demonstrating not only he good ("Gee, I get to live forever!"), but also the bad (such as outliving loved one after loved one......)  And, it seems, the sempvirens, by living so long, have come to realize how very precious life is.  I'll try this one for a conversation starter at our next social gathering (See why I don't get invited to many of them?) or even on a long run with my partner(s).