Heya folks,
Welcome back to another edition of Sharing Notes!
Learn your tradition
Something I learned from Mary Oliver: keeping up with what's hip doesn't make for developing a contemporary voice. She recommends you steep yourself in the past in order to find your own contemporary voice. Consider making a creative family tree of all your influences, then find their influences. Stoic philosopher Seneca says, "We are excluded from no age, but we have access to them all. Why not turn from this brief and transient spell of time and give ourselves wholeheartedly to the past, which is limitless and eternal and can be shared with better men than we?"
Make whatever you damn like
Sister Corita Kent says, "Anything you do can cause criticism. So you might as well have a good time doing it." Tracy Chapman says, "I can't think of anything worse, really, than to try to live up to someone else's expectations of what you should be. You don't make art by consensus." Rachel Carson says, "If you write what you yourself sincerely think and feel and are interested in, you will interest other people." Forget what others think and make what you like. Chances are, someone else will like it too.
My review of Lauren O'Connell's new album
I had the pleasure of writing for Rainbow Rodeo on Lauren O'Connell's new record, Everything Feels Ridiculous, a chronicle of the pangs of queer love, longing, and becoming. When I was in high school, I discovered Lauren on early YouTube and found inspiration in their DIY recordings, and in recent times, Lauren has become a friend. I had fun diving deep into this record and waxing on about genderqueerness. My standout tracks are "Horsefly," "I Want to Be Your Man," and "Joangeline." I hope you enjoy reading and listening.
Meme moment
- Happy Halloween!
- Music is how we decorate time.
- People complaining about recipes because of their own substitutions.
Peace,
Arend