Another beautiful text that you share with us, thank you.
It's an odd feeling to have vibrant times out of reach.
I met a wonderful philosopher recently who currently has a difficult time managing daily communication - the words couldn't be found. But he could light up and tell stories in different languages about his life in this era in San Francisco with these people, and about the ideas that they aspired to.
Those are the kinds of folks I knew well. Now mainly dead. A different mileu. The generations that followed naturally enough born afterwards were machined like screws. I used to hang out in Mission District Cafes whiling away the time and though for a few years life was still incredible by 1990 the bloom was off the rose. I frequently recall the National Lampoon cover where the antiwar hipster is looking in a mirror to see the Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. The ethos changed, maybe because as we age we seek to have what we did not want ten years earlier. Luxuries for one at 20 for many are necessities by 40. Hah. At 65 I know very few my age or even twenty years younger in this town who prefers leisure to a life of toil. Another joke. comes to mind from Bill O'Reilly of Mr. Bill fame: and it is true. Their art belongs to DADA but their hearts belong to MOMA. Point being-“For us, art is not an end in itself,” wrote Dada poet Hugo Ball, “but it is an opportunity for the true perception and criticism of the times we live in.”
San Francisco has attracted too many people from outside of what I think of as real California culture, high emphasis on business / 'getting ahead' / East-Coast-approved-medicine. Going there feels somewhat like a horror show in encountering that, in comparison to the towns where that authentic culture still is the majority and has shaped the perceptions and life choices. You can feel the difference in people who grew up without being educated by your crowd to carry on those perspectives and values, knowing where to tap into art, music, literature that has soul. A feeling of facing emptiness, like the interior of a Walmart instead of a wood cabin.
Yes. And this is the great change. I moved in August of '87 from Sacramento. I used to visit Berkeley and Haight and North Beach in the 70's and 80's. I moved on a summer canvass for CalPIRG. My friend in the Mission had a sublet for 8 weeks. On Capp and 24th. I had spent a week in March of '87 in the neighborhood staying with him. I had been contemplating a MA in Philosophy. The Western Philosophical Association had their conference and I attended a few sessions but decided to hang in the Mission as more philosophical.
I know what you mean about that - spending time in the right circles is lived art / lived philosophy etc. Sacred to experience existing in the spirit of the time.
Conviviality and conversation is my tool. Social media is a shade in Hades and if I had a different emotional makeup or maybe if the Cafe world still existed as once it did prior to WWW ...I dunno. My friends moved or died. The ones who remain bless them all are fully middle class with no leisure. Now and then we meet. Though not in my first circle we at least do see each other F2F.
Another beautiful text that you share with us, thank you.
It's an odd feeling to have vibrant times out of reach.
I met a wonderful philosopher recently who currently has a difficult time managing daily communication - the words couldn't be found. But he could light up and tell stories in different languages about his life in this era in San Francisco with these people, and about the ideas that they aspired to.
Those are the kinds of folks I knew well. Now mainly dead. A different mileu. The generations that followed naturally enough born afterwards were machined like screws. I used to hang out in Mission District Cafes whiling away the time and though for a few years life was still incredible by 1990 the bloom was off the rose. I frequently recall the National Lampoon cover where the antiwar hipster is looking in a mirror to see the Man in the Gray Flannel Suit. The ethos changed, maybe because as we age we seek to have what we did not want ten years earlier. Luxuries for one at 20 for many are necessities by 40. Hah. At 65 I know very few my age or even twenty years younger in this town who prefers leisure to a life of toil. Another joke. comes to mind from Bill O'Reilly of Mr. Bill fame: and it is true. Their art belongs to DADA but their hearts belong to MOMA. Point being-“For us, art is not an end in itself,” wrote Dada poet Hugo Ball, “but it is an opportunity for the true perception and criticism of the times we live in.”
San Francisco has attracted too many people from outside of what I think of as real California culture, high emphasis on business / 'getting ahead' / East-Coast-approved-medicine. Going there feels somewhat like a horror show in encountering that, in comparison to the towns where that authentic culture still is the majority and has shaped the perceptions and life choices. You can feel the difference in people who grew up without being educated by your crowd to carry on those perspectives and values, knowing where to tap into art, music, literature that has soul. A feeling of facing emptiness, like the interior of a Walmart instead of a wood cabin.
Yes. And this is the great change. I moved in August of '87 from Sacramento. I used to visit Berkeley and Haight and North Beach in the 70's and 80's. I moved on a summer canvass for CalPIRG. My friend in the Mission had a sublet for 8 weeks. On Capp and 24th. I had spent a week in March of '87 in the neighborhood staying with him. I had been contemplating a MA in Philosophy. The Western Philosophical Association had their conference and I attended a few sessions but decided to hang in the Mission as more philosophical.
I know what you mean about that - spending time in the right circles is lived art / lived philosophy etc. Sacred to experience existing in the spirit of the time.
Conviviality and conversation is my tool. Social media is a shade in Hades and if I had a different emotional makeup or maybe if the Cafe world still existed as once it did prior to WWW ...I dunno. My friends moved or died. The ones who remain bless them all are fully middle class with no leisure. Now and then we meet. Though not in my first circle we at least do see each other F2F.