To Gratify My Own Vanity

There are times when you just want to scrawl on a wall the way you feel about certain things. I guess that is why blogs and journals are so popular. Not because they are widely read but because they give satisfaction to the writer.

At times like those I sometimes think of the granite monument in Grant County, Kentucky erected by Curtis G. Lloyd. One side reads “Curtis G. Lloyd Monument – Erected in 1922 by himself for himself during his life to gratify his own vanity.”

I do not expect anyone to agree with me. This is purely personal. Before I start, I want to state that I can hear my daughter’s voices in my head saying “Wow, Dad. That’s random!” Yes it is, but I must write it.

I love classical music, but I don’t love ALL classical music.

I dislike most organ pieces, the majority of choral works and I particularly dislike the genre described as “Americana” – written to evoke images of Huck Finn, The Old South, Ma Kettle or dancing cowboys.

I also tune away from “American In Paris,” “On The Town,” and Mozart’s twelve variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, Maman” (also adapted into Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep, The Alphabet Song etcetera, etcetera.)

I loathe “Peter And The Wolf,” “Amahl And The Night Visitors,” and nearly any oboe solo.

So, there. Got that off my chest. It serves no purpose except for my own gratification – but there it is. Put that in granite.

Thought:


“The final mystery is oneself. When one has weighed the sun in the balance, and measured the steps of the moon, and mapped out the seven heavens star-by-star, there still remains oneself. Who can calculate the orbit of his own soul?” 

Oscar Wilde

Thought of the day provided by Thomas Brown – Madwillow Creekhouse.