personal

On music, creativity, and life:
I am a musician.
Most people don’t think of me that way: it’s too disconcerting.
They see music as just a little idiosyncrasy,
another sign of my non-conformity.
It’s more than that.
It’s my refusal to let the world grind me down,
my refusal to fall into a rut, stay there and wallow in it,
my refusal to grow old and fossilized,
my refusal to allow my world and my interests to become narrow
and therefore familiar and comfortable,
my refusal to avoid the challenges of knowledge and growth,
my refusal to give up originality for a dull conformity.
Music is joie d’ vive.

on cultural politics

“You say you got a real solution,
well you know, we’d all love to see the plan.”
(Beatles, “Revolution”)

Food: Gymshoes are omnivorous. Meat & veg. Protein, carbs, fat. We prefer refined sugar to the chemicals in artificial sweeteners which make everything taste odd. (If you’re fat it’s not because you put a 16 calorie packet of sugar in your tea.) Weird diets tend to make people neurotic about food. Eat normal. Enjoy it. Women are supposed to have breasts and hips. Exercise. Muscles burn more calories than fat even when you are not using them.

Alcohol: Drink if you don’t have a problem with alcohol; don’t drink if you do. Know the difference.

Illegal Drugs: Don’t do ‘em. If you can’t get sufficiently messed up on nicotine, alcohol and caffeine, you’re just not trying.

Pets: Dogs and cats should be spayed or neutered. Dogs should be leashed and picked up after. Rescue dogs make wonderful pets. Adopt from a local shelter and donate to your local Humane Society.

Guitars: Guitars should be played, not displayed. Vintage, autographed and special editions are bought, sold and hung on the walls of wealthy collectors as if they were oil and canvas. Guitars are not collector’s items; they are musical instruments with unique voices, histories and songs in them. Play them and hear that voice, write those songs, become part of that instrument’s history. If a guitar is worth having, it’s worth playing. Gymshoes likes The Hard Rock Cafe, but always wonders what those lovely guitars on the wall sound like. It’s a shame we’ll never know.

Cell Phones: Don’t talk on your cell phone while the vehicle is in motion unless the phone is set up for hands-free operation. Otherwise you might as well roll down the window, stick out your head and scream, “I’m an idiot and I’m going to get us all killed!!” because that’s what the drivers around you are thinking.

SUVs: Off road vehicles should be driven off-road at least occasionally; I’ve been in the backcountry and been damn thankful for a 4-wheel drive vehicle with high clearance and skid plates. Not to mention they are good for hauling instruments and gear around town and escaping hurricanes. (I don’t have an SUV, but I wish I did when a hurricane blows in.)  If you just use your SUV to go back and forth to work or take the kids to school, then you don’t need an SUV.

This manifesto reflects the current opinions of Gymshoes and is subject to change.

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson