the world according to pete townshend
i've been home for the past few days just sitting in bed and being numb so today i decided to catch up on some reading.
i find it odd how i have such different reading patterns for different subjects. i attempted to get through a real piece of literature (Atwood's The Robber Bride), and realized i was merely consuming the book - quickly skimming each line, methodically flipping the pages, not really attempting to decipher the hidden subtext of the novel. perhaps this is why i've made a sucky English major so far. what should inspire me to search for meaning is merely entertainment ... a way for me to pass the time.
however, once i got bored of Atwood, i picked up what has to be the most inspiring piece of material in print that i own ... The Rolling Stone Interviews. it has taken me FOREVER to finish. i usually cannot read more than two or three interviews before i must put it down. it isn't that it is boring ... but it takes so long to digest. i want every question, every answer, every thought and feeling that my eyes drink in to be embedded in my mind forever. there is no search for deeper thought, no need to understand every word and its implications, and yet i find myself looking over each sentence multiple times before i'm confident that i haven't missed a thing. i'm genuinely interested in what each musician thinks about their art, what it brings forth in their audience, and what exists within them. it is REAL. they are commenting on the society they exist within clearly and without appology. sometimes you can't help but roll your eyes at a few of their statements, but in general i feel like reading the thoughts of these individuals benefits my emotional well being.
i dont think i will ever get sick of reading Jan Wenner's interview with Pete Townshend
"That's how you should be all the time: just grooving to something simple, something basically good, something effective and something not too big. That's what life is. Rock & roll is one of the keys, one of the many, many keys to a very complex life. Don't get fucked up with all the many keys. Groove to rock & roll, and then you'll probably find one of the best keys of all."
i find it odd how i have such different reading patterns for different subjects. i attempted to get through a real piece of literature (Atwood's The Robber Bride), and realized i was merely consuming the book - quickly skimming each line, methodically flipping the pages, not really attempting to decipher the hidden subtext of the novel. perhaps this is why i've made a sucky English major so far. what should inspire me to search for meaning is merely entertainment ... a way for me to pass the time.
however, once i got bored of Atwood, i picked up what has to be the most inspiring piece of material in print that i own ... The Rolling Stone Interviews. it has taken me FOREVER to finish. i usually cannot read more than two or three interviews before i must put it down. it isn't that it is boring ... but it takes so long to digest. i want every question, every answer, every thought and feeling that my eyes drink in to be embedded in my mind forever. there is no search for deeper thought, no need to understand every word and its implications, and yet i find myself looking over each sentence multiple times before i'm confident that i haven't missed a thing. i'm genuinely interested in what each musician thinks about their art, what it brings forth in their audience, and what exists within them. it is REAL. they are commenting on the society they exist within clearly and without appology. sometimes you can't help but roll your eyes at a few of their statements, but in general i feel like reading the thoughts of these individuals benefits my emotional well being.
i dont think i will ever get sick of reading Jan Wenner's interview with Pete Townshend
"That's how you should be all the time: just grooving to something simple, something basically good, something effective and something not too big. That's what life is. Rock & roll is one of the keys, one of the many, many keys to a very complex life. Don't get fucked up with all the many keys. Groove to rock & roll, and then you'll probably find one of the best keys of all."