becoming passe

“The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool.” – Lester Bangs.

I read “Crawdaddy”, some of the issues, when I was younger. I don’t remember subscribing, like I did with “Rolling Stone”. I had a couple of boxes of “Stones” in my friend Donnie’s cellar in Melrose, MA way back in the day, he hasn’t lived there for decades, and who knows where those wonderful journals disappeared to.

I like the quote above, advice the rock critic Lester Bangs gave the kid William Miller in the movie “Almost Famous.” I have distinctly felt a sense of un-coolness through much of my life. The fact I love Motown and grew up in Wareham and lived a while in Oakland, CA, and maintain powerful psychic connections with both places allows me to use the adjective “wicked hip” in self-description at times. But, being uncool was always there as a little pinch of reality moving through the world.

Those “Rolling Stones”, most in pristine shape, would likely be worth a pretty penny nowadays, and I could for sure use that cash. Oh well. I sat zazen three times so far today (6:38am), which may or may not be cool, and I do not recall anyone referring to the Buddha as “hip.” Everyone gets to choose – right? Life, liberty, and the pursuit of coolness.

It’s warming up in San Diego. Time to ditch the flannel sheets. Time to brush mothballs of my cut-offs and cargos. Time to dance around with Boz Skaggs and converse with hummingbirds in hummingbird, remember to study Spanish every once in a while, and squeeze tight and remain forever cool with all my uncoolness.

Lester Bangs gave this advice to young William too – “Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.” A quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. My pal Gavin in Oakland reminded me of that.