Recognizing the Sublime and Lost in the Ordinary
10-12-2002
Am I even capable of recognizing the sublime? Would I feel it? Would I know it if it was there before me? Would I see, hear, smell, taste it if it were near me? Do I even know what sublime means? Sub- under... Lime... a substance- mineral with a high/low ph red/blue (I don't remeber high school chemistry...yikes) litmus strip. This substance is used to shovel onto dead bodies which are piled in mass graves ala Mozart in "Amadeus" or is it a green skinned, green citrus acidic fruit. I have forgotten basic things. Maybe I have experienced the sublime... maybe in the throes of Passion with Mary, maybe while listening to Beethoven's ninth, maybe at the death bed of Mary's father deep in the night before he died when I was so tired I thought I saw angels.
Why does everything have to be so ordinary? Why can't I be touched by muses who fiddle with the electrons in my brain?
It could have been me. This thought has haunted me with snipers loose in my area. I have changed my gas station. Mary and I went to the gas station to fill up her car's tire. One car used to block a sniper's bullet. This is certainly paranoia. I can't help but think that this is a terrorist act. It is innocent people. It is a well trained sniper. It changes the behavior of the population.
I am angry this morning. I have two broken lawn mowers. I just picked up one at Bill's lawnmower service and it won't start. I had them put a new cord on it because the starter cord had broken. Do you think they pulled on the cord to start the engine?
Mary's back! She had her hair cut this morning. We're going to a movie. Which one? Don't know. Our company is gone and we are going to
Am I even capable of recognizing the sublime? Would I feel it? Would I know it if it was there before me? Would I see, hear, smell, taste it if it were near me? Do I even know what sublime means? Sub- under... Lime... a substance- mineral with a high/low ph red/blue (I don't remeber high school chemistry...yikes) litmus strip. This substance is used to shovel onto dead bodies which are piled in mass graves ala Mozart in "Amadeus" or is it a green skinned, green citrus acidic fruit. I have forgotten basic things. Maybe I have experienced the sublime... maybe in the throes of Passion with Mary, maybe while listening to Beethoven's ninth, maybe at the death bed of Mary's father deep in the night before he died when I was so tired I thought I saw angels.
Why does everything have to be so ordinary? Why can't I be touched by muses who fiddle with the electrons in my brain?
It could have been me. This thought has haunted me with snipers loose in my area. I have changed my gas station. Mary and I went to the gas station to fill up her car's tire. One car used to block a sniper's bullet. This is certainly paranoia. I can't help but think that this is a terrorist act. It is innocent people. It is a well trained sniper. It changes the behavior of the population.
I am angry this morning. I have two broken lawn mowers. I just picked up one at Bill's lawnmower service and it won't start. I had them put a new cord on it because the starter cord had broken. Do you think they pulled on the cord to start the engine?
Mary's back! She had her hair cut this morning. We're going to a movie. Which one? Don't know. Our company is gone and we are going to
posted by Kajgreb | 10:27 PM
4 Comments:
Am I even capable of recognizing the sublime? Would I feel it? Would I know it if it was there before me?
Jack,
Your musings make me want to delve deep into my own psyche and lean toward wondering the same things. Would I recognize beauty hidden in the face of a burn victim, or a homeless person, or even the solitary neighbor down the street?
The answer is probably no. I wouldn't recognize anything like that unless it hit me straight in the face and said: "Here I am. Beauty!"
Good post!
~ Which one? Don't know. Our company is gone and we are going to ~~~~
Where? Where?? Where are you going? Curious minds want to know!
I hope the lawnmower finally got fixed otherwise you would be living in a meadow. I would love to live in a meadow except for the bugs I suppose, not that I don't like bugs, I love bugs, just not the biting kinds.
and I hope Mary got a good haircut although surely by now if it was too short it would have grown and if it was too long she must have got another. I know of the trauma of a bad haircut though. I need one now - yesterday my hair was perfect and today it needs a cut.
I know about lime too: studied up on it when I was furious with the big galoot. figured it was easier to chop him up and send him out with the tide than bury him in the basement - all that work hauling him down those stairs. better just heave him off the deck and get to work with the chainsaw
or so i though when I was furious.
as for the angels - nice
i want more Jack, Jack. Where art thou?
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