“May you live in interesting times” Old Chinese Curse
“My favorite time of year is fall” Lama Surya Das
Perhaps because I’m a Libra, fall is my favorite time of year. There is always one day, and today was the day for me, when the angle of the sun changes subtly, and I know that summer’s days are numbered. There is a bittersweet nostalgia to autumn; first days of school, and romances of long ago. Watching Roger Federer play his first round US Open match this morning, a consummate artist doing what he loves, I know that the US Open will always carry a reminder of 9/11/ for me, as it was just two days after the 2001 US Open Final. I never thought I would witness an event as shocking as Pearl Harbor, or a bigger financial disaster than the crash of 1987. How foolish of me. The world needs art, and new myths, and fresh beauty. It is not coincidental that along with closing schools for girls, the Taliban bans music. (Al Qaeda recruiting videos seem to use pretty bad music). As Ellington said, there are three kinds of music, good, bad, and indifferent. As a great athlete like Federer can remind us of the nobler aspects of the human race, so a Miles, or Duke or Jimi can take us to the sublime.
Gregory James
Monday, August 31, 2009
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