Play and Listen

Today, i vacuumed my dog. as i was cleaning the house, he was following me around and i suppose felt that he was helping. at some point he lay down and the vacuum ran over his foot. (paw) he looked at me with what can only be defined as love. so i thought, well, he seems to enjoy this, maybe i should run it over him and see what he does. much to my surprise, he liked it quite a bit. every time i stopped, he looked at me longingly. i guess if i do this enough, maybe i can limit the amount i need to vacuum the house, as the majority of my work is cleaning up his hair.

i have concluded while staring into his glassy blue eyes, that one can learn much from these creatures. i am somewhat dumbfounded by the fact that there is a soul in this furry body, one that i have come to love. i find myself wondering how it is that we (humans) have (for the most part) become so human-centric. i look at my dog, and question both my existence and his. the fact that we are both here now, and will both one day be gone. in some way it seems so simple, but it somehow serves to make me simultaneously more and less afraid of dying.

if that it possible.

i suppose that is a koan of sorts. but who is this soul running around in a body of white fur i ask? who is this creature sitting on my couch, staring up at me and shaking his butt? what does he dream of? what does he fear? does he know that one day, he too will die?

i just returned yesterday from a trip to montreal where i spoke at a conference on improvised music and text. i'm not quite sure what to say about this, other than the fact the i love montreal and i wish there had been more music and less speaking. there is after all that famous quote (i believe it was elvis costello) who said that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. now in some way, dancing about architecture could be pretty cool, hell i have even done that to be honest, when mike and i were making the winter of the dance, but i don't know. i guess i just think that the best way to have a dialogue about music is to play and listen. Play and listen. funny how i played less music in graduate school than i have in years. something is wrong with that equation. i'm not sure what any of this has to do with my dog.

all said, i spent some time with friends and though i missed hearing more music, i did enjoy some of the lectures at the conference quite a bit. if nothing else, it is encouraging to know that people are getting together and talking about how improvised music might be capable of shifting culture. the simple fact that a research project exists on the topic is beautiful to me. something i am interested in for sure.

maybe i'll talk about vacuuming my dog at the next conference i attend. i suppose part of the absurdity comes in the fact that i should be "schmoozing" and meeting people at these things. for better or worse, i simply don't have a single thread of ability for that in my being. I never have. ah well. we are who we are.

Posted by jeff pitcher at June 23, 2008 05:50 PM

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