Usually after a vacation, S and I make adjustments to our lives in accordance with something we learned in the experience of the trip. So, what of this one? S had a couple, particularly related to the two halves of the vacation (tennis and food/walking). From the tennis experience, she took away a desire for greater fitness. From the food/walking, she took away a desire for less life-clutter and better food [I am doing her points a horrible injustice by compression and rephrasing, but she can put them in her own Blog]. :-)
As for me, I am contemplating many things.
First, from the tennis experience, I learned that I enjoy experiencing tennis (in this case) in person rather than over the air waves. The TV-ification of sports and all other 'real' events has a couple of effects. On the one hand, it seems like democracy in action - people who can't afford the air fare to New York and the $200+ per day ticket prices can 'experience' the tennis matches on TV. On the other hand, events on TV are controllable, editable, chopped up for commercial breaks, and marketable as media commodities. The 'events' become 'bread-and-circuses' as well as ways to carry us between commercials and highlight products. Consumerism, while pretty rampant AT the events too, is semi-avoidable on the ground. In front of the TV, the marketing is interrupted by the event. At least when you attend the event and spend the money, you know that you are purchasing something. When you are 'watching' an event, it seems free, as long as you accept the commercials. I think the more obvious costs are better than the media-woven version of the event. Also, the 'real event' and the 'media-woven version' are not the same event. When watching a tennis match on the USA network from the hotel room, the experience was entirely different than being in the stands. It is like they are two totally different things. [Note for more on this topic, see Umberto Eco's Travels in Hyperreality - terrific book, that makes you redefine the nature of 'real.' My favorite essay is the one in which he flies from the 'real' Bourbon Street in New Orleans to the Disney version of Bourbon Street at one of the theme parks - and his comments on the experience.]
Second, professional tennis players are crazy fast and amazingly consistent. Without the pressure from the opponent's shots, they could stand out there and hit for hours without making an error. I need that kind of consistency in my game.
Third, fitness. I need to decide to do the hard things and lose some weight. If I could, I would be faster and probably play better.
Fourth, from the museum and food and walking parts of the vacation, I need to limit the number of things I try to do (as in hobbies/sports/activities), and just do a few of them well. In Greenwich Village, there is a tiny store-front cheese maker who makes 3000 lbs. of mozzarella cheese by hand each day. His cheeses are sought out by all of the major restaurants in Manhattan because of their uniqueness, their flavor, and their delicious peculiarity. That's all he and his family do. Make cheese. Make the best cheese in Manhattan. One thing. 50 years. While I don't know if that is the perfect model for me, I think that getting out and being active in a couple of things is better than trying to sift through the dozens of possibilities, waiting for one of them to strike my fancy or jump off the page. I need to decide. I need to commit. To something [leaders in the consideration are: writing, tennis, and joining the board of the Boulevard Theatre]. More than 2 or 3 things, with the addition of work, are more than enough to fill my days and consume my energies and creativity. Commit. That's the next step.
Coming next: critique of (reflections on) deconstruction as a movement or a way of life and reviews of 3 plays that we will be seeing this week. There will probably also be comments on the upcoming election and the notion of Biblically-based social justice. We will see where I end up going...
As for me, I am contemplating many things.
First, from the tennis experience, I learned that I enjoy experiencing tennis (in this case) in person rather than over the air waves. The TV-ification of sports and all other 'real' events has a couple of effects. On the one hand, it seems like democracy in action - people who can't afford the air fare to New York and the $200+ per day ticket prices can 'experience' the tennis matches on TV. On the other hand, events on TV are controllable, editable, chopped up for commercial breaks, and marketable as media commodities. The 'events' become 'bread-and-circuses' as well as ways to carry us between commercials and highlight products. Consumerism, while pretty rampant AT the events too, is semi-avoidable on the ground. In front of the TV, the marketing is interrupted by the event. At least when you attend the event and spend the money, you know that you are purchasing something. When you are 'watching' an event, it seems free, as long as you accept the commercials. I think the more obvious costs are better than the media-woven version of the event. Also, the 'real event' and the 'media-woven version' are not the same event. When watching a tennis match on the USA network from the hotel room, the experience was entirely different than being in the stands. It is like they are two totally different things. [Note for more on this topic, see Umberto Eco's Travels in Hyperreality - terrific book, that makes you redefine the nature of 'real.' My favorite essay is the one in which he flies from the 'real' Bourbon Street in New Orleans to the Disney version of Bourbon Street at one of the theme parks - and his comments on the experience.]
Second, professional tennis players are crazy fast and amazingly consistent. Without the pressure from the opponent's shots, they could stand out there and hit for hours without making an error. I need that kind of consistency in my game.
Third, fitness. I need to decide to do the hard things and lose some weight. If I could, I would be faster and probably play better.
Fourth, from the museum and food and walking parts of the vacation, I need to limit the number of things I try to do (as in hobbies/sports/activities), and just do a few of them well. In Greenwich Village, there is a tiny store-front cheese maker who makes 3000 lbs. of mozzarella cheese by hand each day. His cheeses are sought out by all of the major restaurants in Manhattan because of their uniqueness, their flavor, and their delicious peculiarity. That's all he and his family do. Make cheese. Make the best cheese in Manhattan. One thing. 50 years. While I don't know if that is the perfect model for me, I think that getting out and being active in a couple of things is better than trying to sift through the dozens of possibilities, waiting for one of them to strike my fancy or jump off the page. I need to decide. I need to commit. To something [leaders in the consideration are: writing, tennis, and joining the board of the Boulevard Theatre]. More than 2 or 3 things, with the addition of work, are more than enough to fill my days and consume my energies and creativity. Commit. That's the next step.
Coming next: critique of (reflections on) deconstruction as a movement or a way of life and reviews of 3 plays that we will be seeing this week. There will probably also be comments on the upcoming election and the notion of Biblically-based social justice. We will see where I end up going...
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