Thursday, December 04, 2008

"You sound angry online, but with your music connected..."

I have a friend named Chris. He and his wife, Claudine, have become like family to Jim and me. She wore a fabulous red dress and called me her vampire lover. (Okay, now I get Twilight. It's the straight version of "Will and Grace".)

Chris went with a few of us over to Martuni's after the event. Kim Kuzma was there. Oh, my god. Kim Kuzma. What a voice on this woman. It was my first time to meet her or hear her. Just wow. We talked about doing something together for the Upright Cabaret here in Los Angeles.

Oh, I forgot to mention. Big Voice is coming to Indio Center for the Performing Arts near Palm Springs. Mid-January.

I don't have details yet. It's the same place where Jim did Zero.

Anyway, we're standing out in front of Martuni's. The whole night felt electric. Claudine looked fabulous. And he said, "You know, you actually have very angry lyrics and online you sometimes sound angry. But the music is so opposite to that, that it comes out making me feel good. "

He continued, "I noticed this in Big Voice. But I thought maybe it was just because it was in a small venue and it was intimate. But, no, it's something in your music."

Cool!! I have angry lyrics!! Who knew? (I'm the gay James Dean. Oh, wait.) I thought I had a reputation as this mushy sickly sweet guy. Sickly sweet! Get it!? I kill me.

Well, we certainly live in an angry culture. It's like we're cycling through the stages of some great civilizational catharsis.

I don't feel angry or maybe I do. Of course I feel angry. But, you know, usually what people are angry about is not what they're really angry about. True anger resides in the hidden corners.

I do feel like anger is being treated as if it were a serious rational way of thinking, though. Just because it's great theatre doesn't mean it's wise.

When you're angry, you do and say the most stupid things in your life. It's beyond my comprehension that people celebrate anger. We love hearing someone get told off.

I love Judge Judy. She tells you off!

She gets angry!

Maybe all animals are angry. The point isn't whether we or anyone else is angry. The point is what we do about it. I like laughing at it.

I think anger isn't healthy until it can laugh at itself.

Anger without humor goes against the nature of nature/God/common sense, IMO. And I put it in religious terms because there are people of faith who fetishize anger as a something sacred.

Fine, but for me it's a barometer. If we aren't laughing together, we are not connecting.

And if we are not connecting, then we are part of the problem.

2 comments:

Chris said...

Since none of us are leaving this life without experiencing anger, I like your "it's what you do about it" remark...just like what happened with Prop. 8, it took a bunch of people being really pissed off, channeling it in a good direction, and they got REACTION and ACTION, and a bunch more activists in the gay community! Also I think anger can be the kick in the ass to get creative and make something beautiful...thanks for doing that.

Devin Richards said...

you have an attractive way about being angry though. that's what's cool. it takes a while to even realize it. sometimes it's more frustration and it is never violent. and it's always good hearted. productive version of anger. psychiatrists say anger is good it helps to get things done.