Notes from the Post-it Wall | Week of April 24, 2022
Mastering disappointment is the most important skill a person can have.
Meghan Trainor is this Generation’s Andy Kaufman
During my afternoon bathroom break with my iPad on my lap, I dove into a Meghan Trainor wormhole to sort out exactly what was so terrible about her music. I considered the shallow, braggadocios lyrics, the over produced production, that white collar, suburban virgin girl imitating a black street thug accent she sings with, the regurgitated and repurposed musical stylings and cues she uses in each song when it dawned on me. Meghan Trainor is not an annoying musician or a pop sensation; Meghan Trainor is this generation’s Andy Kaufman, and she’s fucking with us.
Shaping the Artistic Voice
I once read an article that discussed director Frank Galati's early fascination with Greek tragedy and how that has affected much of his work and it got my noggin' to churning. What artistic experiences shape those of us in the artistic community and how does that help to illuminate the overall landscape we see today?
I can clearly see the tendencies behind the work of Kristiana Colón or Nestor Gomez. I can make assumptions about those moments of artistry that shaped the voices of Scott Whitehair and of Annalise Raziq. So I asked myself "what were the five thought-shaping artistic experiences that I see as being seminal in both the work I do and the work I like?" and asked my internal Freud to connect the dots.
Anxiety is the thing that’s ripped our country apart. It has divided us, caused us to fear and hate those who think and live differently than us, and even caused us to hate those who only slightly disagree with us. It has led to panic and overreaction. And I worry that American Anxiety is only going to exacerbate the social and political divide in this country to the point that there is no coming back.