Now, what time is it?

What was the phrase that I heard today? A reporter said it on the radio. What he meant by what he said was that he wanted to share his perspective of a topic in such a way that it engendered deep understanding of that perspective. I don’t mean perspective as in a position in an argument, but the perspective of a witness. I wonder why what he said struck me. I identified with it because it is why I want to write. I do not wish to present an argument or facts. Nor do I wish to present a stylized character, speaking to be heard. I like criticism with good description because it gives me eyes and ears where I don’t have any and lets me taste a bit of the enjoyment or disgust for myself. I don’t like to be told how to be affected because it hinders genuine affection. I wish I could remember what the phrase was.

Needless to say, you are reading this. But I don’t know when.

As I write these words for the purpose of posting my first entry on this blog I doubt there is soul poised to read it. But maybe in the future?

As in right now, your time. What time is it? Please tell me.

Allow me, then, to take this present opportunity of e-solitude to formulate what my purposes for writing are. I want to be good at it, so this is exercise for building those muscles. I happen to like my perspective on much of the world, and I think that articulating that perspective will hone my ability to think critically and absorb more. Art is long and life is short, my words will stand in my absence (pardon the cliché, but ). Peter Jacobs wrote in the script for his play Sand, “Describe it describe it describe it describe it describe it describe it describe it describe it describe…” and I think he was right.

So then, I propose to write about many sorts of things and present my experience and my impression. I will try not to force you to feel any certain way, nor will I be trivial. I hope there will be lots of discussion about art. To that end, I believe that one part of good art criticism identifies from what the art itself can tell us what it intends to be doing, and then give a measure of success based on that. Even poor art deserves some respect.

Thank you for reading!