I've been reading this history of San Francisco. It's interesting trying to imagine the city as it must have been 100 to 150 years ago. Something about imagining most of the Financial District as part of the bay was something that intrigued me the whole time that I lived there. Now I also think about those crowded tops of Nob Hill, Russian Hill and Telegraph as only being dotted by a few lonely homes. I think about everything west out to that beach as a mass of sand dunes.
It's also interesting to read about these wild, early characters that would be immortalized by street names. These were streets by the way that I never bothered to even think about who they were named after; O'Farrell, Geary, Brannan, 6th Street...
The thing that really caught my attention though was the introduction of the Victorian houses to the city. These are houses that have come to represent San Francisco to a lot of people (particularly in my old hood The Haight), and even sort of spark this romantic notion in me for a time that I have never known. Apparently though, at the time they were being built in the city, a lot of people considered them to be ugly, cookie cutter houses - they all looked the same.
I'm having the same sort of experience now. There are a plethora of new condos being built throughout Seattle and they all have the same sort of tacky design that I loathe. It makes my sphincter cringe to know that there is a possibility that one day these will be looked on with the same sort of romanticism for a time that once was.
So okay, why do we attach this nostalgic importance to things? I've heard the tired reasoning of wishing away for a simpler time, but that's bullshit. One, I never experienced this "simpler time" to pine away for. And two, I don't think these times were any simpler, I think things have always been complicated and dangerous and weird, just in different ways; I don't think that we humans will ever allow ourselves to escape that. Is it manufactured nostalgia? Do we long for these times because we've been told to? Do we just long for romantic notions of a time, that were probably lies to begin with, because it may be easier than accepting the romanticism that exists now in this logic driven society?
It may be that, but I also think there may be people who are programmed (or program themselves) into a desire for individuality in their purchasing choices. When there is no individuality available, we turn to older things that are now different from the mass produced.
No, stop me, I don’t what the hell I’m talking about. I will say this in closing though… I have what may be an unnatural love right now for the song Bam Thwok by the Pixies.
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8 comments:
im thwarting any effort to be witty here mainly because im drunk at work and its that kind of drunk that can sustain a philosophical discussion for hours- or at least until i pass out- which isnt far from now. i digress.
i was thinking about this EXACT thing today on my drive to work. my conclusion isnt that its a desire to live in simpler times, but more of a desire to live in a time where possibilities are endless. now i understand thats THIS time with everything out there in front of us, but my reference is tied more to the idea of inventions that hadnt been invented- the internet, cable, blogspot.com... i think "a simpler time" jsut gets tied up in that idea.
ok, beer cart is here! i love fridays!
Did you drive to work drunk?
wow! I'm drunk at work, too! So, I think that we all like to think that our times - whenever they are - are much more complicated than past times. Even our great-great-grandparents had nostalgic notions about the eras before their own.
I think we'd all like to think that there was a time when being human was a lot easier than it actually is.
I do pine for when I was younger and didn't understand anything, because life did seem simpler then. And maybe that's because it was.
Also, I think most people don't want an individuality in their purchasing choices. As far as I can tell, most people want to be just like everyone else.
'Kay, I'm going to go change my socks. My ears itch.
Put your foot on the floor...
It's already on the floor. What's that supposed to do anyway? Then the room spins, but my foot's not.
Yeah, I don't know. It was just advice I was given once. If it gets to where I have the spins, I will either throw the hell up or pass out before I can think to put my foot on the floor.
I've only ever seen you puke in the morning...I think the only time I saw you puke the same night you were drinking was that night on the not-a-boat when Biffy was really mad at you.
I remember reading The Age of Gold and thinking similar things when they were talking about the first settlers to this area. Huge feilds of open space and very very few people living on the peninsula. It makes me want to go buy land in some desolate area for cheap cheap and time travel to a future where it is worth bazillions.
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