Some people have a great sense of style and composition. Other people don’t. I fall into the latter category, I think — but I try to appreciate the efforts of the stylish whenever I can.
During our visit to cousin Jeff’s place over the weekend, there were lots of opportunities to exercise that sense of appreciation, because his home is a feast for the senses. It is packed with interesting stuff that commands your attention and seeks to distract you from having normal human conversation. An object catches your eye, you think to yourself “what is that?” and you are off to the races.
Of all of the beautiful paintings, carvings, and objects found at Jeff’s place, I was most struck by an aging Japanese parasol place placed with casual elegance at the intersection of a flower bed and the garage. There was something enormously pleasing about the roundness of the parasol, its weathered appearance, and the contrast with its surroundings. You wouldn’t associate a parasol with the colorful pottery and rough stones, the bushes and the rustling leaves, yet the combination worked perfectly in that time and place and corner of the world. The first owner of that parasol would have been proud.
Some participants are protesting “corporate greed,” others object to the role of corporations in politics, and still others appear to be venting general anger and frustration about our economic problems. Similar protests have occurred in other cities, too. (The story linked above says “A group in Columbus, Ohio, also marched on the capital city’s street” — which makes our fair city sound like a one-horse town. Hey, AP! For the record, we’ve got more than one street in Columbus.)
he great thing about America is that the First Amendment allows the anger and frustration to be vented through peaceful protest, and the act of protest allows the protesters’ message to reach a wider audience. If the protest strikes a chord with a sufficiently large segment of the population, as happened with the Tea Party, then stray protests can become a movement. It remains to be seen whether the Wall Street protests have that kind of broad impact or staying power, but we’ll find out soon enough. Until then, I say let them protest, and applaud their exercise of their First Amendment rights.
I’m sure that marketing studies have been done and focus groups have been consulted, and they indicate that if you want a click on your link, “weird” is the provocative word most likely to achieve that goal. Why? “Weird” has lots of synonyms — odd, curious, eerie, unusual — but those words are never used.
