One Big Thing

... is from the famous quote from Greek philosopher Archilochus, popularized by Isaiah Berlin in his long essay, "The Hedgehog and the Fox." That is, "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing."

You can probably tell from reading this blog that I am not a hedgehog. I have lots and lots of little hedgy-wedgy friends, and it is a struggle for me to endure their hogged-ness. For the world, in its nearly infinite variety, so appeals to me. Or repulses me. Anew every day.

It is sad that Isaiah Berlin is so obscure generally. I delight in reading quality writing. I just finished "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" by Pulitzer-winning prettyboy, Michael Chabon. Such a great book. The language play reminded me of Martin Amis, perhaps Anthony Burgess ... the characters and plotting are somewhat more surefooted than in Chabon's prior works. I sometimes get the feeling that Chabon doesn't always appreciate the implications that arise from the worlds that he so energetically creates. As if these theoretical worlds only exist in flits as he writes, perhaps overwhelmed by the power of his own imagination. Ah, but I speculate. And much of his prose is as breathtaking as Fitzgerald's. You want to quote it to yourself aloud as you finish the sentence. Such a pleasure.

Why I don't need to watch TV: A co-worker posted the Serenity Prayer on her cube wall, in poster form. A very large poster. And - this was a nice touch - it contained attribution. So I noticed, and she said, "Yeah, I think he's the guy that founded AA." Of course, of course. That made me want to go out and have a drink. I mean, Reinhold Niebuhr, one of the most prominent and influential thinkers of the 20th century. And she had no idea of who he was, his impact, his writings. And further, she had no idea who Bill W. or Dr. Bob were.

I was gonna slam her further. But I will not.

I will however slam nearly all artists who include words / phrases in the artwork. If your name is not Magritte, don't even try it.

And I truly hate most public art, especially public art displays not done as either (a) part of the WPA, (b) done by Diego Rivera, or (c) both of the above. When I read articles like this one I truly become almost hysterical [not in the Freudian sense, though]. [That article brought me back to one of my favorite books, Ordinary Money, by Chabon's flatmate at UCI, Louis B. Jones.]

One day I will tell you about the "Child With Poodles" exhibit at SFMOMA by Katharina Fritsch. We'll have a good laugh, I tell you.

Fox enough for you?