Instrumental Flute Era
December 6, 2023
Current location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Reading: The City & The City by China Miéville
Listening: Fade Into You by American Football(if you have a moment, reply with your own 3-item status via email or in the comments)
Instrumental Flute Era
There was an episode of Rick and Morty in which the father character is engaging in his hobby—beekeeping—and he’s being watched by his daughter’s friend who says, her interest growing as she speaks, “Look at your dad, such a dork, keeping bees. At least it’s interesting though. I always like, I wish my dad kept bees, I mean it’s kind of cute…like, your dad keeps bees. How old is your dad? He’s obviously bee-keeping age. I dunno, I think it’s kind of sweet.”
She then goes on to…let’s say express still-deeper appreciation of the dorky, beekeeping dad.
The concept of someone being of “beekeeping age” has gone on to become a meme that typically refers to middle-aged folks who are doing their own thing (engaging in their own quirky hobbies, perhaps), but doing it for themselves rather than caring what anyone else thinks (and through the lens of this concept, that’s considered to be attractive).
This meme came to mind when I listened to a new album by André 3000, a performer probably best known for his time with hip hop-duo Outkast, which released a string of hits back in the early-2000s.
André 3000 is 48-years-old, and though he’s done some solo performing since the breakup of Outkast in 2007, it’s mostly been along the same lines as his previous work: upbeat rap and hip hop.
His new album (his first in 17 years) is entitled New Blue Sun, is an 87-minute collection of instrumental flute performances, and is great—I loved it, and it would seem that much of the music industry feels the same.
The album is lovely, especially if, like me, you enjoy listening to ambience-rich instrumental music while working.
But part of what’s so satisfying about this new album is that the artist behind it clearly struggled with whether or not to pursue this path; the first track is called “I Swear, I Really Wanted to Make a ‘Rap’ Album but This Is Literally the Way the Wind Blew Me This Time” (and the other track titles are equally unusual but illustrative).
Ultimately, though, despite those doubts and concerns about what other people might think, he decided to just do it.
Who cares that he’s the “Hey Ya,” “Sorry Mrs. Jackson,” “So Fresh, So Clean” guy? He’s really into flute right now and he’s going to make flute music because that’s where he’s at.
I think everyone deserves to have their own Instrumental Flute Era: a period in which they feel comfortable pursuing whatever weird, them-specific thing they want to pursue, and to do so brazenly, throwing their whole selves into whatever beekeeping, flute-playing endeavor is right for them (and maybe only them) at that moment.
It also seems ideal to be capable of tapping into this kind of energy whatever age we happen to be.
I tend to associate this approach to life with post-child-rearing-aged people in their 70s and 80s, as I think that’s the age-range at which we’re most likely to have gotten past the nonsense we use as excuses for not pursuing certain goals, gesturing at social pressures, reputational dings, and pigeon-holing-related concerns to justify reorienting ourselves toward more mainstream acceptable (and desirable) ambitions, instead.
If we could spend more of our lives either fully immersed in this sort of era, or weaving in and out of it (depending on the other priorities and responsibilities shaping how we spend our time, energy, and resources), I suspect we’d collectively enjoy (and be challenged by) a lot more interesting work of all shapes and sizes, but would also individually benefit from embracing the odd-shaped aspects of ourselves, no longer allowing external pressures (real or imagined) to dictate how we spend our time and determine what outcomes we prioritize.
Interesting & Useful
The Virtual Apple Parer Museum
This sort of oddly specific, borderline-obsessive website is exactly what the internet was made for.
This is fun and compelling and it’s making me want to stick with it and learn Morse Code (and I’m only about 20-something lessons in).
Early 40s and 50s Los Angeles, Colorized & Remastered Video
The sound and color on these sorts of historical videos aren’t real, but the upscaling and other restoration techniques are getting quite good, and they help create a nice ambiance (which in turn, I find, helps humanize time periods that can otherwise seem unfamiliar and remote).
Outro
I’m back in Milwaukee and could not be happier to be working, cooking, reading, writing, working out, doodling, and doing all the other little routine things that had to be partly or entirely set aside for the past several weeks (because of COVID and my subsequent visit to Seattle).
I’m also getting back to the many next-step projects I put on hold for the duration, and returning to a more normal (for me) eating and sleeping and everything else schedule, which is lending my days a nice, cozy feeling (which is good timing, as we’re just now entering the part of the year where it’s almost always cloudy and dark and almost-snowing outside).
A quick note that I’m doing a retreat at a state park in Utah this upcoming May that I’m really looking forward to (you can check that out here, if you’re curious), and it looks like I’ll be giving a talk at a library just outside of Boston in February, which should be a lot of fun (I love love love libraries).
These sorts of speaking engagements tend to arrive all at once around this time each year, so if you’ve got something coming up for which you think I’d be a good fit and you’d like to get something on the calendar, you can find out more about my speaking experience / the sorts of things I’ve spoken about previously here, or feel free to just drop me an email and tell me what you’ve got in mind.
Have any weird holiday traditions you wouldn’t mind sharing with a stranger from the internet? Any final plans for the year, before 2024 is upon us? Reply to this newsletter and tell me what’s up: I respond to every message I receive and would love to hear from you :)
Prefer stamps and paper? Send me a letter, postcard, or some other physical communication (a doodle? A Polaroid of your cat?) at: Colin Wright, PO Box 11442, Milwaukee, WI 53211
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