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Engaging the Universe in Your Art

Date: 16-Feb-2006/11:48+3:00

Tags: , ,

Characters: me, jewel

I was about to walk into the lobby of an office building, with fairly nondescript brown/orange. The front entrance that I'd already passed through was steel and electronically locked, and looked like a heavy-duty elevator door. I was about to go through a glass door separating the lobby from the rest of the building when I ran into someone I thought of as folk/pop/country musician Jewel.
me: "Hey. It's you."
She stared at me for a moment, and she gave me a look as if she didn't recognize me. We were in a little standoff in the doorway. I glared at her.
jewel: "Okay, I know who you are now. And I probably should have before. Not that I know I want to deal with this. Are you here to tell me what your name is today?"
me: "I am who I am, I don't have to pick. As if I'm the king of confusion anyway--your last album doesn't make any sense. I'm even writing a movie script about just how little sense it makes."
Note
The album I'm referring to is 0304
...which is puzzling on many levels, beyond just its numeric title.
jewel: "Yeah, oh, that album. Well, you should see the... proofs I did. It's really a case of lots of mitigating factors on that..."
I gesticulated like I didn't have time for this, and kept walking into the building. She turned around and followed me back inside.
Note I had a vague sense that the only business I had in this building was to talk to her.
jewel: "Look [my name], I really need to talk to you."
me: "Fine, but contact me while I'm awake, I can give you any information you need. Phone number?"
jewel: "Ok."
She started writing it down in a notebook she was carrying, and then scrutinized what she'd written.
jewel: "Yep, I've already got this one. That took 50 winks last time."
me: "'winks'? You're kidding, right--that's not a real measure! And if it is, how long is this conversation? Anyway, I seem to have time...we can work through websites...anything. Certainly you must have some kind of address."
jewel: "Nope. And besides, I don't want to be doing any of this for some kind of hollow reason."
me: (angry) "Oh are you calling me shallow? What? Look, I admit I have some issues But I'm not going to get held to some kind of ridiculous standards by you, or anyone! I'm trying to work out what's going on here to the benefit of the world! This isn't an ego thing!"
Note I can't remember my precise rant because I was very angry, but it was something like that. Once I cooled down I could focus more on the dream again.
me: "I'd really love to meet you, you're fascinating and I like your work. Don't think that's not the case. But I'm sorry, right now the bigger issue is credibility and verification, and if we can do that then that's my main agenda!"
If looks could kill, she gave me one such look.
me: "Be fair! This isn't about <u>everyone</u> believing me, I just need some one to believe me."
She gives a slightly softer look, and pauses.
jewel: "Crier."
Note Though I couldn't quite pin it down, this was a reference to something I said where I hazily recall calling someone a crier, or too emotional or needy, or something.
me: "Uh...here's the part where I'm making a witty comeback. And it involves me remembering precisely what I said earlier that you are now referring to. Which I do not. But I'm running out of time here. Read me back that number you got."
jewel: "One-Zero-One..."
me: "That's not remotely correct! Argh! Do I have to mime this!"
Note Though I did begin acting out the numbers, I now wonder if it was some kind of joke I didn't get...binary just to make me mad?
me: "Nevermind, whatever. Find me if you want, or ignore me. I'm just ramping up to do some pretty amazing stuff!"
jewel: "It's not that I don't believe you. But as this progresses and you meet people who are more and more creative, you're going to eventually realize that what you are doing now is missing the point. You haven't focused on how to really engage the universe in your art. For you it's all all about feeding bars into your kom-puuu-ter."
Note At first I don't know what "bars" means, I heard it like "bar chart" and I don't make any of those. But I then realize this is a music reference.
me: "Not fair. I'm not addicted to typewriters-hooked-to-TVs anymore. I want 3-D VR paint you can roll around in on a canvas. I want real instruments with strings you can break or bend just to see how they sound and feel. Once the resource problems are solved with technology, we can do this. I'm trying to explain how implementing perfect recycling processes on Earth is equivalently complex to the work that would have to be done in any decent Matrix reality..."
I woke up rather suddenly without warning.
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The accounts written here are as true as I can manage. While the words are my own, they are not independent creative works of fiction —in any intentional way. Thus I do not consider the material to be protected by anything, other than that you'd have to be crazy to want to try and use it for genuine purposes (much less disingenuous ones!) But who's to say?