~ A depository for images, text, music, ideas, fonts, fashion, websites, and locations that impress, inspire, and motivate me as an artist, writer, dreamer, and doer.
Join us to in honoring the life of the intrepid Jaff – who died last year at age 55 after battling Crohn’s disease for nearly forty years – and help raise money for a great cause.
Team McCready is a nonprofit Pearl Jam fan organization. As part of The Wishlist Foundation, the grassroots effort honors the legendary guitarist Mike McCready – who has had the incurable and inconvenient disease since he was 21 – and raises money for chronic illness.
Details:
NEW JERSEY CHAPTER – March 23rd from 1 to 6 p.m. All AGES.
Location: Asbury Lanes
209 4th Ave
Asbury Park, NJ 07712
(732) 776-6160
The band NO CODE – “North America’s Longest Running Tribute to Pearl Jam” – will be performing two sets (2 p.m. & 4 p.m.).
Rock Memorabilia Auction & Raffle.
Donation: $15 (all cover charges will be donated to The Wishlist Foundation).
LOS ANGELES CHAPTER – March 23rd from 3 to 8:30 p.m., 21+
Location: Brennan’s Pub
4089 Lincoln Boulevard
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292-5613
(310) 821-6622
No cover, but donations welcome. There will be merchandise, an auction, and a raffle. All proceeds support APCI.
The band Xs & ARROWs will be playing two 40 minute sets (4:15pm and 6pm).
I covered last year’s event in New York and had the privilege of meeting and interviewing Ms. Jaff. Ironically, right after that weekend I embarked on my own “medical mystery tour”; finding out in June that I had a chronic illness of my own – fibromyalgia. Given that, my life (school/freelance work/etc.) was largely put on hold. My story for the past year has been one of “overcoming,” so this cause is near and dear to my heart.
The interview (along with one I did with Lisa Cressman) are NOT going to waste. I plan on covering today’s New Jersey event and writing a comprehensive piece about them both.
Meanwhile – try and make it to one of the bi-coastal Team McCready Global events (there was one in Seattle last night and the UK one takes place May 4th). More information to come! Please check back in.
Burning cabins, bipartisan fist-bumps, and the opportunity of viewing an “enhanced version” of President Obama’s second term first State of the Union had no chance in upstaging the fanciful, awe-inspiring talent that is Rufus Wainwright. More to come…
Rufus Wainwright tickling the ivory on the 9:30 Club stage.
As of late, the news has been a stream of reports on one tragedy after another. There are many reactions to catastrophic events, which I’ll elaborate on later. The purpose of this brief post is to display a photo collage. Two days ago Guinness Heir & socialite Tara Browne ran through a traffic stop at high speed, crashed his Lotus Elan into a parked truck, and died the next day at the age of 21. A month later, John Lennon read about the final coroner’s report in London’s Daily Mail and incorporated it into a song:”A Day in the Life,” Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967 (Capital Records).
Having been an obituary writer for several years, I’m intrigued by how people choose to live their lives. Clearly Browne made an indelible impact on pop culture in the short years he spent on this earth. I intend to write more later, because the story behind Browne is interesting and even includes Paul McCartney-related conspiracy theories. Until then, here is the abstract composition I created in homage to the late Mr. Browne.
Montage inspired by the anniversary of the tragic death of Guinness heir Tara Browne, who – it’s argued – inspired John Lennon to write one of my favorite songs by The Beatles “A Day in the Life.”
“While you’re busy making other plans,” sang the late John Lennon in his tribute to son Sean in “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy).” It’s the seventh track off his last studio album Double Fantasy [New York, New York: Geffen] recorded at The Hit Factory with wife Yoko Ono and released November 17, 1980. What’s sadly ironic is that Lennon – who took nearly five years off from music and the limelight to raise his second son, Sean (his first – Julian – was with first wife Cynthia Powell) – never got to fully realize the words he penned. This record has strong domestic overtones and the lyrics to that specific song are heartfelt and meant to quell any fears of his son’s life and future. “The monsters gone, he’s on the run and your daddy’s here [...] Every day in every way, It’s getting better and better.” Three weeks later, on December 8, 1980, he was fatally shot at the entrance to The Dakota (a co-op apartment building at 1 West 72nd St. & Central Park West).
What’s my point? Despite having the best intentions, LIFE DOES GET IN THE WAY. Monsters are everywhere. Unforeseen events take place that derail whatever arrangements you might have made and sometimes there is simply nothing you can do about the resulting situation. That is the case with me and the past several months – well, more like half of 2012.
As many of you know I started a 3-month-long “Medical Mystery Tour” in April – just a month after launching my business, Red Tess Freelance, LLC. After dozens of tests/MRI’s/ENG’s/X-rays and doctor/specialist visits I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in June. I had no control over that – it was my “monster” – life happening while I was desperately trying to accomplish what I was put on this earth to do – write, create, and communicate. I had to surrender. In doing so I somehow became stronger.
With summer and fall came dozens of concerts, festivals, weddings, and other events that I covered – handed out business cards, networked, etc. Burning the candle at both ends led to a couple weeks of strep throat followed by a month of bronchitis. Somehow I powered though it all and remained on top in terms of photographing, interviewing, and note-taking, forging ahead without canceling any obligations. However, there was no actual follow through with posts. The fact of the matter is, I’ve been writing blog posts every day and privately publishing until they are properly edited. I realize now that isn’t very effective and moreover, it’s easy to continue doing that and never get anything officially online. My audience is expecting material and I want to & WILL deliver.
In an effort to show potential employers my intrepid approach to news coverage, I decided to spend several days covering Hurricane Sandy. When the bulk of the storm hit Annapolis, I was out – camera in hand, documenting Mother Nature’s destruction – and fell in Spa Creek at the height of the storm. After saving myself from a watery grave and thanking my lucky stars, I ended up in the ER with a concussion, several fractured ribs, and a right leg that rivaled those of the horse of a different color from the Wizard of Oz.
While I’m working as hard as I can to put my own “ding in the universe” (as said by the late Steve Jobs) as a writer, I did not realize the cosmos already had enough “dings” – and so did my head. It wasn’t until I cheated death that I finally heard what the powers that be (and my body) were telling me: slow down; catch up; heal thyself; and REST – all words and concepts that are not my modus operandi. Change is a necessary “monster,” but if you embrace it and learn from it’s offerings you can grow – and I have exponentially. I’m stronger and more determined than ever to finish what I’ve started. “It IS getting BETTER and BETTER.”
Given that, I have over 5,000 photos and over 40 videos to edit and upload in order to publicize my drafts. For instance, just last Tuesday night not only did I see Social Distortion at the 9:30 Club, but upon learning of President Obama’s re-election I headed over to the White House to revel in the celebration (camera and recorder in hand).
The past two days I’ve spent “with” The Who, both at The National Press Club for a luncheon to discuss Teen Cancer America and the Verizon Center for their Quadrophenia Tour. I’ve met both Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend, as well as networked with fans and other photographers and writers.
In the next several days I will be uploading all of the content (most current first) I’ve compiled for you my followers and for my own personal portfolio.
Red Tess Freelance is and always will be an extension of an 18-year-old hobby (music & entertainment coverage, photography, and design). Its establishment has given me a forum to showcase my writing style and stay current with my craft while looking for work and provided something physical to present to people at professional, social, academic, and other networking events. There’s nothing worse than a missed opportunity! Hopefully this entity has also aided my effort to stand apart from the myriad of other writers/designers currently seeking employment. Hopefully a full-time job or paid freelance work is what “happens” while I’m busy making other plans as Red Tess.
As always, thank you for your continued interest and STAY TUNED PLEASE! I promise it will be worth it. If you haven’t already, please follow me on Twitter and “like” me on Facebook!
“Conversation in real life is full of half-finished sentences and overlapping talk. Why shouldn’t painting be too? ”
(Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas July 19, 1834 – September 27, 1917)
I guess it’s only appropriate that one of my favorite artists enjoyed music and dance, and was dubbed an “old curmudgeon” later in life by writer and dabbler in la vie Boheme George Moore.
In the April 2003 issue of Smithsonian magazine, Paul Trachtman reported that Degas shared the following thoughts with Parisian art dealer Ambroise Vollard: “People call me the painter of dancing girls […] It has never occurred to them that my chief interest in dancers lies in rendering movement and painting pretty clothes.”
Like one of his most legendary contemporaries – Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec – he painted what he saw, in snapshot form, capturing a single moment in time as it happened, no matter the subject. His ability to crop images and portray movement with such purpose inspires.
Below is a bronze cast (with satin & gauze) of one of my favorite sculptures: “Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer,” aka “La petite danseuse de quatorze ans.” The 3-foot girl was originally executed in wax and cloth circa (1878-82), this is one of 28 editions cast in bronze between 1920-23 after Degas died.
The full background on the original version on view in the Mellon Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. is located here.
Bloomberg News reported in February 2009 that one of the bronze casts sold for a record-breaking 13.3 million pounds ($19.2 million) at Sotheby’s London. In comparison, another version sold $12.3 million at Sotheby’s New York in 1999.
My other favorite piece by Degas is “Four Dresses,” oil on canvas, circus 1899. The original painting is also on view at the National Gallery of Art, but part of a different collection of Chester Dale’s.
I have an 11″ x 14″ print in my powder room and as my desktop wallpaper (yes I know it’s a PC, don’t chastise me! I’m waiting on the new iMac’s to debut). Photos are below:
What I could afford is a piece by a mixed-media sculptor Donna McCullough. Part of me wonders if this feminine tin can and mesh statue entitled “Auburn” was inspired at all by Degas and his ballet dancers. Since McCullough is local, I plan on reaching out to discover the answer. [I do know that he did influence his female friend, American painter Mary Cassatt.]
Upon looking at both the painting and the statue together, it makes sense now that it must have been my subconscious screaming out to me as I passed it on my daily walk to work in 2008. The colors and style are similar, however McCullough’s is clearly more modernist. Self-processed appreciator of fashion, she does note the following in her artist statement:
“My inspiration arose from contemplating the dichotomy between the perception of women as fragile, delicate creatures, and the reality that most women are defined by resiliency and steely resolve. I employ a juxtaposition of extremes such as lightness and gravity, suppleness and intransigence, to convey feminine sensibilities.”
There isn’t a better artist representation of myself that I could ever envision, which is why I simply had to acquire it (which is bizarre, since I have never met McCullough) from the Zenith Gallery. It personifies me in every manner and sits in a place of prominence at my home.
Maybe that’s what Degas meant when he said, “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
Today was considerably trying in regard to physical and emotional relationships with members of the opposite sex. After drinking a glass of pinot grigio with dinner, my plan was to curl up in bed with J. Taraborrelli’s “The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe,” but several pages in I felt incensed and inspired. (*NOTE* Make sure to scroll down and click on the online dating article written & published in my early 20s.)
It’s been brought to my attention that the stronger you are in your convictions, the less attractive you are as a mate. Are men intimidated by me – by a successful woman?
Sometimes I wonder why my parents raised me to be a proud, independent woman of the world capable of doing whatever I put my mind to; but then I remember that they truly wanted what was best for me and couldn’t have been more correct in their guidance. Marriage wasn’t even to be considered until I reached 30, since they imparted on me that people change considerably during their 20s (and some not for the better). Additionally, kids – while very much welcomed – required that I had at least an extra $1,000 a month to spend, which during my 20s was non-existent. All extremely sage advice from a couple married just over 40 years, with the most important being, “Above all, NEVER settle.”
Granted, at least a quarter of my friends are bitter divorcees with mortgages (not ALL of them) but for the better part, many are happily married with children. The barrage of questions regarding my singledom is inevitable at public, private, and familial functions. ”But you’re so pretty….you’re so smart…you’ve accomplished so much!” Trust me, I’ve heard it all and it’s getting VERY old. Just two days ago, sitting across from my brother and cousin, I realized we were the last several unmarried cousins of nearly two dozen.
Newsflash! “Single is NOT a sickness. There is NOTHING wrong with me,” (courtesy a colleague, J. Brown).
This also brings to mind April 2012′s absurd CNN coverage regarding tips on how to “eat alone in public.”
Double standard much? Or has the culture we’ve been raised in fostered this kind of self-loathing behavior among females? Coming from an all-girls private high school just outside the capital of the free world, I find this incredibly disturbing and just plain sad. What’s so ironic here is that these women are only “alone” because they are on business trips. If they are on said trips, they must be successful (i.e. they have careers, travel, expense accounts, etc.). Given that, why are these women who confidently climbed the corporate ladder so terrified of alone time with a meal in front of them?
In the infamous words of pop icon, entrepreneur, actor, author, singer, and professional “diva” RuPaul: “Honey, if you can’t love yourself, how the hell you gonna love someone else?…..Can I get an Amen?”
AMEN! But I digress. While this post focuses on independent business women finding love, such as myself, it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with eating alone.
Over the past 17 years, I’ve dated men in five different major cities (Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Annapolis, NYC, and Boston) and on one other continent. I’ve dabbled in nearly every online dating site since the concept’s inception. Here are examples from two specific forays into the technological relationship minefield. After filling out a 45-minute survey/personality questionnaire, eHarmony’s system informed me there were “No matches for me at this time.” I received this response twice – once in 2005 and again in 2007. Match.com boasts being “the number one destination for online dating with more dates, more relationships, & more marriages than any other dating or personalssite.” Once my first six months with Match.com ended (in a new city) and after complying with all the “rules” outlined below, I received an additional six months free because of their “Find Love Guarantee.”
Six months came and went and with no successful unions to show for it, I called customer service and spoke with a representative. The male agent informed me – and I’m not kidding here – that it would behoove me to move if I wanted to find love (despite most of the places I’ve called “home” being listed as best cities for women’s well-being by a 2012 “Measure of America” report). His exact words were: “Men in those cities are just looking for the next best thing. They’re never satisfied.” YES, a Match.com representative passed on that recommendation to a paying client. Despite having one close friend who found his wife on the site, every time one of their ads appears on TV, I laugh and yell “LIES!” at the screen.
So what’s an attractive, smart, fun, worldly girl to do with information like this and similar reports noted by WTOP?
I guess I’ll revel in the fun I had in my 20s and provide you with this golden nugget written for my alma mater’s newspaper, Emerson College’s “Berkeley Beacon.” The last gentleman mentioned is now married and has a son, and we’re still friends. The following link will take you to a digital PDF of the amusing piece.
So WHAT IS LOVE? The tagline from Cameron Crowe’s 1992 “Singles” movie poster is “Love is a game. Easy to start. Hard to finish.” It’s one of my favorite films and is featured in the below image of one of my guest room walls.
Those three simple sentences might entice potential viewers, but they leave me with little hope. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a team player, but I’ve never found much use for games in the realm of love. Maybe that’s my problem. I’m too straight forward…too honest.
Quotes from visual pop artist and Hollywood scenester Andy Warhol also appear framed next to the aforementioned poster. While I cannot change the past or the present situation, and most certainly will not allow what’s happened to dictate my future. In Mark Wrenn’s “Andy Warhol In His Own Words,” the legendary figure states:
“When people are ready to, they change. They never do it before then, and sometimes they die before they get around to it. You can’t make them change if they don’t want to, just like when they do want to, you can’t stop them.”
I refuse to change myself for anyone, but moving forward I have resolved to not let the minutiae of life – mainly men – determine my happiness. The majority of my life has been spent in academia, communications, music, the arts, volunteerism, and building a career for myself. What is meant to be will be, and I’m at peace with that for now. Why you might ask? Because the most important person you should love is yourself and I do.
“Any minute you will show / And I’m wondering where did you go? / Where’d you go? / Where’d you go? / I wanna know . . .” (The MMB, 1991)
That seems to be what everybody has been asking since I launched my business in March, covered four events in three different cities, and then dropped off the map.
Well here’s the answer – the extremely abbreviated version:
Nearly 3 months ago, my neck gave out during one of my web design classes at Boston University’s Center for Digital Imaging Arts in Washington, D.C. Since then, I’ve been on what I like to playfully call my personal “Medical Mystery Tour,” in reference to the 1967 EP released by The Beatles.
During these last several uncertain months, a trusted mentor reminded me of the following:
“The strongest and most healthy coping skills in you that I have noticed are your ability to find, or squeeze out, some portion of humor in every situation and your ability to frame your experiences in larger contexts that include an understanding for the sufferings, great and small, of all humans.”
The late great Mark Twain said: “The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow.” It’s true. The ups and downs I’ve experienced from enduring a seemingly endless battery of diagnostic tests, MRI scans, injections, and the revolving door of various doctors and specialists, left me feeling not just frustrated and angry, but hopeless and impotent. Humor – among other things like introspection, perseverance, and alternative medicine – is what kept me going and inevitably led to my being cured.
Given that, today marks the official re-launch of my blog, Facebook & Twitter pages, and freelance business! Additionally, my main website will be fully operational by the end of August.
Here’s a taste of what to expect article/post-wise in the next couple weeks:
“Some Song I Used to Like” & Gotye’s Humble Rise to the Top of the Charts
2012 Team McCready Global Event Coverage (in an effort to remain relevant, I’ve interviewed Zack Newman of Hydrophonic, who played with one of Mike McCready’s side projects “Flight to Mars,” and TMcC Founder Lisa Cressman)
A Look at Crohn’s Disease & the work of Jennifer Jaff at the Advocacy for Patients with Chronic Illness
Industry Perspective: An Interview with software developer Bobby Parker
Foxy Shazam’s 2012 Tabernacle Tour: My Experience Worshipping at “The Church of Rock and Roll”
“Here Comes the Sun” – The Dark Reality of Skin Cancer
True Story: Western Medicine Vs. Eastern Medicine and the Cure the Doctors Wouldn’t Prescribe
An Afternoon with Alec (Baldwin that is)
Industry Perspective & Retrospective: Rock & Roll Photographer Tom G. O’Neal
A Moment of Zen Despite Information Overload: Advice from Deepak Chopra
Thank you fans for your support and for asking, “Where’d You Go?” because it makes me feel so much more valued upon my return.
If you haven’t already, please subscribe and comment!
Celebration of grooved wax discs need not one day for celebration – but 365. Analog life is one filled with sounds robust and artwork aplenty. 78, 45, 33 & 1/3, spin! With less than five minutes left to the 5th Annual Record Store Day, I’d like to share with you the tiny corner of my universe dedicated to all things vinyl.
**The bonus fold-out posters above the Sony receiver & record player came from two vintage albums – part of the collection inherited from my parents – 1978′s Peter Frampton & The Bee Gees “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band Soundtrack (art by the late Birney Lettick) and 1969′s Rolling Stone’s “Let It Bleed” (poster design Victor Kahn) – which, incidentally, is going for $164 on eBay right now! The Beatles’ “White Album” odd-shaped poster insert will soon be joining these two rare finds once it’s framed.**
Hopefully, you had a chance to visit a record store today or at least play some of your own at home. Keith Richards, et al. might not be known for sage life advice, but they’ve outlived many of their rock and roll peers, and they’re rumored to even have a 2013 tour in the works! Clearly they’re doing something right. Take heed to these liner notes: “THIS RECORD SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD.” Turn it up – heck, make ‘em “go to 11!”
Any Saturday-morning-cartoon-watching kid knows “Knowledge is Power!” Educate yourself and become part of the conversation. To learn more about Record Store Day & the albums and artists mentioned above please visit:
How many people can say they have been in love with something since they were 4.5 months old? Moreover, what number of individuals has the supporting documentation for such a claim? I can and I do – thanks to my mother, who kept a thoughtful record of my first 7 years of life. What exists in the pages of a 4×6, clothbound diary, decorated with flowers and strawberry vines, is nothing short of a literary treasure. Her dedication to recording my early interests, actions, dreams, and milestones (decades before online timelines like Facebook existed), has provided me with a priceless glimpse of what has shaped me into who I am today. Case in point: the first mention/memory of my connection with music – that which is the love of my life.
I’m 100 percent certain no one would dare argue that my passion for all things sound has been steadfast to the point of obsessive. My days begin awakening to the slow rise of Eddie Vedder’s “Arc” and end being guided to slumber by the sophisticated lullabies of Feist. Whatever the conduit – be it my iPod Classic, iPhone 4, Sony Record Player, Audi 2001 Bose “Symphony” system, television, Macbook, or the desktop PC – there is not a single day I go without auditory stimulation. I could write thousands of words on the topic, but for the purpose of this post, I leave you with a single photo that says it all. What my mother astutely observed over 31 years ago – “You really seem to love music” – couldn’t have been more prophetic.
Due to high demand and interest for an updated post, I’ve elected to satiate your palate with an essay I wrote a little over a year ago for my History & Pop Culture class at the Art Institute of Washington. Rest assured my followers, the articles covering the myriad events I’ve been to in the past month have accumulated in the shelves of my mind and are ready to be penned and released. News regarding my neck and back injury/situation are also forthcoming.
Teenage angst, sexual exploration, generational spokesmen, and causes célèbres never go out of style, so it’s no wonder that the “it” actors of today have embraced the lives of departed American iconoclasts discussed below. In the 2010, James Franco – the ubiquitous/tireless artist and award-winning actor – starred in what critics called a “career defining” role as Allen Ginsberg in “HOWL.” Lauded by REAL industry critics (read = not IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes) who can understand the delicate balance between the written the word and moving clips, it breathes life into Ginsberg’s infamous 1956 poem and provides context for an underground movement. Here is the trailer:
Incidentally, yet another product of history’s great thinkers has been adapted for the big screen (thus making my essay rather timely). Director, producer, and writer Walter Salles, will be presenting his movie based on Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” at the Cannes Film Festival next month (May). Apparently, Francis Ford Coppola bought the production rights back in 1979. Jerry Cimino, founder and curator of The Beat Museum and HuffPost contributor wrote, “Controversy has raged for decades among Beat Generation fans as to whether this movie should even have been attempted,” (March 9, 2012). Is that a good enough reason not to make it? No. In fact the art community would only be living out the celebrated novelist’s own wishes said Cimino, “Jack Kerouac himself sent a letter to Marlon Brando back in 1959 imploring Brando to make the film.” There “star power” of Kirsten Dunst, Kristen Stewart, Tom Sturridge, Viggo Mortensen, & Amy Adams is there to entice those who aren’t familiar with the novel (fingers crossed that America’s education system has not failed completely and this number is low). Given that, I’ve seen the recently released trailer (below) and am intrigued. Salles was voted by UK’s “The Guardian” as “one of the 40 Best Directors in the World,” so it can’t be that bad, right?
Why the interest in reliving and profiting from the past? Are baby boomers (and those people slighter older) in need of nostalgia or is it because today’s youth lack a real mouthpiece or cause (other than “Occupy” movement)? Are true poets and artists with any depth non-existent? If the pop stylings of of Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj are any indication, I’m terrified, quite frankly. If someone could give me a legitimate and logical argument for the creativity behind the lyrics, “You a stupid ho, you a you stupid ho,” then I’d gladly revisit my criticism and lack of enthusiasm for today’s pop “artists.”
The following “article” is in response to the question: What role did individual freedom play in the emergence of the beat generation? Who were the key players and how did they influence the subsequent hippie movement?
“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes “Awww!” ~ Jack Kerouac, father of the Beat Generation
To say that a segment of the American population was disillusioned with the status quo in the years following World War II would be an understatement. The 1950s are best known for McCarthyism, the Red Scare, and the inception of the Cold War. The overall culture of fear drummed up by conservatives scared much of the public into following this right-wing trend. To challenge this mindset was to risk your reputation and in some cases, your life. In spite of this, a group of friends and writers with radical ideas for the time period formed a rebellion against tradition that is known as the Beat Generation.
This new cultural phenomena can trace its meager origins to New York City and Columbia University. Jack Kerouac, who played football there, abandoned athletics to become a writer. First devised in 1948, “’Beat’ was Jack Kerouac’s term; in half-serious tribute to his Catholic upbringing, he claimed it was short for ‘beatitude’,” (Isserman & Kazin 138-9), as well as the visionary enlightenment offered by Zen Buddhism. “[Beat] also referred to the patron saints of the movement, the drifters, who shed the trappings of institutional society,” (Szatmary 137). Kerouac befriended other writers/philosophers including Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs (author of Naked Lunch), Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Neal Cassady (inspiration to the writers). They shared the same basic values and attitudes when it came to writing; with the common thread among most of these beliefs being rejection of middle-class America, the emptiness of modern society, and the need for protest and withdrawal. Their aims were spiritual and sexual liberation, drug experimentation/legalization, and a unifying wholeness with nature. They set goals to abolish censorship, protect the environment, and oppose what Ginsberg called “the military-industrial machine civilization.” While they may have appeared drab in dark attire – some might even say “‘beat down’ and downtrodden to ‘straights’ [the general public], the bums symbolized the freedom that the avant-garde so dearly cherished [. . .] chasing the unwashed American dream,” (Szatmary 137).
The style of the beat writers varied from writer to writer, but is usually characterized by its spontaneous prose. Ginsberg noted that he and the Beats wanted to challenge the previously accepted ways of writing by being as truthful to our minds and reality as they could. He also expressed that they wanted to “encourage a ‘liberating insolence of recognizing one’s own feelings and acting on one’s own feelings rather than acting on Madison Avenue feelings of careerism,” (Szatmary 138). The overarching understanding was that in order to make changes in society, individuals would have to transform their consciousness – free the mind.
In the early 1950s, the Beats headed to San Francisco where another movement, the San Francisco Renaissance was taking place. A turning point in the movement took place here, in October of 1955 when Allen Ginsberg recited his long (and now infamous) poem, “Howl” to an audience at the at the Six Gallery. His performance put the Beats on the map, essentially.
“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of light . . .”
(Isserman & Kazin 139).
From this point forward, America knew who the Beats where and that they were a force not leaving anytime soon. His poetry reading “was a declaration of independence from the rigid, authoritarian order” that they believed was taking over the country. In a way, it was a form of passive, yet forceful, protest that helped “create themselves as icon-smashing legends,” (Isserman & Kazin 140). In fact, the poem was so anti-establishment and controversial, that Ferlinghetti (owner of City Lights Bookstore) was arrested after it was published in 1957. The trial went international and ended in an acquittal and proved that the poem had historical and “social importance” (Isserman & Kazin 140). Kerouac’s On the Road was released that same year and has become synonymous with the Beat Generation. Beatniks were suddenly mainstream and everyone could be one.
As the 1960s progressed, the beatnik persona evolved into the more popular stereotype of the hippie. The Beat Generation was split. Kerouac believed that the new direction was making a joke out of everything, whereas Ginsberg and Cassady embraced the emerging culture they had influenced. Had it not been for the groundwork laid down by these beatnik writers during the late 1940s and 1950s, there might not have been hippies. “The Beats helped plant seeds that would sprout, luxuriantly, during the 1960s and thereafter,” (Isserman & Kazin 140). The beats introduced the need for open sexual exploration, which was unheard of in America prior to their emergence. The “glorification of the outlaw spirit” shunning traditional work ideals and the experimentation with drugs to expand the mind are two additional and major contributions to society (Isserman & Kazin 140).
The baby boomers coming of age in the 1960s embraced these revolutionary concepts and took them several steps further, especially when the Vietnam War started. “Like the Beats, hippies rejected the stultifying boredom of American 50s’ consumer society, offering an alternative to the then prevalent idea of living in identical suburbs, sleeping in twin beds, driving virtually identical cars, [etc.],” (Miles 9). Like their predecessors, hippies understood that in order to make a change, they had to step outside society and observe it objectively.
The Beat influence extended to that of musicians – such as Bob Dylan and the Beatles. Music played an integral role in both the Beat Generation (jazz, mainly) and the Hippie movement (rock, psychedelic rock, etc.). The Beats also influenced other artists like Jackson Pollack and Andy Warhol. Possibly as early as 1961, Ginsberg befriended Dr. Timothy Leary (Harvard). They both distributed LSD to influential people of the time in an attempt to lift the fear off the public and the government towards drug use. Ginsberg also met Ken Kesey; he and Cassady joined him and the Merry Pranksters on a cross-country bus ride. Ginsberg remained active in the protest era of the 60s (taking the passive protests of the 1950s to the next level).
Both movements were comprised of people who wanted to bring about change, improve society, and stand up for their individual freedoms. Hippies might not have been possible, had it not been for the meek, but mighty rise of the Beats. The terms “Beatnik” and “Hippie” are one in the same, brought on by evolution and a peaceful revolution.
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Works Cited:
Isserman, Maurice, and Michael Kazin. America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.
Miles, Barry. Hippie. New York: Sterling, 2004. Print.
Szatmary, David P. Rockin’ In Time: A Social History of Rock-And-Roll. 4th ed. NewJersey: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print.
