I have failed to convey the whole tone of my response, prolly 'cause I didn't put in enough smilies. It was all intended as lighthearted banter. Oh, well.

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Richard,

I was going back thru the haiku thread to see if I missed something, and I have a couple of questions.

Would you please further expound on this? Especially the last sentence in the quote.

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Saying that rules stifle creativity is like saying that uniforms stifle individuality, which anyone who has worn a uniform knows is not true. For a bluegrass musician to say that "he doesn't like rules" is a breathtaking statement of self unawareness--which I know isn't true, so I am really mystified.



The only rule I’m aware of in bluegrass is for everyone to get in tune. If you “know” I don’t suffer from “self unawareness”, why mention it and why are you “mystified?” That’s a new term for me.



There was a time when I was a decent aspiring flatpicker, although utterly nontraditional. My direct experience with bluegrass and the people who practice it has not been good. That's a story for another time. The upshot is that those to whom I was directly exposed were clearly hidebound--utterly rigid--regarding their interpretation of what was and was not acceptable in bluegrass. Rules, baby. I broke 'em (not knowing that they existed) and was treated quite unkindly. The incident is funny in retrospect; the treatment was and is not.

If you tell me that the culture is freer than that, I am prepared to believe you, and that whole last sentence becomes meaningless. What that means is that I have probably been operating under a false assumption. I'd love to know different, but I'm not going to touch that hot stove again without some friendly guidance. Yeah, I've heard the bluegrass version of Dark Side of the Moon and was mightily impressed. I'm pretty sure that wouldn't go over everywhere, though.

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Secondly:

What does this mean?

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Not sure about the rest of your life.



Thanks



That last is easy. It was both a response to your explicit statement in an earlier post about how much you dislike rules, AND an extension of my apparently false belief that all BG musos are stuck on form and content, which I extended to you. Okay, I'm smiling when I write this expression of unruliness: "For all I know, in your private life you paint yourself blue and sacrifice kittens to Moloch." Can't quite picture it, but hey. You never know about the guy next door. Might be Boo Radley. (Still smiling, okay?) I was being facetious--and laid myself completely open to misinterpretation, so I guess I earned your suspicion. I din' mean nuffin. Rilly.

Into autumn air
Rise strains of stringéd music
Bluegrass festival

Pax, okay?

"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."