Life: Old and grumpy

Witness the evidence of my advancing age: I've recently taken up pottery. It's relaxing and lets me put my mind elsewhere, even if that other where of which I speak is the rapidly spinning wall of compressed, wet dirt. I suppose, for me, it's almost meditative. I even checked out a book on the subject at the local library. Oh. That's right. Still got the same President, so I guess I meant to say 'libary.'

Anyhoo, I'm reading through The Art of Throwing when I come across this quote:

"You are interested in pottery; do you know what that means? Do you know that to have the whole world's pottery to look at is like having the whole world's food to eat? Can you digest it? Can you find a way of judging what is a good pot, whether it is made in twelfth-century Cina, in Persia or Greece, in Europe or by American Indians? How can you come to say with conviction to other people (and yourself), "That is a good pot"? Are you prepared for that? It means a whole life's work, and it means that you must care about it tremendously."
Bernard Leach, The Potter's Challenge, 1976

Now, I point this out because, well gosh, this has to be one of the most arrogant things I've ever read. I mean, how seriously do you take yourself?  And this is coming from an arrogant guy who takes himself way too seriously. Wow. So, I suppose if you're interested in it, you shouldn't do it solely because it relaxes you and lets you focus on something other than shit diapers or serving others. Heaven forbid you do something just for the fun and creative magic of the act. No, no, no. You must commit. You have to study pottery throughout history and know everything about everything.

Now, I don't pretend to know Mr. Leach. I'm sure he's a fine person and an amazing potter. Great. But what a great way to make someone just enjoying the creative nature of it…not.

(Friends of mine will notice my refrain of excessive cursing in this post, which I have to say is a lot of effort, given my tempremental nature and the general consensus that I'm often prone to telling folks to shove shit like this back up their fucking arrogant assholes. Oops….whew! That felt GREAT! Thanks!)