Throwback Thursday: Have You Found Your Calling?

EIGHT YEARS AGO
I've been on a business-related road trip to Bowling Green, Kentucky. Being quite busy, and fairly immersed in what I've been doing, I didn't have any burning topics in my soul for the blog yesterday, or even this morning.

The weather these past two days has been perfect. Mid-seventies, sunny skies. Kentucky's truly beautiful in the spring. The green grass -- even though it's called "The Bluegrass State -- and white fences make for some wonderful scenes and I think of the song "My Old Kentucky Home" because my father's roots are here.

This morning there's an overcast sky and a grey misty quality that brings to mind an early poem of mine titled Wisconsin Misty Morning, written during a week's vacation to a finger lake in central Wisconsin during a time in 1983 when I was wrestling with my life direction. The poem begins with something of a deep groan from my soul, a prayer to have the fog lifted from my life path. "Wisconsin misty morning come redeem me from this drifting, like the fog that here is lifting..."

And then it happened. I experienced a deep sense of calling to be a writer. Or rather, the fog lifted that week and I realized I'd always been a writer, and that if I followed this particular star it would lead somewhere, that I'd fulfill my destiny, wherever and in whatever form that took.

To some extent this is what Joseph Campbell meant when he said "Follow your bliss." I had aways been a creative person, but had locked myself into believing this creative flow had to be expressed in the visual arts I'd pursued in college. But creativity is much bigger than that. Like a shapeshifter it can be expressed through architecture, engineering, applied sciences, philosophy, even economics as demonstrated in the Russell Crowe film A Beautiful Mind.

There is something quite powerful in knowing you're doing what you were destined to do or using the gifts that are innately, and even uniquely, yours. If you haven't got a passion worth hitching your life to, then maybe your first quest should be to get to know yourself. Who are you?

Take your time, though. You can't force it. This sense of calling has to come from within. And don't be afraid to dream.

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Last weekend I saw a man wearing a T-shirt with Mark Twain's famous observation across the front: “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”  
May your fog lift so that you can get in snc with who you are.

A Few Comments in Response to Bob Dylan's Nobel Lecture

If you're a Dylan fan then you already know he fulfilled the requirements necessary to receive the prize he was awarded last December. He produced and delivered an acceptance speech within the designated six month time limit. In a statement, the Swedish Academy secretary Sara Danius called it "extraordinary" and "eloquent." Journalists around the world quickly offered commentary on the speech and the man who wrote it.

Breaking it apart there are several highlights. First, the manner in which it was delivered. Second, the substance of what was delivered.

In regards to the how of it, The New Yorker's Alexandra Schwartz offered a pretty good summary here in her article, "The Rambling Glory of Bob Dylan's Nobel Speech."

"Dylan made a recording of his text, speaking for twenty-seven minutes over a smoky, meditative jazz-piano arrangement. Not for him, the sombre pomp of the podium. He sounds like a lounge singer lost in contemplative patter, just letting the thoughts flow. Pour yourself a whiskey, honey, pull up a chair, and stay awhile." 

The feeling I got was something akin to Garrison Keillor's Guy Noir, the piano plinking, ice stirring in the gin glass.

As for the content, Justin Bariso does a breakout on paragraph one in this Inc. article, "It Took Bob Dylan Less Than 30 Seconds to Teach a Remarkable Lesson in Emotional Intelligence."

Paragraph two warmed the hearts of many locals here in Duluth as Dylan reiterated what he's noted before, that Buddy Holly's Winter Dance Party at the Duluth Armory was a spark that ignited something deep in the soul of young Robert Zimmerman. I find it interesting that this time around Bob states he was "six feet away" when Buddy Holly looked at him. Years ago Dylan said, "I was three feet away from him... and he looked at me." My take is that the literal meaning here is that Buddy Holly was right there in front of him with nothing in between, and it may have been seven feet or five, but for sure it made an impression.

Dylan summarizes three books which spoke to him on a deeper level and influenced some of his songwriting: Moby Dick, All Quiet On The Western Front and the Odyssey.

Of Moby Dick he states, "This book tells how different men react in different ways to the same experience. A lot of Old Testament, biblical allegory: Gabriel, Rachel, Jeroboam, Bildah, Elijah. Pagan names as well: Tashtego, Flask, Daggoo, Fleece, Starbuck, Stubb, Martha’s Vineyard. The Pagans are idol worshippers. Some worship little wax figures, some wooden figures. Some worship fire."

Of All Quiet he elaborates on the horrors of war. "Day after day, the hornets bite you and worms lap your blood. You’re a cornered animal. You don’t fit anywhere. The falling rain is monotonous. There’s endless assaults, poison gas, nerve gas, morphine, burning streams of gasoline, scavenging and scabbing for food, influenza, typhus, dysentery. Life is breaking down all around you, and the shells are whistling. This is the lower region of hell. Mud, barbed wire, rat-filled trenches, rats eating the intestines of dead men, trenches filled with filth and excrement. Someone shouts, 'Hey, you there. Stand and fight.'"

It (All Quiet on the Western Front) goes downhill from here... to the point that you despise the people who sent you to this hell hole. The book is a powerful indictment of the way wars are fought, including the exemptions of privilege and the other injustices that accompany this life.

Dylan begins his exposition of The Odyssey like this. "The Odyssey is a great book whose themes have worked its way into the ballads of a lot of songwriters: “Homeward Bound, “Green, Green Grass of Home,” “Home on the Range,” and my songs as well."

You can, and should, read the lecture in its entirety. It will provide insights on why he continued to sing Masters of War for five decades and where many of his other songs came from.

There were plenty of other assessments of this speech. You will find it a worthwhile read and you should take the time if you are able. Or just listen to it. A little like Bob's Theme Time Radio Hour.

Good stuff.

Tangled Up In The Bible: A Bob Dylan Quiz

During the course of Duluth Dylan Fest this year I received a number of interesting emails, including this one, a trivia quiz whose central thread happens to be spiritual references in the works of Bob Dylan. At the end of the questions you'll find a link to a Facebook page where the answers can be found.

TANGLED UP IN THE BIBLE: A BOB DYLAN QUIZ 
By David Buckna

In the history of popular music, few figures loom as large. This quiz explores Dylan's biblical connections.

"There's mystery, magic, truth and the Bible in great folk music. I can't hope to touch that. But I'm going to try.” – Bob Dylan, in a 1963 interview

QUESTIONS

1. As early as 1962 Dylan made an allusion to Jesus in song: "To preach of peace and brotherhood/ Oh, what might be the cost! / A man he did it long ago/ And they hung him on a cross." Name the song.

2. According to author Ronnie Keohane, what one line from Masters Of War (1963) has Dylan consistently omitted from his concerts since 1979?

3. In 1968 Jimi Hendrix recorded what is considered to be the most notable cover of a Dylan song. Name it.

4. What movie soundtrack album did Dylan release in 1973?

5. What are the titles of Dylan's three gospel albums?

6. On what 1980 Keith Green song does Dylan have a harmonica solo?

7. What’s the first line of Jokerman (1983)?

8. The line "One says to the other no man sees my face and lives" is from what Dylan song?

9. For what 1997 album did Dylan win three Grammy awards?

10. What Dylan album includes Tryin' To Get To Heaven?

11. What "rock" hymn did Dylan perform Feb. 2, 1999 at a concert in Pensacola, Florida?

12. After years of speculation, it was confirmed in 2001 that Dylan was the model for this bronze statue on top of the north-western tower of Nidaros Cathedral (Trondheim, Norway). Who does the statue depict?

13. When 60 Minutes correspondent Ed Bradley asked Dylan in 2004, "Why do you still do it?" (perform), Dylan replied: "Well, it goes back to that destiny thing. I mean, I made a bargain with it, you know, long time ago. And I'm holdin' up my end...to get where I am now." When Bradley asked, "Should I ask who you made the bargain with?" what was Dylan's reply?

14. What Dylan rarity from Under The Red Sky (1990) did he perform July 10, 2005 in Schaumburg, Illinois?

15. What are the first two lines of Spirit On the Water (2006)?

16. The Bible was Dylan's theme for the Sept. 6, 2006 edition of his Theme Time Radio Hour, on Sirius XM Radio. Whose 1930 version of John The Revelator did Dylan play?

17. In a 2009 interview to promote Dylan's Christmas In The Heart album, Bill Flanagan – referring to O Little Town of Bethlehem – told Dylan he "delivered the song like a true believer." What was Dylan's reply?

18. He said on May 29, 2012: "Today everybody from Bruce Springsteen to U2 owes Bob a debt of gratitude. There is not a bigger giant in the history of American music. All these years later, he's still chasing that sound, still searching for a little bit of truth, and I have to say that I am a really big fan." Who said it?

19. What song on Dylan's 35th studio album is 14 minutes long?

20. According to Christian minister/author Steve Stockman, what song on Tempest "is dripping with the images of the Jewish Passover or the Christian idea of atonement"?

* * * *
Answer Key: Here.

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In 2015 I interviewed Scott Marshall, author of a book about Dylan's spiritual side called Restless Pilgrim. One of the comments I received in response to that interview was an inquiry from someone wanting to know if his more in depth manuscript on this theme had been published. This past week I learned that, in fact, it's being released this month. You can check it out here on Amazon, Bob Dylan: A Spiritual Life.

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"May your wishes all come true... and may you stay forever young."

Giacometti's Nose

Noses are a fascinating feature of the human face. How different we would appear without them.

One of the more distinctive sculptors of the modern era was the Swiss-born, Paris-based artist Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966). Though associated with the surrealist movement, I'd suggest he's pretty much simply is in a category of its own.

Is it a commentary on lying? (i.e. Pinocchio)

Is it a commentary on nosiness? On excessive curiosity?

Is it a commentary at all? Much like post-modernism, perhaps there is no real commentary or meaning to be found here at all.

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Noses are frequently used in figures of speech and common sayings. Here are a few examples:

"Cut off your nose to spite your face."

"Keep your nose to the grindstone."

"Keep a clean nose."

"Don't be so nosy."

"Curt got ahead by being a brown-nose."

"She couldn't see past the nose on her face."

"We don't like it when people look down their noses at us."

"I had to pay through the nose on that deal."

"It was as plain as the nose on his face."

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Noses feature in literature as well. Cyrano de Bergerac and Steve Martin's modern re-telling of this tragi-comic love story, Roxanne, both feature a main character with an unusually large schnozz. Alas.

I myself also wrote a story with a few reflections on noses, unambiguously titled "The Nose" which can also be found in my $.99 eBook collection of short stories, Newmanesque.

See more photos of Giacometti's Nose here or read more details about the two versions of this piece.

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Meantime, have a great day. It's all good.

Puzzles and the Ambiguity of Bob Dylan

Puzzles by their nature imply solution. We don't buy an 800-piece puzzle and wonder if it'll go back together again. When I was a kid my dad used to bring home bent nail puzzles like these that we'd struggle over, having to take apart or put back together. It was assumed that they're going to resolve, whether it's taking these nail things apart or whatever.

So it is with mystery stories. Whether Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes, it's essentially a given at the outset that Hercule Poirot will learn whodunnit by the end of the story, or that Holmes will solve the mystery that has stumped Scotland Yard. The fun, for readers, is trying to take the clues one is being fed by the writer and "get it" before our hero does.

How about real life? A lot of situations we find ourselves in leave us feeling puzzled, and there appears to be no resolution. The puzzles of life are often more complicated than those bent nail puzzles. We're tested, fail and in the end left confused. It would be nice if everything we stumbled into were as neatly packaged as the crossword puzzles we find in our daily paper. The crosswords may be challenging, but I've yet to see our newspaper publish one in which there was no solution whatsoever. Real life problems, like finding employment, have no real assurances. At least the newspaper prints the answers to the Crypt-O-Gram and the Word Jumble and the daily crossword puzzle.

This is an intriguing feature of Bob Dylan's career as a songwriter. Because of our experiences as readers of Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and others of their ilk, we approach song interpretation much the same as we would a mystery. We search for clues, and we assume that there is a solution to the problem of interpretation.

What Dylan does in many of his songs is more like life. It doesn't come neatly packaged. It is not a math equation like 2 + 2 = 4. It is when we try to dissect his lyrics rationally that we at times run into problems, because occasionally the song is intended to be engaged emotionally, or on some deeper level. The composition intrigues the mind, but the texture of the images touches us in other ways than we ourselves can articulate. The effect of the lyrics is heightened by the musical accompaniment to create moods and sensations.

The direction modern art took with abstract expressionism and minimalism was off-putting to many people because when they attempted to engage the work intellectually and rationally. Kandinsky opened the door to alternative ways of viewing a painting, the emotional/aesthetic path. Dylan explored this as well as he strove to get the right sound to wrap his words and ideas around, words that did more to veil interpretations than to reveal them.

All this to say that Dylan's ambiguity is more like the puzzle that is life than it is the jigsaw puzzles we sometimes occupy our time with. The puzzle of life has pieces that don't always fit so neatly together.

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If you do like puzzles that have solutions, here's a cool site to try out: Jigsaw Planet. Or try out this British site with other varieties of puzzles.

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Engage it. 

Three Haiku from our Poet of the Northland Newcomer

On May 24 Duluth Dylan Fest celebrated Bob's 76th birthday with several events including a Poets of the Northland poetry reading and panel discussion in the Spirit of the North Theater inside the Fitger's Complex. One the readers that evening was Rich Olson of St. Paul, who afterwards sent the following email after I invited him to share some Haiku he had written. Olson, who does mail delivery by day, called himself the Poet of the Northland Newcomer, hence the title of this blog post.

Hello Ed,
You mentioned before the poetry event that you wanted me to send you a copy of the poem that I read at the event that evening. I apologize I didn’t send you a message sooner, and was wondering (with the week quickly winding down) if you still wanted me to fulfill that request. Let me know if you do, and I would be happy to do so.

I stayed in Duluth until the following morning, and, before leaving, took everyone’s advice and went to view Bill’s exhibit at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum. I was there at 10 a.m. when the doors came open. I still have those images in my mind as I sit here. I wrote Bill this morning telling him how much it meant to me. I also said that even if there had been no poetry contest, and if the only artifact on display had been that small piece of paper that held the penciled lyrics to “Let Me Die in My Footsteps,” that would have been reason enough to make the drive from St. Paul. And the other gems in his collection were, for me, more icing on the cake.

I must have been inspired by the trip, because this morning I wrote six haiku/senryus. Of these six, three dealt directly with my Duluth experiences. The first, “Mother Superior,” I dedicated to Bob, and all of the good people that I met while in Duluth. The second I wrote for Bill. It’s called, “A Short Poem for Bill Pagel.” And the last I wrote for John Bushey. That one, without too much additional originality, was called “A Short Poem for John Bushey.” A very short Bio was included below the poems to let the Poetry Soup crowd know who they were. On John’s I added an additional plug for his gofundme page which I found when I googled Zane’s name.

Mother Superior

Written by: Rich Olson 5/26/17

majestic waters

broke for his delivery

a legend was born

A Short Poem for Bill Pagel

Written by: Rich Olson 5/26/17

devoted keeper

of Bob’s “Precious Memories”

YOU…are noteworthy

A Short Poem for John Bushey

Written by: Rich Olson 5/26/17

Highway 61-

and those who follow its path-

will live forever

*

Follow up note from Rich Olson, explaining why these are not technically Haiku:

I would be flattered to have you share my haikus/senryus in your blog. I still have a hard time categorizing what I’ve written as being one or the other. A haiku is supposed to deal with nature, while a Senryu deals with human nature (or so I am told). Often mine contain elements of both. So I’m left to flip a mental coin as to what I’m going to call it. The essential part in this form is the “juxtaposition.”

* * * *

In point of fact, this same technicality is why I received a critical note about my own Haiku, posted here on my original website in 1995. Whatever they be called, I am attracted by the short form.

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Meantime life goes on all around you. Whether it's thunder on the mountain or peace in the valley, enjoy it. 

A Visit with Jeffrey T. Larson, Founder of the Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art

Jeffrey Larson, Self-Portrait

Andrew Wyeth was one of the most recognized American painters of the 20th century. N.C. Wyeth, his son, followed his footsteps as an artist/illustrator. Today a third generation is carrying the Wyeth torch, grandson Jamie.

In similar fashion, artist Jeffrey T. Larson has reproduced a passion for painting in his son Brock and together they have undertaken an enterprise that goes far beyond making art. After much deliberation they have undertaken to start a world-class art school here in the Twin Ports on Duluth's West Central Hillside. This past weekend the school had its first annual Student/Instructor Exhibition, and the impression one gets is that a very fine school has taken root, the Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art.

I first met Jeff Larson at a talk he gave at the Tweed Museum last fall, no doubt designed to coincide with the launch of the school. Since that time I've taken a keen interest, and very much looked forward to this past weekend's open house.

EN: How did you come to take an interest in an art career?

"Chopping Wood" by Jeffrey T. Larson

Jeffrey Larson: I was always the "class artist" growing up. Loved to draw, carve and create but never thought about it seriously as in a career util I discovered the Atelier Lack.

EN: You're a masterful oil painter. What was it that led you to take up classical oil painting as an avocation?

JTL: More correctly, it took me up. It was the moment I went to visit Richard Lack at his personal studio after having been to visit his school, Atelier Lack, during my senior year of high school. He had asked me to bring some work when I went to his school. I had gone out of curiosity only. When I walked into his studio it struck me that this was what I wanted to do with my life. Avocation is too strong a word to use to describe how I saw it. Avocation implies career and income, the furthest consideration from my mind at that time actually. Young and dumb, I just knew this is what I was meant to do and assumed the rest would fall into place.

EN: Your paintings show a great admiration for light. How do you choose subject matter for your work?

JTL: Living in the Northland offers you a lot of green and blue half the year, white the rest. The laundry series is probably my most successful attempt at trying to have as much control compositionally outside. With the sheets I can convert them to foils of color and pattern, bounced light, reflected light, flat light, transparent light, translucent light and shadows... The subject is primarily a means to an end for abstract composition.

EN: What prompted you to start an art school? What is the school called and 5. what's your vision for the school?

JTL: A number of reasons. I have always been extremely grateful that I had had the opportunity to receive classical training, especially given just how rare it has become. It laid the foundation for my life. With my son's path following mine it seemed like a wonderful opportunity for us to work together. We both enjoy teaching, having both done it towards the end of our training and after graduating. The idea started small but given our personalities it soon began to grow. Stumbling across St. Peters and recognizing the potential it held ramped it up to a whole new level. Our goal now is to create and develop it into one of the finest classical studio schools in the world. (There are about a dozen schools worldwide passing on this information at a higher level.)

EN: What makes your approach to teaching different from what other art schools are doing?

JTL: There have always been two major lines with the visual arts, the romantic/classical which has turned into the academic/impressionistic. My training was impressionist based with a foundation of classical academic. I've added 25 years of full-time painting experience to this and have learned much in those years. Brock's interest and focus is much more academic-based. Just about all the other schools in the world are purely academic. We will be offering a combined training of the two approaches, what we are calling Classical Impressionism.

EN: Who have been your influences? Favorite painters or artists?

JTL: I can honestly say that I have learned much from so many of the artists of the past. One tends to become obsessed with one artist for a time, absorb what you can and then move on. A few of my lasting favorites are Rembrandt, Vermeer, Velázquez, Sargent, Sorolla, Zom and Rodin.

EN: For people who missed your exhibition at the Tweed this summer, where can they see more of your work?

JTL: For those who missed the open house this past weekend, you can find many pieces displayed at www.jeffreytlarson.com.

I am currently in a couple shows in New York's Cavalier Galleries, and at the Salmagundi Club as part of the Art Renewal Center's 12th annual International Salon Exhibition. I also have pieces on display at Collins Galleries on Cape Cod and Helena Fine Arts in Charleston, S.C.

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I know that I am not alone when I say that the school Jeff Larson has started here with his son is a welcome addition to the local arts scene and the community-at-large.  Thank you Jeff, for sharing your vision and making sacrifices to make it a reality. The very best to you in your endeavors.