Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Of Nostalgia And Such

Come today and Nostalgia has too cheap a price on its head. The complexity is gone. The touts sell anything from a quick glimpse of a bygone time, or a whiff of forgotten scent. Even snatches of tunes are fair game. Come tomorrow, nostalgia would have an even cheaper price on its head.

The memories are just around the corner to assault ones senses am told. Why the curling, yellow snapshot, when it can be carried on your palm?

A time, much of 'isms. Art translated into ideals. The reference might elude you, but then, references can be had around the block, around the clock. Bartered for one idea, one ideal, one thought, one advice, and one anecdote. For one reference. For one memory.

Does one miss the complexity of feeling? Not Nostalgia as much as reminiscing. Different as they are, but what with Nostalgia to be had at every turn and corner, and reminiscing just one drink away, the prospects can be worrisome.

With one leg in the past steadfastly secure, the other looking for its foothold in the future, leaves the present quite unclaimed.

Life is easy to complicate. And, memories are incidental.

8 comments:

bhumika said...

Life is easy to complicate. And, memories are incidental.

lovely...

that was quite a long break...kept checking your blog everyday and to be honest enough, was a bit worried about you...some feelings are so inexplicable... good to see u back :)

Anonymous said...

Aw. Thanks.
Life's been busy. And then laziness compounds. :)

Renovatio said...

That was a great read.

Glad you're around again, now stay around :p

Unknown said...

Nostalgia with price-tags :D ...Interesting!!

Atish said...

Nice :)

byker7 said...

about the only things that haven't been retro-pimped are price tags themselves.

Romeo Morningwood said...

They pre-sell memorabilia prior to the actual events...it's craaaazay!

Part of the problem with the current NO-stalgia phenom is that the Information Revolution eliminates so much of the mystique..except of course for the blatant manipulation of the News and Media.

In days gone by we didn't have TOO much information and assumptions could fill in the gaps. We created folklore and myth. Now we know everything about are celebrities..that's why we don't have any Movie STARS anymore..we know too much and they become too human, too ordinary.

On the positive side we see that War is not filled with Heroism and gallantry...it is filled with wounded civilians, scared soldiers and incomprehensible destruction of ordinary lives.

As a part of the Baby Boomer group I have witnessed the greatest attempt to Disneyfy the World in History. Nostalgia is the supreme zeitgeist of this bankrupt culture. Consumerism has enveloped the nuts and bolts of everyday life. All we are left with is a huge garbage dump of disposable Icons....what will the next generation do to outdo our vapid world of instant gratification?

Good Luck with that!

Romeo Morningwood said...

I am very concerned that a Nostalgic re-enactment of 1968 may occur. Just as the Peace, Love, and Understanding movement was about to peak RFK and MLK were extinguished.

I also blame Michael Jackson for whoring all of the Beatle Songs to advertisiers after he snatched them from under the nose of Macca who had tipped him off. Now bands NEED to sell their wares to advertisers because everybody can download them for free.

This whole Obama thingamabob about getting the Gen Xers and Yers out to clean up 40 years of social malaise that the Boomers have left for a legacy is encouraging. The marketers have kowtowed to the 80 million Boomer consumers and trivialized every inch of their existance...to the point where it is meaningless..we have had those nostagic triggers firing for 40 years! Enough I say...and I'm a part of that 2nd Boomer cohort born from '55-'64.