Curmudgeons - Or Ode to Don
San Francisco
246 Posts
I would love to take credit, but this is from an article by Jon Winokur (Whoever he is).
We call curmudgeons "irascible", "grouchy", "grumpy" and even "mean". But the world needs curmudgeons. They refuse to see life through the filter of wishful thinking and are outspoken in their devotion to the harsh realities of life. They protect the rest of us, stumbling blindly behind our rose-colored glasses, from ourselves.
Still, these are tough times for curmudgeons. In an age of fast-food intellect, when crudity is mistaken for cleverness, the articulate, witty curmudgeon seems out of place. Can you imagine Menchken, a man who once called the American people the most "sniveling, poltroonish, ignominious mob of serfs and goose-steppers eer gathered under one flag in Christendom since the end of the Middle Ages", adapting to an era of Freedom Fries? (When Mencken was asked why he chose to live in the U.S. when he thought it was so horrible, he snapped back, "Why do men go to zoos?")
It is only in recent years that curmudgeons have gotten a bad rep, says author P.J. O'Rourke, the residen curmudgeon at Rolling Stone. "In Menchen's era, curmudgeons were role models", he says. "Robert Benchley, S.J. Perelman...even Will Rogers, for all his supposed friendliness, had a barbed tongue. the curmudgeon was above it all. He was a major player until the world was overwhelmed by the baby boom, and suddently everyone had to be young forever."
Curmudgeons are't just funny or just mean. Part of what makes a curmudgeon is an almost allergic reaction to injustice. When faced with it,he responds with two powerful weapons: disgust and sarcasm. His ecruciating sensitivity to life's countless insults - even those that may not be intentional- is both a curse and sustenance for his muse.
Curmudgeons are classic outsiders; they instinctively distrust conventional wisdom and challenge authority. They are proudly out of touch with the pop culture. They don't read "relationship" books, they don't carry pagers and they don't have TiVo. They don't do Pilates, feng shui or aromatherapy. They never watch "Must See TV" - and they know the very term is a contradiction.
Curmudgeons are disillusioned, but only in the strictest sense of the word. That is, they harror no illusions - something that allows them to think clearly. They howl agains cliches because they prize originality. They don't hat sinners, just sins. They don't hate humankind, just humankind's excesses-and they hold out a secret hope for the improvement of the species.
Andy Rooney insists that curmudgeons are idealist at heart. They are trying to straighten out the hold world. Says Rooney, "I think criticismis the best source of change". Mencken was willing to inspect our whole world, using his brain without sentiment - which most Americans are not willing to do.
Most Curmudgeons would probably insist that it's the world at large that brings out their delightfully dark side. But when pressed, many will fess up to -gasp!-a buried sentimental core.
And the article goes on and on and on. But sure you get the drift via my succinct post.
HAPPY THANSGIVING DAY AND GOBBLE, GOBBLE.
Elizabeth
We call curmudgeons "irascible", "grouchy", "grumpy" and even "mean". But the world needs curmudgeons. They refuse to see life through the filter of wishful thinking and are outspoken in their devotion to the harsh realities of life. They protect the rest of us, stumbling blindly behind our rose-colored glasses, from ourselves.
Still, these are tough times for curmudgeons. In an age of fast-food intellect, when crudity is mistaken for cleverness, the articulate, witty curmudgeon seems out of place. Can you imagine Menchken, a man who once called the American people the most "sniveling, poltroonish, ignominious mob of serfs and goose-steppers eer gathered under one flag in Christendom since the end of the Middle Ages", adapting to an era of Freedom Fries? (When Mencken was asked why he chose to live in the U.S. when he thought it was so horrible, he snapped back, "Why do men go to zoos?")
It is only in recent years that curmudgeons have gotten a bad rep, says author P.J. O'Rourke, the residen curmudgeon at Rolling Stone. "In Menchen's era, curmudgeons were role models", he says. "Robert Benchley, S.J. Perelman...even Will Rogers, for all his supposed friendliness, had a barbed tongue. the curmudgeon was above it all. He was a major player until the world was overwhelmed by the baby boom, and suddently everyone had to be young forever."
Curmudgeons are't just funny or just mean. Part of what makes a curmudgeon is an almost allergic reaction to injustice. When faced with it,he responds with two powerful weapons: disgust and sarcasm. His ecruciating sensitivity to life's countless insults - even those that may not be intentional- is both a curse and sustenance for his muse.
Curmudgeons are classic outsiders; they instinctively distrust conventional wisdom and challenge authority. They are proudly out of touch with the pop culture. They don't read "relationship" books, they don't carry pagers and they don't have TiVo. They don't do Pilates, feng shui or aromatherapy. They never watch "Must See TV" - and they know the very term is a contradiction.
Curmudgeons are disillusioned, but only in the strictest sense of the word. That is, they harror no illusions - something that allows them to think clearly. They howl agains cliches because they prize originality. They don't hat sinners, just sins. They don't hate humankind, just humankind's excesses-and they hold out a secret hope for the improvement of the species.
Andy Rooney insists that curmudgeons are idealist at heart. They are trying to straighten out the hold world. Says Rooney, "I think criticismis the best source of change". Mencken was willing to inspect our whole world, using his brain without sentiment - which most Americans are not willing to do.
Most Curmudgeons would probably insist that it's the world at large that brings out their delightfully dark side. But when pressed, many will fess up to -gasp!-a buried sentimental core.
And the article goes on and on and on. But sure you get the drift via my succinct post.
HAPPY THANSGIVING DAY AND GOBBLE, GOBBLE.
Elizabeth
Comments
That's the ticket! Outspoken....jives with Don's picture too.
Santa's on his way and he knows who's been naughty and who's been nice.