fossilized

We sometimes let people borrow the gallery space for parties, and tonight was one of those times. When possible we go out of our way to encourage young creative artistic types... It was a little different this time.

I may very possibly have been the youngest person in the room this time, if you don't count the young guy doing the catering. There were two lady lawyers who were within a year or two of me, and it escalated rapidly from there. Several of these folks were 20 to 25 years older than me.

But it wasn't the ages that made it strange... it was the egos. There were several people who were doing a whole lot of talking, and not nearly enough listening. They should have spent more time listening.

There's the old cliche about learning from elders, and in some cases it's true. I mostly sat and listened, and in a way I did learn some things, but they weren't very profound things. I've got all the latest gossip on the local legal community, and heard a few stories about old Hollywood parties that might have happened before I was born.

But the overwhelming feeling was... well, I used to feel this a lot back in my punk years; when some older guy would roll out the same standard world view he used at every party, as he played know it all and tried to impress everyone, while having no idea what we were really thinking.

Back then I wore a button on my jacket that said "look sharp" after the then-current Joe Jackson song of the same name. A line in the song kind of sums it up: "well hey shut your face, maybe you will see or hear."

Then, as now, I listened quietly, and formed my own opinions.