this is a musical blog, so you need to start playing this
when you read it. quiet.
start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . now.
i blag to you in the motel howard johnson inn motel sitting next to an over chilling air conditioning unit, watching a show on the food network where a bunch of tools cook for an episode of 30 rock, and i music over my brand new ear goggles, catching none of whats said, and little of what is shown.
over our double beds, their are pictures.
in one, geese land in a cool white pond, surrounded by dark and gray-ember fields. pale green trees obscure the horizon, under jutting dark and subdued lavender cloud.
the other one has mallards departing from what seems like the same lake. this is sunnier, yellow rather then lavender, their number is much greater, the flock extends down into the background of the print, and the water is a deep blue juxtaposed to the whites and grays of the former painting.
the clouds in this one are far more conventional; the plumes of white fluff given depth with a scale from white to slightly-less-white-white.
charles e murphy, the man who painted them, is depicting a dark arrival, and a high right departure, exactly the opposite of how most of our arrivals and departures have seemed these past several weeks. i think he failed to catch the essence of our trip, and indeed, most other avian migrations. charlie murphy just doesn't understand us.
i havent much experience in this matter, but nothing quite feels like heading south. its like having your heart lighten. and nothing, not something, quite feels like leaving new jersey. coming back down is one of the worst things ive ever had to do, so maybe charlie is getting this trip on a larger scope.
im not sure how his interpretation of migration applies to my collegiate journey yet.
i wonder if charlie murphy ever thinks about these paintings. i wonder if he's ashamed of them, or if he even remembers them. they aren't on his website. or on the web at all form what i can tell. something he agreed to do in order get some money. i wonder why motels put paintings like these in anyway. one could conduct a fascinating study where they ask people to rate their stay at two identical rooms, one with paintings by charlie murphy, and ones without.
i wonder what little things like that would make a difference to peoples stay. is it worth it to purchase a charlie murphy original for each room? does it actually make for better reviews? what other things do people not notice about motel rooms that are significant in how they experience it, but does not actually effect the functionality of the room? i wonder which colors are most conducive to good reviews. which carpet patterns? how many mirrors? head boards? what kind of wood? how many drawers?
whatever. motels are lame.
all times i think about college. not much more i can say on the matter that you couldn't figure out by yourself.
anyway, live long and prosper i guess
jake