C is for chips - that's good enough for me.

Hey! mmmK cited me in his entry today over at mmm-yoso! I feel cool. Thanks mmmK!
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Also, my chips are cracking me up. (note the by-line underneath the 'with herbs' line) It's good to know that I am ingesting items that cement my adult status. What happens if a pre-teen eats these? Do they start sprouting a beard, wearing sensible shoes and lecturing others on the evil of cashing out their 401(k)? Or is it just a comforting tagline to people of a certain age who like chips but feel like potato chips belong in the arena of pre-pubescent boys binging while playing Guitar Hero? And what's this about being bold?

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But the spirit of it. That sense of possibility and purpose and importance that suffused my every day there. That hopefulness, and the pride in what I was doing. Also, Patty's stubbornness vision. Her eagle-eyed way of really knowing and understanding a place. How do I translate that to the messier and larger arena of Oakland? This plugs into a larger question I've been asking myself--about arrogance. Where is my arrogance, the necessary arrogance of an artist that makes the rest of the life worthwhile? Did I ever have it? Will I never have it? Did the obvious needs of Mississippi let me avoid answering that question of myself? And now? Where is the fire, now? How do I do as Patty does--to let all the petty bullshit around me not touch that inner fire?

-I've been meaning to blog about this for a while, it's from RedHen's blog. Those of you who know me, also know that I've been working on and off with Red Hen for the last three years in our theater company. And she's amazing, a tour de force of vision and hard work with a way of bringing people together. Hers is a valid question; one that makes you think about not only one's status as an 'artist' but how it relates to real life. I don't quite relate to RedHen's arrogance; art is necessity. Sure you can go about your day, work in a menial job and make/do enough to survive - but without art, you never feel whole. There is a listlessness that occurs until your bones fail to stir or you die.
But, yes, as an artist you must make certain decisions about what you put out in the world in order to feel like it truly is art. The decisions must be confident, opinionated and sure. I guess, one must remember that one person's petty bullshit is another persons arrogance. Surely, a leader will always emerge; the person whose arrogance translates to confidence; a worldly wisdom that exceeds any sort of immediate or boxed in experiences. Keep the vision whole and full and beyond any one person. If you are a leader; keep your lieutenants in check and your cadets in line. Deliver on your promises and nurture talent. There will never be a day when pettiness and personal gain and selfisheness does not attempt to infect your inner fire; but only if you let it.