I’ve never really been a Kerouac fan. Sure I have read his stuff and I like a good deal of it, but I don’t see what all the fuss is about. Not too long ago, I realized we are both Pisces. So I think the unique perspective he had on the world isn’t all that unique to me since its about the same way I see the world. He was always observing others and looking for universal themes. That seems to be a lot of what occupies my time too. I look around and take it all in. I’m fond of the world, but never wholly part of it.

Maybe astrology is crap, because Elliott Smith, a Leo, just as accurately captured that world view that Jack and I share. The only difference is while Jack and I see the whole thing as an entertaining ride we have a front row seat to, Elliot let it get to him. Sometimes you can listen to his music and get that sense of disconnection that allows sensitive people to survive. Sometimes, you’d swear an 80 year old man was reflecting on his life and not some singer/song writer in his 30s still going through the motions of figuring it all out.

I guess what I’m getting at is “From a Basement on the Hill” is worth buying and listening too. Really sit down and listen to it. It waffles between a melodic suicide note and a man’s desperate plea for understanding from a world that he is far too smart to expect to ever get acceptance or empathy from. I would not do it justice in words, but if you get through life based on your perceptions or you think too much for your own good, then give it a listen. I just hope you do a better job backing away from the abyss than he did. It is easy enough to look at someone so talented and wander why he wasted that talent by killing himself. I think he just saw the big picture and viewed the rest of his days as a futile exercise in trying to forget what he uncovered.
This is not my life
it's just a fond farewell to a friend