I went to a book-gig the other day...
May. 5th, 2025 06:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
...There's a chap I know called Robin Ince. He writes books. And does stand up. And is endlessly curious about the world about him. And is probably the kindest, most compassionate and thoughtful person I know. He's definitely a much better human than I am, and makes me a better one by association.
On this occasion, he mentioned his writing work for the Big Issue. It was a question someone had for him once about the content of his column about movies. Because Robin is not a critic. He's a cheerleader. He doesn't fill the column inches with reasons why this or that was shit. He writes about the movies he really loved, and why he thought they were fantastic.
His refusal to spend his time on the moaning and carry-on of complaining about something is surprising in a world where it does seem that complaining about something, or pointing out where it's sub-par is the norm. Both our printed media and content generated online is usually framed in dramatic, intentionally inciteful ways, hoping to get people to engage. And it seems we engage faster when riled. So that is played on.
I've never been of the opinion that any attention is good attention. I've known people who do. But it's not me. If I was about to jump up and down asking people to look at me (a vanishingly rare thing at any time), I would want it to be about something good. [It says a lot that the first thing that sprung to mind as an example was that I had found an intact icthyosaur skeleton while digging over the ground for spuds in the back garden. I mean. To me, that sounds amazing. Might not have the same impact on everyone else, I realise ;)] There are other people though, who seem to revel in saying or doing things they know most will find unconscionable. Because to those people, attention of any kind is something they crave. Possibly they have nothing positive to contribute, and they are just sickeningly lonely. For them, just having someone notice their existence gives validation? Who knows. Bit weird frankly, and not in a good way.
But yes. Robin did say that his reply to the question of why he only wrote about the things that he liked and wanted to share with people was met with another question - "but isn't that difficult?". And he confirmed that at first, it is. The human brain seems wired to shout loudest about things we don't like. But breaking that pattern gets easier the more we write about the things we like.
So, if you are fortunate enough to see Robin in any of his bookshop or library appearances, festivals, scientific and comedic carnivals of chaos, or even BBC recordings of the Inifinite Monkey Cage - here is someone to look up to. A good man, finding his way through life constantly learning, and sharing the good with anyone who wants to hear it.
I can't promise to live up to only writing about good things. It's something I realised I wanted to do in future, but I do often write things down as a way to alleviate the pressure of things I can't control, and really don't like. But I will at least try and remember to write the good stuff too. Like the daftness of my sheep and the joy of someone actually buying my glass because they wanted a piece of my art :)
Oh yes, and if you don't know about it already, might I recommend The Cosmic Shambles. Something of interest for enquiring minds of all flavours.
https://cosmicshambles.com/
On this occasion, he mentioned his writing work for the Big Issue. It was a question someone had for him once about the content of his column about movies. Because Robin is not a critic. He's a cheerleader. He doesn't fill the column inches with reasons why this or that was shit. He writes about the movies he really loved, and why he thought they were fantastic.
His refusal to spend his time on the moaning and carry-on of complaining about something is surprising in a world where it does seem that complaining about something, or pointing out where it's sub-par is the norm. Both our printed media and content generated online is usually framed in dramatic, intentionally inciteful ways, hoping to get people to engage. And it seems we engage faster when riled. So that is played on.
I've never been of the opinion that any attention is good attention. I've known people who do. But it's not me. If I was about to jump up and down asking people to look at me (a vanishingly rare thing at any time), I would want it to be about something good. [It says a lot that the first thing that sprung to mind as an example was that I had found an intact icthyosaur skeleton while digging over the ground for spuds in the back garden. I mean. To me, that sounds amazing. Might not have the same impact on everyone else, I realise ;)] There are other people though, who seem to revel in saying or doing things they know most will find unconscionable. Because to those people, attention of any kind is something they crave. Possibly they have nothing positive to contribute, and they are just sickeningly lonely. For them, just having someone notice their existence gives validation? Who knows. Bit weird frankly, and not in a good way.
But yes. Robin did say that his reply to the question of why he only wrote about the things that he liked and wanted to share with people was met with another question - "but isn't that difficult?". And he confirmed that at first, it is. The human brain seems wired to shout loudest about things we don't like. But breaking that pattern gets easier the more we write about the things we like.
So, if you are fortunate enough to see Robin in any of his bookshop or library appearances, festivals, scientific and comedic carnivals of chaos, or even BBC recordings of the Inifinite Monkey Cage - here is someone to look up to. A good man, finding his way through life constantly learning, and sharing the good with anyone who wants to hear it.
I can't promise to live up to only writing about good things. It's something I realised I wanted to do in future, but I do often write things down as a way to alleviate the pressure of things I can't control, and really don't like. But I will at least try and remember to write the good stuff too. Like the daftness of my sheep and the joy of someone actually buying my glass because they wanted a piece of my art :)
Oh yes, and if you don't know about it already, might I recommend The Cosmic Shambles. Something of interest for enquiring minds of all flavours.
https://cosmicshambles.com/
no subject
on 2025-05-05 11:47 am (UTC)Thank you, today, for this.