Sallyacious

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April 18, 2009

Inducing Vague

Text from Dave: Hempfest today... If you care. Actually looked like some interesting stuff.

Text from Sally: Interesting, how?

Text from Dave: I saw some pretty jewelry being set out.

So, since it's a lovely day, and the park's a nice little walk away, I put on some sunscreen and headed out.

I have never seen so many pipes and bongs in one place in my life. Seriously. There were at least five glassblowing booths that had dozens and dozens of pieces. Each. And the largest crowds at the festival. I can't imagine making a transaction like that in a place as public as a city park six blocks from downtown on a Saturday afternoon.

Hemp Fest isn't really for me. I should point out that I'm not a big fan of pot smoking. I think stoned people look (and behave) even more stupid than drunk people. And it doesn't seem to be as easy to moderate as levels of drunk. Though I've never actually smoked. I mean, that would be a really dumb thing for an asthmatic to do, wouldn't it? But vague has never appealed to me, and that's the overwhelming impression I have of pot smoking based on the smokers I've met and the couple of contact highs I got in college. It induces vagueness. Like mental novacaine. And I just can't see the appeal.

Speaking of vague, Two guys, walking down the street. Right now. Smoking up. Trading their pipe back and forth. I kid you not. I just watched them out my kitchen window. The fuck? Um, inappropriate, anyone?

Anyway, with one noteable exception (which would be the booth Dave saw, I suspect), all of the jewelry for sale in the Hemp Fest booths looked the same. Like the glassblowers had to have something else to sell besides their equipment, so they made these other things.

I've also never been a fan of tie dye (the three main categories of stuff for sale at the fest were glassware, hemp jewelry and tie dye); it generally looks cheap and half-assed. Though I do have a gorgeous tie dyed dress that I bought several years ago. NOT at Hemp Fest, I should add. I bought it from a fine arts catalogue. It's all blues and looks like water. I love it.

But that's not the kind of work I'm talking about. There are very few artists out there who are doing anything interesting with it. Most of the time it's just the same old thing. Like the glass jewelry and the hemp accessories. Nobody's trying anything new, they're just recreating the same old shit over and over and over again. (I would include skunk-induced drumming in this as well. Wherever in the world you go, if stoned people are drumming, it's the exact same beat. Very little variation or experimentation.)

Which to my mind is the best argument against weed, frankly. It's the rare person who can use it frequently and still manage to have enough brain left over for originality. I know that's possible, because I've met a few heavy users who are amazing jazz musicians. But mostly, no. Mostly it seems to sap the creativity right out of people and just makes everything blah instead. It might be comforting to float around in a relaxed haze, but what are you missing while you're there?

I mean, why would you deliberately seek out vague when there's so much interesting stuff to explore in the world?

Posted by sally at April 18, 2009 11:59 AM

Comments

Posted by: Laura at April 20, 2009 10:34 AM

Posted by: Sallyacious at April 20, 2009 11:25 AM

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