Well, thanks for reading this high-schooler’s festering regurgitation—commonly called somewhat expressive writing in common-day language.

-Reymon

Nico responds: you’ve misread me. I wasn’t saying send him a card like, being flip. I was just pointing out that some of the news coverage seems a little morbid, and that having daily public updates on one’s health must be rather stressful. In all other points we are in agreement. I’m into conductors being paid a lot, too.

Also, what about all that shit with being gay making you a better classical musician? I’ll assume that was the drink/drugs talking. I get so pissed off (no, not pissed off, I’m just bored by it) when gays think that their sexuality is so important to everyone else – like my dad – his gayness seems to affect everything in his life, the art he makes, everything. WTF? No one who actually cares about art gives a shit what appendage you choose to stick in which particular crevice!* All I ask is for is the transcendental, a radiant, refulgent, ravishing experience that makes me feel ecstatic to be alive.

Is that too much to ask?

*Unless of course they want to bone you.

Also, what about all that shit with being gay making you a better classical musician? I’ll assume that was the drink/drugs talking. I get so pissed off (no, not pissed off, I’m just bored by it) when gays think that their sexuality is so important to everyone else – like my dad – his gayness seems to affect everything in his life, the art he makes, everything. WTF? No one who actually cares about art gives a shit what appendage you choose to stick in which particular crevice!* All I ask is for is the transcendental, a radiant, refulgent, ravishing experience that makes me feel ecstatic to be alive.

Is that too much to ask?

*Unless of course they want to bone you.

The heart of problem lies in our complete ignorance of a common ground. To quote Bart Simpson, “Why are you focusing on the tiny dumb differences when you should be focusing on the big dumb similarities!” We’ve become lazy. Instead of focusing on those traits we have in common we tend to search for stupid social/political cues so that we can quickly diagnose if a person is good, bad, smart, stupid, etc. The idea of “with me” or “against me” social/political behavior which seems to pervade everything nowadays has to go. We need to rid ourselves of snap judgments which are often based on a perceived prejudice. What is truly disturbing is that this polarization speaks volumes about how far we as a people have gotten away from what essentially makes us human: the heart of most people in this world is inherently good. Most people in the world just want happiness and want others to be happy as well. If we’d only get to know each other we’d be surprised to find that no matter our sex, race or sexual, political, religious, etc., preference we’d learn we all actually have a lot in common.

All this being said I’m quite surprised and saddened by the sheer immaturity of you Nico in your “200 word response” to this 17-year-old kid. Ask any person their beliefs in high school, during college, after college, and you’ll get three very different answers. You taking the time to lecture this kid on his views is tantamount to you being criticized for your beliefs. Also, the thought that your ignorance blinded you to the fact that this kid looks up to you as a musician and that this never crossed your mind is amazing. It’s obvious he looks up to you as a person and as a musician otherwise he would have never sought your council in the the first place. Also “citing [your] obvious homosexuality…” as a reason for him to search for a new role model “…who graduated from [your] high school who were equipped to analyze his harmonies, show him how slurs work, and correct his declensions” is ridiculous because your merit alone is why he sought your input. It’s not hard to see why because you are an extremely talented and gifted composer Nico; I share a tremendous amount of respect for you. That being said I still believe you could have handled the situation with a little more tact. Oh and as for the snide comments such as “[killing] people from a helicopter without the risk of being kicked out for Cocksucking…” Let’s leave those lines of reasoning to the 17-year -olds.

Nico responds: Thank you for writing. But a few pointz of order. First of all, not two-hundred words. Two THOUSAND words of really good stuff about choral music, I think, and then a little Post Script, in little font, saying that I was uneasy with his FB, because, simply put, I was? And I feel like it’s okay to be able to say that, even to a 17 year-old, because I got his message and was like, oh, cool, what is this kid about? And then to find that it’s conservative politics — what would you have me do? And I think the military example is more than fair. My understanding of citizenship is that you can vote and you can serve your country; I don’t think it’s fair for this boy to have such a delighted engagement with politics that turn me into somebody who can’t or shouldn’t serve because of a ‘choice’ I made about my ‘lifestyle.’ And the point that I was trying to make was that while being gay wasn’t a choice, the choices I did make, namely, to know about stuff, and music, and Latin, and other Things, can’t be divorced from who I am. So, that’s why I (a) wrote what I did to him and (b) blogged about it, because I was neasy with the balance of being looked up w/ being who I am. So there you go. Again, thanks for writing. This has been a very, very interesting post.

It is not a new thing for me to sit at my desk, lovingly transcribing a rock record so I can play along with it.

It is a very new thing indeed for the instrument on my lap at the time to be a piccolo.

I have never done this before; I have never had to do this before; I have never been ABLE to do this before.

It is GLORIOUS.

Having read that interview, my heart needed to be poured out, just a li’l bit, knowing it was your brain that dreamed up the countermelodies I’ve been whistling. Sir, I LIKE your brain. Please keep doing delightfully, subtly, unexpectedly wacky things forever. Also (on much the same topic!) your blog is a ray of sunshine, so thank you for all of the above.

Incorrect. I didn’t chew anybody out. And the only reason I even blogged about it is because it’s not something that comes up that often (right wing composers, especially young ones). Sorry if I misrepresented it, and even more sorry you are so angry! It’s all gonna be fine.

And what gives you the right to go digging into someone’s information, uninvited, then criticize him for it? It’s not as if he approached you AS a right-winger. High school children are CHILDREN, remember. Did you never even consider that?

No doubt you gave him a few good lessons, here. One of them is on being a self-important ass.

i have no affections or empathy for the hard right. reasonable persons would likely object to the extremes in either direction, without necessarily being “moderates.” i guess what i was trying to express was my insecurity with political matters getting so in the way of what could be perfectly amicable interpersonal relations. most of the time it’s unavoidable, as nick said: “Even with friends, there will always be that understanding that they consider your lifestyle immoral and wrong.” of course, that would make it a rather difficult friendship to maintain. your friend’s views are an affront to you, your identity, your way of being in the world, and meanwhile, your “friend” considers your lifestyle to be an affront to everything he/she holds dear and thinks moral. In that regard, it goes both ways, and as such the battle rages on. wars of all shapes and sizes feed off of a kind of objectification and dehumanization of those on the other side, be they commies, cong, repubs, tree-huggers, social-dems, what have you. i think that distance fuels the misconception and fear that in turn feed the fires of perpetual conflict. perhaps it’s in those rare moments when people cross through the flames and finally meet in a place with little pretense, that understandings are finally forged. it just sucks when that possibility is precluded, yet again, by more of the same.

but maybe i’m just a naive pseudo-hippie writing a near-tearjerker final paper for his gen. ed. creative writing class, or at least that’s what it’s starting to sound like. in any case, if that’s what i was trying to say, there were a million better ways to go about it (saying nothing at all being the best of those). i don’t really know what had gotten into me when i wrote that, but it looks exactly like the sort of stuff that i’m questioning here.

and so, i sincerely apologize to nico for smearing your blog with stuff that might have made sense had it not been so mean-spirited. also, props to brndn and nick for piping up and pointing it out.

We make judgments. We’re allowed to. Reasonable persons agree on the topics of Sean Hannity and the hard right. Nico is perfectly justified in feeling uncomfortable about the situation described, and is more than entitled to say something about it.