I have a hard time trying to figure out if the things that I create are any good or not, and I suspect that most of us are that way.

It's hard -almost impossible- to be objective about the things that I create. I know that I like some of the things that I've done, but as far as saying whether they're either good, great, or awesome, -I don't know.

I think I've gotten to the point where I usually just 'put up' with what I've created, and leave the judging up to someone else.

-Then I can disagree with them!

I know that I'm real hard on myself, and that I've created a lot of shit that I hope to never hear/see again, but on the other hand, there are things that I'm proud to have done.

Years ago, I remember recording stuff in the studio, and realizing that after an hour or so, I couldn't tell whether the stuff I had just done was the best thing I had ever come up with, or if it was just a big pile of shit……

I think my personal window of opportunity -as they say- is about an hour. After that, I lose all perspective.

Works the same way with me visually, as well.

Here's an example: I'm fortunate enough to be able to say that I've been to some of the worlds greatest art galleries. I've been to The Prado, The Louvre, The Uffizi, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Canada, the National Gallery of Ireland, among others, but I've found that even though I may find myself amongst some of the greatest paintings of the western world, I've got about an hour or so before I find myself coasting past classics thinking to myself  'yeah…….. that's swell.'

I read somewhere once that the olfactory receptor (that's the part of the olfactory gland in your schnozz which interprets scent molecules and relays them to your brain) can only absorb so much. In other words, take a big whiff of some stong scent, and you won't be able to objectively judge the smell of something else immediately after. That's why when you go into a department store, the girls that are trying to sell you their perfume are standing at the ready outside their booths to spray you, or rub some of their perfume on you. You won't be able to fairly judge the next scent that you get sprayed with, because your olfactories are saturated.

Well, my brain seems to work the same way.  It doesn't take long before I just can't tell…

I don't mean to sound as if I'm being too down on myself here, but as I said, I'm hard on myself. For some things, I can raise the bar pretty high.

I am of the personality type that says 'If you work hard at something, eventually you'll be good at it.' Unfortunately, I always think, 'good, as compared to what?'

I know that at one point in my life I was a fairly good guitarist, but it was pretty weird when occasionally people would come up to me and say 'Joe, you're one of the best guitar players in the city.'

'Holy Fuck' I'd think, and then I'd say 'Yeah? outta' how many?'

It's just the same as people coming up to the bar while I'm working and asking for a 'good' shot

Me: "O.k., here's a shot of whiskey"

Customer: "Yeecchh! That's not a 'good' shot!"

Me: "Well, it is to someone who likes whiskey."

Customer: "No, I don't want that………. I want something……….. you know………. good!"

Me: "Compared to what…………………………………………."

Posted in General |

You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment below, or trackback from your own site.