Monday, May 14, 2007

From A to C

There is an improv principle that dictates that one should strive to make the leap from "A" to "C". Which is to say -- don't just make the first association, from, say, apples to oranges. Rather, one should make the second order associative leap from apples to, say, promiscuity, via Johnny Appleseed.(Johnny Appleseed, a noted lothario, has led many to make the leap to promiscuity...but that is outside the scope of my treatise.)

Today it seems to me that much of life consists of being at A, and imagining C, and yet being at a loss for how to get there. C makes so much sense. It seems inevitable and true. Yet B seems so impossible, so fraught, so disruptive that we become stuck. How do we get there from here, when so much seems to be determined and established? It takes remarkable creativity and courage, more than most are capable of. Our mothers will be upset. Our friends will shake their heads. Our people will be hurt. And no one likes to hurt people, confound friends, or upset mothers. But sometimes you just gotta fuck Johnny Appleseed.