Britney Spears

Quote of the day:
“Don’t look forward to the day you stop suffering, because when it comes, you’ll know you’re dead.”
--Tennessee Williams

Now is the time to pay attention to Britney Spears.

She’s been emblematic of our tabloid culture for years, and has been admired by teens, dogged by paparazzi and ridiculed by the respectable press (and by me).

Whatever we think about her talents or how she has lived her life, we now are called to understand. She is sick. I don’t know what her psychiatric diagnosis is, but there now is a clear explanation for her erratic and bizarre behavior over the last year.

It’s heartening that she finally seems to be getting the care and treatment she needs. A judge has put her care in the hands of her father, and has ordered the locks changed on her home.

Evidently Spears had been under the supervision of her manager, who seems to have not had her best interests in mind, and may have exploited her.

She needs help and care, and we all need to keep our voyeuristic noses out of her life. Just like every other person suffering from mental illness, she deserves our compassion and support.

Also, maybe the public revelation of Spears’ problem will make some teens and adults more aware of the reality of mental illness. I hope so.

There are still far too many people who consider depression, psychosis and other conditions as character flaws to be dealt with by personal fortitude.

Important People of 2008

Quote of the day:
"I opened the door for a lot of people, and they just ran through and left me holding the knob."
--Bo Diddley

The last days of the year bring lists of big events of the past year, and those who have died in the past year.

I’m gratified to see the variety in this latter list. Sure, there are some past mega-celebrities on it. But there are also people who were less known.

It’s apparent that there is no necessary relationship between how well known someone is and the extent of their lasting influence. Example: more Americans know Paris Hilton (even though she has been tragically missing from the news for ALMOST FOUR MONTHS!) than know Mother Theresa. ‘Nuff said.

By the way, quick, who came in second on last year’s “American Idol”? Time’s up.

Applicable truism of the day: “Fame is fleeting.”

Here’s an exercise. In one minute, name as many people as you can who lived (and died) in the 19th century. Even though he was born in 1890, Groucho Marx doesn’t count.

Interesting list, isn’t it? Our grandparents or great-grandparents could name dozens of famous people who are unknown to us now.

I don’t know about you, but my 19th-century list is a few former presidents, writers, composers and scientists. I was confused on some dates and had to look them up after my minute was up, thus shortening my list.

Mark Twain may be the best-known 19th-century non-politician (he died in 1910--we’re being a bit flexible). How many other non-politicians can you name?

Now let’s talk 18th century....

The whole point is that all these celebrities who we think are so influential and important are neither in the long run. One reason we think these people are so important is simply because they are known. Their real influence is completely separate from their fame.

And it’s the influence that lasts. When we look at our 19th-century lists we can begin to see what makes lasting influence.

On a personal level, we can think about our own lives and who we remember from the past. Why do we remember them?

Anna Nicole Smith, or Peace in Palestine?

Quote of the day:
“It’s not meant to be funny. It just is.”
--Last line of theme song to the Anna Nicole Smith TV show.

Quote of the day no. 2:
“[T]here was something appealing about Anna Nicole, too. She was a survivor—you don’t make it from Jim’s Krispy Fried Chicken to Hollywood semi-stardom without working every angle you can find. She may have married poor J. Howard Marshall for his money. After all, she did kiss him on the cheek after they exchanged wedding vows, then left immediately for a modeling job in Greece.

“But she knew what she wanted, and she got it—and he seemed perfectly happy during the 13-month marriage, which ended in his death at age 90. You could sense how desperately she craved fame, how much she wanted to leave behind poor, uneducated Vickie Lynn Hogan (her given name) and morph into something fabulous. And she did. Who cares if her version of fabulous was trashy.”
--”Why We Liked Anna Nicole Smith,” from February 8th Newsweek online.

Quote of the day no. 3:
“Rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas have signed a deal to form a national unity government.”
--BBC Online’s lead story, February 8th.

Initially I was sanctimoniously aghast at the death of Anna Nicole Smith dominating news coverage, pushing “real” news down the food chain. Surely, anything about an agreement between rival Middle East factions is more important.

Yet the Anna Nicole Smith story is in the lead. It is the story that most interests and fascinates us.

I am now much calmer. The above item from Newsweek is onto something. Her story was at least a bit more than an empty celebrity tragedy. Smith came from a poor background and made no bones about exploiting her looks or anything else to achieve success.

She wasn’t nuanced or subtle about it. What she was doing was abundantly clear at every turn, whether it was constructive or destructive to her, and however we may have felt about her actions.

This makes her pursuit of the American Dream a much, much more interesting story than that of the typical celebrity. And certainly in a different league than the incessant chattering about the silver-spooned, attention-seeking, talent-challenged Paris Hilton and her ilk.

What an annoying ilk.

Surrendering Changes Your Life

Quote of the day:
“Every one has time if he likes. Business runs after nobody: People cling to it of their own free will and think that to be busy is a proof of happiness.”
--Seneca

A celebrity-doing-good quote of the day:
“Learning about abstinence was one thing, but then there was this other area of my life to start learning about, and so 30 days became 60, and 60 days became 90, and with each week that passed I found myself really learning how to surrender.”
--Keith Urban, country singer and husband of Nicole Kidman.

Urban was talking about his stay at the Betty Ford Center for treatment of alcohol dependency. Addiction is such a hard thing to shake, it is inspiring to hear someone who not only stuck with a treatment program, but came to understand addiction’s power.

I’ve never known anyone to “shake” an addiction. The pattern is usually long periods of deterioration followed by seeming recovery followed by another period of deterioration. The recovery only “sticks” if the addict can sustain regular treatment or support for the rest of his life.

That’s the special appeal of Urban going public. He is saying that he knows he has a problem, and that he knows it’s huge, and that he knows he needs continuing support. That’s what the “surrender” is about. And Urban’s life will continue to be about surrender.

Here’s how to know your dealing with an addict or alcoholic with a problem. He or she will always say either that he doesn’t have a problem, or that he has figured out or solved the problem.

The Pain of Dashed Hopes

Quote of the day:
“If someone named Junior names his child Junior, does the child become Junior Jr.?”
--Unknown

Artist quote of the day:
“I’d asked 10 or 15 people for suggestions. Finally one lady friend asked the right question: 'What do you love most?' That’s how I started painting money.”
--Andy Warhol

Have you had your 15 minutes of fame yet? We are again in "American Idol" land, where thousands of fame-seekers converge in hopes of grabbing a ray of spotlight.

I spent the first three seasons looking down my nose at this show. But then a very talented singer at my church entered the competition, and “went to Hollywood.” In the process of cheering him on, I got hooked on the show. It’s fun and often very entertaining. Yet there are some very emotional and disturbing moments, especially at the beginning of the season.

Think about the name “American Idol.” The show doesn’t really operate in “idol” territory, except for maybe a fleeting instant at or after the end of the season. An idol is defined as “an image or representation of a god used as an object of worship” or “a person or thing that is greatly admired, loved or revered.” The sense of this definition is something beyond singing ability or fame, yet these two things are what the show is about. If you watch the show, you know that precious few contestants have the former, but all want the latter.

This is where the pain comes in. Many, many more people want to be famous than can sing, and a few are wildly mistaken about their ability. There are many, many, many dashed hopes, and we see displays of hurt, pain and anger. Most of the time it’s quite understandable, but sometimes these displays are so intense as to be disturbing.

It makes me wonder how these individuals got to be both so wrongly convinced of their talent, and so in need of fame.

Fleeting Fame for a Hero

Quote of the day:
“He moves like he’s being yelled at by invisible people whom he hates but whom he basically agrees with.”
--Mary Gaitskill

Follow-up to "Pleasure or Accuracy?" and "Confessions of an Audiophile":
“Many premium ‘audio quality’ tubes that we have investigated tend to not be of premium quality at all, but are simply standard tubes re-branded and marked up to premium prices only to be sold to neurotic audiophiles to whom outrageously high prices are a sugar pill indicating wonderful sound.”
--Frank Van Alstine

Quote of the day no. 2:
“They go one of two ways: They either recognize that their act was a moment in time they can enjoy temporarily, and the rest of life is a consequence of everyday routine--or they get stuck in their deed or action, feel entitled and lose perspective.”
--Alan Hilfer, chief psychologist at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn.

Mr. Hilfer is talking about the phenomenon of overnight heroes. The latest example is Wesley Autrey, who last week jumped onto New York subway tracks to help a teenager who had fallen there. They wound up laying in the trench between the rails as a train went above them.

This kind of behavior deserves both thanks and recognition. It’s inspiring and encouraging to hear about incidents of reflexive heroism--someone putting his/her own life at risk to help someone else.

In our culture of celebrity worship, it can be quite intoxicating to be suddenly in the spotlight and recognized on the street. That intoxicating effect is why the perspective Mr. Hilfer mentions is so important, because the fame and notoriety will fade--likely just after the trip to Disney World, when the new hero will have to resume his/her “ordinary” life.

The Great American Attention Grab

Quote of the day:
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."
--Herm Albright

There are many strange behaviors and sicknesses shown and written about in the news. The most pervasive, pernicious and persistent one is the attention grab.

As humans, we all need a little attention--a little love, if you want to put it that way. And when we’re kids we learn about getting attention. We learn that it comes to us without our effort, or that we have to constantly ask or work for it. We learn that it’s easy to get, hard to get, or impossible to get.

We get too much attention or too little, or just about the right amount. We get accustomed to constant attention, or we adjust to neglect, or something in between.

We all like attention, in varying amounts. Some of us like it a little too much. Some of us cannot stand it if someone else in our family, social circle, or workplace is getting more attention than we are. To deal with this, we demand attention--by being rude or by putting down the other person or by plotting and scheming.

Celebrities often have an insatiable need for attention, no matter what field they work in. Recent example: Pat Robertson predicting a terrorist attack in 2007. (Give us a break, Pat.) Perpetual example: Paris Hilton.

Being well-known doesn’t create the need for attention but rather feeds it. If there is already some sickness present (including a childhood with way too little or way too much attention), an addiction is born, which may be inflicted on all of us for years to come.

Trumping Trump

Quote of the day:
“Rosie’s a loser. She’s been a loser always.”
--Donald Trump, talking about Rosie O’Donnell.

“Loser” is the ultimate put-down from those with out-of-control egos, most likely because they are a tad insecure themselves. Ted Turner called all Christians “losers” back in the 1990s while, at the same time, his beloved Atlanta Braves had about the worst record in baseball. To him, a loser is anyone who doesn’t have a 500,000 acre ranch in Montana.

Those with out-of-control egos also cannot bear the thought that they are not the biggest winner in the game. Donald Trump basks in his image as supremely wealthy and successful real-estate investor. Please don’t ever point out to him that real-estate investor Sam Zell (whose name you likely don’t know) can buy and sell him at least ten times. Or that Mr. Zell’s investing record is so much better than Mr. Trump’s that it borders on the absurd even to mention it.

Yet Sam Zell would not call Donald Trump a loser. He’s too busy making money for his investors. (Side note: Sam Zell runs a real-estate investment trust that is open to the public. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.)

A 2006 Ignotable

Quote of the year:
“From the way a lot of people behave, what they must want on their gravestones is ‘I kept expenses low.’”
--Preston Creston, from Bright Lights and Big Waves, December 17.

Most inane act of protest of the year:
The man who set himself, a flag, and a Christmas tree on fire to protest the San Joaquin Valley school district’s decision to rename winter and spring breaks as Christmas and Easter vacation. A sheriff’s deputy put the fire out, and the man had first-degree burns.

I would compare this act of protest to singing a few verses of "We Shall Overcome" to protest the loss of your reserved parking place.

I do not agree with the school board’s decision. Freedom of religion is basic to who we are, and that includes freedom of no religion. But to protest by setting yourself on fire is so completely out of proportion as to be ludicrous. Just as it would be if the situation were reversed, and the man were protesting the renaming of Christmas and Easter vacations as winter and spring breaks.

At best, this is simply a stunt, because the man only lit the match when he saw a nearby deputy (with a fire extinguisher) look over at him. At worst, it makes a statement that this issue is a life-or-death question, which it simply is not.

For those who were alive during the Vietnam War, the indelible image of self-immolation is the Buddhist priest sitting in the middle of the road, pouring gasoline on himself and literally burning to death before our eyes.

That was a quietly tragic and powerful protest of a war that was claiming thousands of American lives and tens of thousands of Vietnamese lives every month. It was not a statement of abstract constitutional principle. And there was no one with a fire extinguisher nearby.

Just Say Non

The French word “non” is much, much, much better than the English word “no,” if your goal is to express an emphatic negative. We Americans use a long “o” sound, which results in an indefinite, sometimes wimpy, sometimes drawn-out end to the word: “noooo....”

But just saying the word “non” is cathartic. The short “o” sound and the clipped ending give it an expressiveness not unlike a car horn.

Speaking of “non,” here’s a great quote from pop culture critic Chuck Klosterman:
“[Britney Spears] is not so much a person as she is an idea, and the idea is this: You can want everything, so long as you get nothing.”