My neighbor plays the bagpipes
There’s something completely surreal about the drone of bagpipes suddenly assulting the suburban quiet. The first time my neighbor played the pipes in his backyard, it completely took me by surprise. Now, instead of it being bemusing, it’s an unpredictable bonus of the neighborhood - piping seems to break out at odd intervals every week or two. I’ve gone from baffled to enjoying the performance - having accompaniment makes for a new perspective on life in the ‘burbs.
The takeaway - having the status quo interrupted is something I need to seek out more. For those of us without a friendly neighborhood piper, how else can we live to encourage interuptions to the everyday?
- I’ve started watching more foreign media - anime, Bollywood videos, and more.
- I read blogs on trends, business, economics. technology - but maybe I need to hang out on MySpace more…or maybe Second Life?
- I read a lot of science fiction - Cory Doctorow, Bruce Sterling, William Gibson…
- I read smart thinkers, from Gould to Dyson to Jacobs
- I people watch.
- Peter Schwartz’s advice from The Art of the Long View on cultivating a broad perspective is interesting - basically to consume things omnivorously.
Other thoughts for changing up the everyday? (By the way, I met the piper the other day. And sadly, he’s moving in a couple months).
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