#cebracosas

These types of games need to be played in public without being seen. The ability to achieve that is the challenge and the danger of being discovered, the risk and the hot incentive. With this photo she has her trophy, but it is also a conquest by doing something to remember a space that, although necessary as a connector, does not cease to be anodyne and clonic. Now they are legs in mischief, but before the most daring and groundbreaking culture was on the margins as underground, invisible to people outside the niche, alien to promo systems as it was counterculture. Now they are legs and it is already a lot, because in this century we fight to say and even to exist in virtual spaces that if they are not monetized or sell something they are practically invisible, the musical band that four always see every time they play. Tumblr, apart from the fashion of social networks, is a bit liminal in the network of networks, its drift to being a place where delicate photos abound and those who search for them prove my hypothesis. And among so much skin of my own and that of others, my blogs are not created for that use but they consider it something relevant to study, which makes them liminal (they are and are not at the same time, connectors misunderstood by censors and collectors of skin experiences who take me for what I am not and is not my blog), in the liminal island that is the entire platform, and perhaps we in our anodyne lives that no one knows about nor appear in the media, are in turn liminals or non-places in a way. Conquer space. Do things to make them memorable and feel alive, don't abandon yourself to making your free time, your virtual spaces and your own life something bland that you don't even remember. dangers here? Make yourself untraceable and beware of possible annoying fans and censors, but believe and live, for me these two are the same thing. Be, in your chosen and personal way, like the girl in the photo.

I'll try to give you some general advice that can be applied across a wide range of situations. First and foremost, CONSENSUS. Trust isn't easily built, nor is it simply given by asking or requesting interaction. Sometimes (I think more often than by asking) it arises after a gradual escalation of flirting and mutual attraction. So, don't just appear out of nowhere on someone's social media asking for or suggesting sex when you introduce yourself (it feels aggressive and almost guarantees a NO), and remember that things can always be misinterpreted, or the other person might not realize what's happening. If at any point someone tells you to stop, respect their decision without complaining.

Intentaré darte consejos generales que se puedan aplicar en un amplio espectro. Antes de nada, CONSENSO. La confianza no se desarrolla fácil, ni se da solo por preguntar o pedir esa interacción. Otras veces (creo que más habitualmente que pidiéndolo) surge tras una escalada de coqueteo y calor mutuo. Así que no aparezcas de la nada en las redes sociales de nadie pidiendo o sugiriendo tener sexo al presentarte (se siente violento y casi garantiza un NO), y recuerda que siempre puedes malinterpretar las cosas o la otra persona no darse cuenta de lo que está pasando. Si en algún momento se te dice que pares, respeta su decisión sin quejarte.

Let's continue. As with any interaction, it's a give and take, so try to respond quickly. If you find it difficult because you're using your phone or typing with one hand, keep your responses brief. That's better than making them wait two minutes or more for a long and/or more witty reply. A good pace keeps people engaged.

Sigamos. Como en cualquier interacción, es un toma y daca, así que intenta responder rápidamente. Si te resulta difícil por usar el móvil o escribir con una sola mano, haz intervenciones breves. Eso es mejor que hacer esperar dos minutos o más para una respuesta larga y/o más ocurrente. El ritmo permite que la gente no se enfríe.

Whether you use your own images or images from the internet, that doesn't matter. Think of them like illustrations in a book: they should show something related to the text. Your words need to be present between each image. If it's more about looking at pictures than feeling like you're interacting with another person, it will become impersonal and competitive—just searching for pictures and that's it. There are plenty of images online, but this is about connecting with (and building a connection with) a human being; you need to make them feel a connection, or at least that you're there.

Si usas imágenes tuyas o de la red, no eso no importa, considéralas como ilustraciones en un libro: deben mostrar algo relacionado con el texto. Tiene que haber tus palabras entre una y otra Si se trata más de mirar imágenes que de sentir que interactúas con otra persona, se volverá impersonal en competitivo buscarse imágenes y ya. En Internet hay muchas, pero esto va de tratar (y calentar) a un ser humano; debes hacerte sentir conexión o al menos que estás ahí.

If your approach involves narrating a mutual encounter (future or pure fiction, a fantasy to enjoy together during the conversation), keep in mind that you're not the only one describing it, and you have to consider the material you receive: if it's about kissing behind the dunes of a beach, don't mention sheets. Consider what's possible and the sequence; if someone is tied up at the wrists, don't ask them to caress you. You have to maintain the continuity of the scene to contribute something coherent and not pull the other person out of the shared imagined fantasy.

Si tu forma de jugar implica narrar un encuentro mutuo (futuro o pura ficción como fantasía para disfrutar juntos de la conversación), ten en cuenta que no solo describes tú y que debes tener en cuenta el material que recibes: si habla de besarse tras las dunas de una playa, no menciones sábanas. Ten en cuenta lo posible y la secuencia; si alguien está atado por las muñecas, no le pidas que te acaricie. Hay que tener en cuenta la continuidad de la escena para aportar algo coherente y no sacar a la otra parte de la fantasía común imaginada.

Personally, I think that to avoid this, it's best to frame the situation: "I imagine you're meeting me at a roadside motel," and accompany it with unnecessary and completely impractical details, like mentioning something on the nightstand and the motel's Bible in a drawer. This helps the other person think of clichés they've learned from fiction. Sometimes, these details can inspire ideas. For example, if you mention champagne in an ice bucket, the idea of ​​an ice cube to caress the skin might come to mind. Details like a television that neither of you pays attention to don't, in my opinion, provide usable elements in the sense described earlier, but making them imagine the sound in the room creates atmosphere, and that always helps. God (and the devil) are in the details.

Personalmente, creo que para evitar esto, conviene plantear la situación: «Me imagino que te encuentras conmigo en un motel de carretera», y acompañarla con detalles innecesarios y totalmente imprácticos, como mencionar algo en la mesita de noche y la Biblia del motel en un cajón. Esto ayuda a la otra persona a pensar en clichés que ha aprendido de la ficción. A veces, estos detalles pueden inspirar ideas. Por ejemplo, si mencionas champán en una cubitera con hielo, puede salir la idea de un cubito de hielo para acariciar la piel. Detalles como un televisor al que ninguno de los dos presta atención no creo que den elementos usables en el sentido de antes, pero que les hagas imaginar el sonido en la habitación es crear atmósfera y eso siempre suma. Dios (y el diablo caliente) están en los detalles.

There's something I think isn't considered as much as it should be, and that's that the massive expansion of audiovisual media has atrophied our imagination and resources for creating written content (remember that I used to write erotic stories; I notice this point a lot). Don't limit yourself to what's perceptible, like sight and sound; try describing smells, temperature, and texture. Try to include a little of this in your sharing or narration. I think it will enhance the overall experience (you know what I mean).

Hay algo que creo que no se sopesa tanto como debería, y es que la expansión masiva del audiovisual ha atrofiado nuestra imaginación y recursos para crear contenido de forma escrita (recuerden que yo solía escribir relatos eróticos, noto mucho esto que señalo). No te limites a lo apreciable como imagen y sonido; intenta describir olores, temperatura y tacto. Intenta introducir un poco de esto al menos en tu compartir o narrar. Creo que mejorará el nivel de satisfacción de la experiencia (ya sabes a qué me refiero).

Always be polite. Be mindful of whether certain practices or types of rough or humiliating treatment might be acceptable to the other person. Proceed with caution; you can break the mental connection with the imagined situation and even the desire to continue if you make a leap without ensuring, as I mentioned before, that you break the coherent flow. If you use harsh words, confirm that you can handle them and build up the intensity gradually. Also, be polite and don't abruptly end the conversation when you're finished. It's like getting out of bed and walking out the door in real life: you make the other person (who may not have finished and wants to) feel selfishly used for your own relief. All communication and personal exchange, whether in person or virtual (perhaps more so in the latter case), requires you to make them feel that you care about their well-being. Furthermore, they benefit from repeated interactions, learning about each other's priorities, so try to please them in every way.

Sé siempre educado. Ten cuidado de saber si ciertas prácticas o tipo de trato duro o humillante pueda valer a la otra persona. Ve con cuidado, puedes romper la conexión mental con la situación imaginada e incluso las ganas de continuar si das un salto sin asegurarte como dije antes de romper la continuad coherente. Si usas palabras duras, confirma que puedes y haz que suban en escalada. Se también educado para no abandonar la conversación bruscamente cuando termines fisiológicamente. Es como si en la vida real te levantaras de la cama y salieras por la puerta: haces sentir a la otra persona (que quizá no haya terminado y quiera terminar) como si la hubieran usado egoístamente para tu alivio. Toda comunicación e intercambio personal, ya sea en persona o virtual (quizás más en este último caso), requiere que le hagas sentir que te preocupas un poco por su bienestar. Y además, gana con las repeticiones conociendo prioridades del otro, así que procura contentar en todos los aspectos.

This is all very basic, but I hope it's a general overview and that I haven't left anything out. With time and experience, you'll learn to read the other person better without them saying a word, and you'll develop your own style and techniques for creating mental images and escalating passion. Repeating interactions with the same people teaches you to connect better, although you can always discuss the game afterward or another day, and offer mutual suggestions of all kinds that will help you both be more satisfying. Remember that no one is born knowing or good at something; it depends on the other person and the connection. What one person would forbid you from doing might be what another person wants. Try to figure out what that is and keep it in mind.

Twin Peaks also shows how a community prefers to maintain the facade of perfection rather than face horror. Laura was the ideal girl for them, but she was mired in a life-threatening pain that made her prefer death. The entire town's attitude toward her can be interpreted as the usual silence of those close to her, turning a blind eye to the numerous indications (or even covering up) of abuse within the family. It's more comfortable to venerate the dead victim than to listen to her in life. Laura is uncomfortable for them because, within the classic patriarchal vision that divides women into saints and whores, they have to accept that it is revealed that she was both at the same time thanks to her secret life. She was a victim, but also a fighter, a mythical figure of rectitude and a real woman with her own vices and sexuality. A rich and multifaceted character with contradictions, as one can often be, one that is built in layers over the course of an ongoing serial fiction series.

Twin Peaks muestra también cómo una comunidad prefiere mantener la fachada de perfección antes que enfrentar el horror. Laura era la chica ideal para ellos, pero estaba sumida en un dolor vital que le hizo preferir la muerte. La actitud del pueblo entero ante ella puede interpretarse como el silencio habitual de tus cercanos mirando a otro lado ante los numerosos indicios (o directamente encubridores) de los abusos producidos en el seno de la familia. Es más cómodo venerar a la víctima muerta que escucharla en vida. Laura es incómoda para ellos porque dentro de la clásica visión patriarcal que divide a las mujeres entre santas y putas, han de asumir que se descubre que fue ambas cosas a la vez gracias a su vida secreta. Fue víctima, pero también luchadora, figura mítica de rectitud y mujer real con sus propios vicios y sexualidad. Rico y polifacético personaje con contradicciones como suele puede llegar a ser uno que se construye por capas sobre la marcha de una ficción seriada en curso.

For all these reasons, foreign to the broadcast television of its time, several generations of women have valued Laura Palmer, but this one shines, coming to fruition not in the series, but in two parallel productions. Isn't that contradictory again? It's part of Laura's magic, as she is also one of David Lynch's best characters… thanks to the book written by her daughter. But can Laura Palmer be a role model for any of us? Giving you an answer fills me with contradictions. She dies a prisoner of her life, and it is always arranged for her by others: her father, her mother, her boyfriends, the school where she's popular, practically the entire town, and even a demon who plays with matches. Laura seems to only have the agency to weave veils of secrecy and to get into more trouble by breaking rules and conventions as a form of rebellion against the abuse and the straitjacket she endures. Our role model can never be a woman who doesn't decide her destiny, but rather flees from it. But her tragic rebellion and her empowerment to try to get what she wants through seduction, sex, and struggle make her memorable and someone you can relate to. I won't give an answer to that question; you'll have to settle for contradiction and mystery. Two key words whenever we talk about Laura Palmer:

A genius or a brilliant person is someone who excels in a particular field. The attribute implies a special ability, above average or even beyond the norm, for reasons almost unknown, like a gift of nature. But like other words and concepts, it hasn't always been this way…

Se dice genio o personal genial a quien destaca especialmente en un campo. El atributo supone una capacidad especial, por encima de la media o de toda escala, por razones ignotas casi o cual don de la naturaleza. Pero como otras palabras y conceptos, para nada ha sido siempre así…

To begin with, it didn't originate as an inherent attribute of the person. Our word comes from the Hellenic tradition of the Daemon, which has nothing to do with the demon as we know it, but that word comes to us from the term's passage through biblical Latin before reaching us. Daemons weren't inherently good or bad; they were assigned to us and their influence was for better or for worse. Their godlike nature granted them invisibility (and made them tireless in following us, I suppose). Let's say that a person of good character and with good ideas was the one who had a good daemon inspiring them; this was called 'eudaimonia'. We have remnants of these traditions in the writings of Plato, who shows Socrates referring to his own as the 'culprit' behind his witty questions and good humor.

Para empezar, no nace como un atributo de la persona en sí. Nuestro palabro viene de la tradición del Daemon heleno, que nada tiene que ver con demonio como lo conocemos, pero esa palabra nos viene de pasar el término por el latín bíblico antes de llegar a nosotros. Los daemones no eran buenos ni malos en si, Iban con nosotros asignados y eran ocurrentes para bien o para mal. Su naturaleza parecida a la de los dioses les proporcionaba ser invisibles (y no cansarse al seguirnos, supongo) digamos que aquel ciudadano de buen carácter y con buenas ideas era el que tenía buen daemon inspirándole, esto se llamaba 'eudaemonia'. Nos quedan restos de estas tradiciones por los escritos de Platón que nos muestra a Sócrates hablando del suyo como 'culpable' de sus ingeniosas preguntas y buen humor.

However, a few centuries later the word was used for malevolent entities in Christianity, and although the names of talented Hellenic artists have survived, we then have centuries of Christian art for which we don't even know the names of the artists behind the works. This is because modesty was considered admirable, and in this type of art, what mattered was only the work itself and the inspirer, God, who led to these talented efforts in His honor and to aid the faith of the faithful. Signing one's name to gain recognition for one's work was considered a sin of vanity. That's why we know little or nothing about artists like Beatus of Liébana (that is, a very devout man from a place called Liébana).

En cambio, unos pocos siglos más adelante la palabra se usa para entidades malvadas del cristianismo, y aunque han llegado hasta nosotros nombres de talentosos artistas helenos, tenemos después siglos de arte cristiano en los que no conocemos ni el nombre de los artistas tras dichas obras. Esto sucede por ser la modestia algo apreciable y considerarse que en este tipo de arte lo importante es solo la obra en sí y el inspirador, Dios, que lleva a hacer esos talentosos esfuerzos en su honor y para ayudar a la fe de los fieles. Firmar para que te reconozcan el buen trabajo se tomaba como pecado de vanidad. Por eso poco o nada de artistas como Beato de Liébana (es decir, señor muy creyente de lugar llamado Liébana).

This would take time to change, but once it began, it hasn't stopped to this day and has shaped our modern idea of ​​genius. With the emergence of the polymaths of the Italian Renaissance, the concept of the freelance artist working on commission for a patron who pays them took hold. Previously, these artists were organized into guilds, like the master stonemasons, or they had a humble but secure life within religious orders, like the master illuminators of medieval manuscripts. The polymath was now a free agent who could live very well from their work if they found good patrons, but their livelihood also depended on it. They could work for the Pope himself, like Michelangelo, but they also needed the protection of their patrons because many had problems due to their quarrelsome lifestyle or because they were homosexual. Commissions were neither constant nor guaranteed; the famous Leonardo da Vinci had to emigrate to France in search of good work.

Esto tardaría en cambiar, pero en cuanto empezó no se detuvo hasta nuestros días y conformó nuestra idea de genio moderna. Cuando aparecen los polímatas del Renacimiento italiano se asienta el concepto de artista libre que trabaja de encargo para un mecenas que lo paga. Antaño estos estaban sindicados en gremios como lo eran los maestros canteros, o tenían una vida humilde pero asegurada dentro de órdenes religiosas como los maestros iluminadores de manuscritos medievales. El polímata es ya un agente libre que puede vivir muy bien de sus obras si consigue buenos pagadores, pero también depende su sustento de ello. Pueden trabajar para el papa en persona como Miguel Ángel, pero también necesitar de protección de sus mecenas porque muchos tenían problemas por su tipo de vida pendenciera o por ser homosexuales. Los encargos no eran constantes ni tenían nada asegurado, el célebre Leonardo da Vinci ha de emigrar a Francia en busca de un buen trabajo.

Our modern concept of the artist was being born. Someone known for their excellent work, whose standard of living, and even survival, depends on the fame they are keen to cultivate. But the personal and direct relationship with their patron is no less important. Those who spend a considerable sum decorating their living room want to show off their acquisition and are equally keen to convince us that the chosen artist is the best of the best, because that reflects well on their living room and on the owner who paid for the oil painting, fresco, sculpture, or whatever it may be. Artists are appreciated, and their patrons nurture what we would now call their 'personal brand,' but they are careful to distinguish themselves from one another: they undoubtedly possess admirable talents, but it is the patrons who enable them to practice their art by having the money and power to do so; because the artist only has their gift, not their palace and everything else, provided their patrons are powerful. The trend of elevating artists is beginning to emerge, but we must be careful not to level the playing field. Each artist has their place.

Está naciendo nuestro concepto de artista moderno. Alguien conocido por sus buenos trabajos y cuyo nivel de vida, e incluso supervivencia, depende de esa fama que le interesa alimentar. Pero que la relación con quien paga sea personal y directa no es menos importante. Aquel que se deja un buen dinero para decorar su salón quiere presumir de su adquisición, y no quiere menos convencernos que el artista elegido es lo mejor de lo mejor porque eso habla bien de su salón y de su propietario que ha costado el óleo, fresco, escultura o lo que sea. Los artistas son apreciados y sus mecenas alimentan lo que ahora llamaríamos su 'marca personal', pero bien tienen cuidado de marcar la diferencia entre ellos: sin duda tienen talentos admirables, pero ellos son los que hacen que lo ejerzan teniendo el dinero y el poder para ello; porque el artista solo tiene su don, pero no su palacio y el resto de cosas siendo grandes sus mecenas. Empieza a aparecer el encumbrar a artistas pero cuidadito con igualar las cosas. Cada uno en su sitio.

Our popular notion of bestowing the title of genius upon someone is much more recent. To analyze this, I will turn to three figures: Einstein, Mozart, and Lovecraft. The first is particularly interesting because, working on his articles in his spare time, they proved remarkably prolific. Ignoring his learning difficulties or the fact that his wife had to do the mathematical proofs for these articles, Einstein rose to mainstream fame, and his personal charisma, fueled by the media's affection, elevated him no less than his science. Everyone wanted to have as a guest that peculiar man, famous for having a theory so complex that his interviewees couldn't even begin to explain it, let alone understand it, even if that brilliant European tried. It took time to confirm his theories through experiments, and he wasn't responsible for creating something as significant to recent history and geopolitics as the atomic bomb, but Oppenheimer was barely known to the general public until a biopic was made about him, while Einstein was like a rock star, but in the world of science.

Nuestra idea pop del título de genio para concedérselo a una persona es mucho más reciente. Para analizarlo recurriré a tres personalidades: Einstein, Mozart y Lovecraft. El primero es muy interesante, porque trabajando en su tiempo libre en sus artículos, estos resultan muy fecundos. Olvidando sus problemas de aprendizaje o que debe hacer su esposa las demostraciones matemáticas de dichos artículos, Einstein salta a la fama mainstream y su carisma personal dejándose querer por los medios lo encumbra no menos que su ciencia. Todos quieren tener de invitado a aquel hombre peculiar que es célebre por tener una teoría tan complicada que sus entrevistados no pueden aspirar a explicarla y tampoco a comprenderla aunque la intente explicar ese europeo tan inteligente. Tardaron en poder confirmarse sus planteamientos por medio de experimentos y no fue el responsable de crear algo tan importante para la historia y geopolítica reciente como fue la bomba atómica, pero Oppenheimer apenas era conocido entre el gran público hasta que hacen un biopic sobre él mientras que Einstein fue como una estrella del rock pero en ciencias.

We're not going to stop talking about movies, because the (superb) film based on Mozart's life is flawed, as every good biopic must be to be truly good. Mozart is defined in it as little less than a prodigy of nature, and that aligns with our idea of ​​genius; but so does his extravagance and serious flaws. The film portrays him as reprehensible and contrasts his figure with that of Salieri, whom it depicts as a disciplined, sober man with an orderly life… who envies Mozart's talent, a gift as enormous as it is inappropriate for someone with his behavior. Thanks to this award-winning film (it deserved every Oscar it received), the popular imagination has been increasingly influenced by the idea that genius possesses such a special gift, seemingly bestowed by God to distinguish him from the rest of humanity (there's a magnificent scene of Salieri reproaching the Almighty for it). But at the same time, there's a downside, much like in a Faustian pact: Mozart's life ends badly, and he dies young in poverty before finishing his famous Requiem, whose authorship would only be acknowledged later. Reality is always less interesting or straightforward for these cinematic portrayals. I don't deny Mozart's talent, but it was being born into a family of professional musicians that exposed him to music from a very young age, and at a very early age he was already touring with his family, presented as a child prodigy alongside his sister. The family environment and the lack of laws protecting minors from overexposure in the entertainment world played a significant role in the development of Mozart's talent and also in his character—a bit childish in his scatological, trollish jokes, somewhat of a mess, and undoubtedly a marketable adult due to not having had a normal childhood. Salieri never hated him and even helped him, but cinema thrives on creating myths. When I've had the opportunity to teach about it, I've shown it to my students and then illustrated it with the real context, but the general public doesn't bother (or isn't forced to) compare it with the reality we know about Mozart.

No vamos a dejar de hablar de películas, porque la (estupenda) película basada en la vida de Mozart es falaz como todo buen biopic debe serlo para ser bueno. Mozart es definido en ella como poco menos que un prodigio de la naturaleza, y eso se pega a nuestra idea de genio; pero también la extravagancia y fuertes desventajas. El filme le retrata como impresentable y contrapone su figura a la de Salieri al que hace un hombre disciplinado, sobrio y de vida ordenada… que envidia el talento de Mozart, tan enorme como impropio don de una persona con su comportamiento. Gracias a tan premiada película (merece cada Oscar que recibió) va volcándose en el imaginario popular que el genio tiene un don tan especial que parece concedido por Dios para distinguirle del resto de los hombres (hay magnifica escena de Salieri reprochándoselo al altísimo), pero a la vez hay contrapartida tal como ocurre en un pacto fáustico: Mozart acaba mal en la vida y muere joven en la pobreza antes de acabar su famoso Réquiem cuya autoría tardaría en reconocérsele. La realidad siempre es menos interesante o redonda para estos retratos fílmicos. No niego talento a Mozart, pero fue el haber nacido en familia de músicos profesionales lo que le expone a la música desde muy joven y a muy corta edad ya hacía giras familiares expuesto como niño prodigio junto a su hermana. El ambiente familiar y el que no hubiera leyes para proteger a los menores de la sobre exposición en el mundo del espectáculo tuvieron mucho que ver en el desarrollo del talento de Mozart y también en su carácter, un poco infantil en sus bromas escatológicas troll, un poco desastre y, seguramente, un adulto mercado por no haber podido tener una infancia normal. Salieri nunca le odió e incluso le fue de ayuda, pero el cine vive de fabricar mitos. Cuando he podido dar clases sobre ello se la ponía a mis alumnos para luego ilustrarles con el contexto real, pero el público en general no se molesta en (o no se ve obligado a) contrastar con la realidad que conocemos de Mozart.

The myth of superlative talents as major obstacles to leading a fulfilling personal life is deeply ingrained in our culture because it's so convenient. It's comforting for the way of thinking of the patron I mentioned earlier and then for the bourgeois who is his heir. It's a myth that infects us even among those of us from the working class. One can excel at something to the point of being hailed as a genius, but at the cost of a normal and fulfilling life. Lovecraft is a prime example of how this myth weighs heavily on and distorts one's character. Overprotected by his family, whom he didn't want to leave, and undisciplined in his quest to earn good money selling stories in a pulp industry that paid so little and which he himself didn't value, he procrastinated on countless other things and barely traveled because he was poor, living in a dilapidated mansion and wearing elegant, outdated suits inherited from his father and grandfather. Without a job or a fixed schedule, he enjoyed strolling at night, but there was nothing abject about him. Those who knew him testified that he was as polite, kind, and amusing as he was fickle and lazy.

El mito de los talentos superlativos que suponen grandes lacras para poder ejercer una vida personal satisfactoria es muy alargado en nuestra cultura porque es muy conveniente. Tranquiliza para la forma de pensar del mecenas que hablé antes y luego del burgués que es su heredero. Es un mito que nos infecta aún siendo nosotros de clases populares. Se puede destacar en algo hasta ser investido de genio, pero a costa de una vida normal y satisfactoria. Lovecraft es buen ejemplo de cómo pesa y deforma este mito en tu figura. Sobreprotegido por su familia que no quería abandonar, indisciplinado para ganar buen dinero vendiendo relatos en una industria del pulp que pagaba tan poco y el mismo no valoraba, procrastinaba en mil cosas más y apenas viajaba por ser pobre en mansión venida a menos y elegantes trajes pasados de moda heredados de su padre y su abuelo. Sin trabajo ni horarios, gustaba de pasear por la noche, pero no había nada abyecto en él, los que le conocieron dejaron testimonio de ser tan educado, amable y divertido, como inconstante y holgazán.

Rivers of ink have been spilled on the singularity of Lovecraft's life, almost as much as on the singularity of his conceptual renewal of horror, making it something extraterrestrial and immeasurable to our understanding. Cheap, homophobic pop psychology tried to explain everything by saying he never came out of the closet, while others claimed he was insane because of strange, forbidden books in his old family library. This library, amassed by his grandfather, a liberal for his time, was carefully curated with travel literature, poetry, and popular science. It was an innocuous library that Lovecraft expanded as much as he could with remaindered and discounted reissues—not at all terrifying, in his opinion, and affordable given his meager funds. Perhaps the most abject interpretation I've read of this kind comes from Michel Houellebecq. His H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life is well-written and appears relatively well-researched, but its thesis is poisonous: Lovecraft was so brilliant at the cost of denying himself the world and life, isolating himself, and gorging himself on reading. It's the old, soothing bourgeois justification: you're so good at what you do because your life isn't normal or fulfilling. We praise the genius of mere mortals, but we quell the envy they generate by saying it's not worth having their gift if it means being unhappy, insane, and/or dying too young like damned poets and rock stars. Therein lies the poison of the modern concept of genius. A lie that even artists themselves believe, sometimes turning it into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Ríos de tinta han corrido sobre lo singular de la vida de Lovecraft, casi tanto como por lo singular de su renovación conceptual del terror haciendo de él algo extraterrestre e inconmensurable para nuestro entendimiento. Psicología pop barata y homófoba quería explicar todo con que no salía del closet, mientras otros alegaban que estaba demente por extraños libros prohibidos de su vieja biblioteca familiar. Esta, formada por su abuelo, hombre un liberal para su tiempo y que cuidó estar rodeado de literatura de viajes, poesía y divulgación científica. Una inocua biblioteca que Lovecraft aumentaba cuanto podía con saldos y reediciones con descuento nada tenebrosas para si accesibles para su escaso dinero. Quizás lo más abyecto que he leído en interpretaciones de este tipo se lo debemos a Michel Houellebecq. Su H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life está bien escrito y se nota relativamente documentado, pero su tesis es venenosa: Lovecraft era tan genial a costa de negarse al mundo y a la vida, aislarse y atiborrarse de lecturas. Es la vieja justificación apaciguadora burguesa: eres tan bueno en lo que haces porque tu vida no es normal ni satisfactoria. Se alaba ascendiendo al genio de los simples mortales, pero la envidia que generan la calmamos con que no vale la pena tener su don si es cambio de ser infelices, dementes y/o morir demasiado pronto como poetas malditos y estrellas del rock. Ahí reside el veneno del concepto moderno de genio. Una mentira que hasta los propios artistas creen haciendo de ella profecía auto cumplida a veces.

For all these reasons, whether or not the label of genius is readily bestowed upon someone (which I believe it is), we should avoid using it because it includes, whether we realize it or not, that poisonous myth we perpetuate. I don't know how much of the blossoming of remarkable talent is due to divine will, genetics, or environment, but I do know two things. One is how much it owes to others, using their works as a source of training and example. I don't feel that my writing stems from any personal talent of my own, but rather from attuning myself to the way things are done by admired figures, from embracing their legacy and trying to reciprocate what they gave me, making the echo of their voice resonate in my own. Culture, like love, is an activity that makes life worth living, but it's never learned or practiced alone; we always need others, like daemons whispering inspiring things behind our backs, things to do or say.

Por todo esto que os relatado, se conceda o no demasiado fácilmente la etiqueta de genio a alguien (que creo que sí), deberíamos evitar usarla porque incluye, seamos conscientes o no, ese mito venenoso que perpetuamos. Desconozco cuanto hay de voluntad de Dios, genética o ambiente en el florecer del talento destacable, pero si sé dos cosas. Una es cuanto se debe en ello a otros usando sus obras de formación y ejemplo. No siento nada que escribo como producto de un talento personal mio, sino de lograr sintonizar con la forma de hacer las cosas de admirados referentes, de asumir su legado intentando corresponder con lo que me dieron haciendo que se sienta su el eco de su voz en la mia. La cultura, como el amor, son actividades por las que vale la pena la vida ser vivida, pero jamás se aprenden y ejercen a solas, siempre necesitamos de otros, convertidos en daemones susurrando a nuestras espaldas cosas inspiradoras que hacer o decir.

I never take superlative praise well, and whether or not its givers realize it, it's venomous and acts like a mantra, emasculating the one who flatters without trying to emulate my example. The second thing I know for sure is how much work it takes: staying in this weekend and others to craft coherent words or read people better than you, thus acquiring a foundation that will help in this endeavor. I can assume you suspect something's wrong with me for me to dedicate so much time to creating, though more than crazy or unhappy, I'm simply too poor to party much while still paying my rent while living alone with a mediocre job. But this isn't about me, it's about you. When you try to find in your clichéd praise that something special about me, good or bad, motivates me to do what I do, you're robbing yourself of the opportunity to emulate me. You have the right if you feel it would fulfill you and you can bear the time and effort it entails. Elevating myself doesn't seem appropriate to me because it leaves you prosaically at ground level, unable to reach me, and I'm just another one, a fool who loves to write and writes because she loves. For me, sharing like this is woven into living a life worth living. Don't waste your time trying to assess a supposed genius in me; cultivate and polish your own. To convince you to do it, I've written this long text that speaks so much of so many dead people, because I want you to experience the healing joy I feel when I try to continue legacies, connect with others, and plant seeds of hope. Forget the bourgeois excuses. Dare to do it.

Nothing should be spoken of hastily. Again, we have a mannerist, exaggerated, and incomplete reproduction of those years. People didn't dress that normally, and there wasn't such a successful approach to combining design and pop with everything we now remember as milestones and typical of those times. Those who lived through the 1980s and the Stranger Things craze will know what I mean when I tell them that in that series, I find it strange the music people who wouldn't even know it listen to, or how the movie The Thing appears in one scene. They sort of fill in the gaps with things we now remember from that time, like checkpoints.

No se debe hablar apresuradamente de nada. De nuevo, tenemos una reproducción manierista, exagerada e incompleta de esos años. No se vestía así de normal, no se poseía tal acierto en tener de diseño y de pop alrededor todo lo que ahora recordamos hito y típico de esos tiempos. Los que vivieran los ochenta y a la vez la fiebre por Stranger Things sabrán a que me refiero si les digo que en esa serie se me hace raro las músicas que escuchan gente que ni la conocería o como aparece la peli The Thing en una escena. Hacen como una especie de rellenar con cosas que recordamos ahora de entonces a modo de checkpoints.

Why do I say there's no need to rush? Because this isn't new to the century, nor is it hauntology of this one. Culturally and commercially exploited nostalgia has a life cycle of necessity. At the end of the 1970s, Nixon, Vietnam, the oil crisis, and Reagan's harsh economic measures had already made us look back to a more peaceful, prosperous, and mythologized past. Grease, Back to the Future, and, to a certain extent, David Lynch's Blue Velvet share this with many others and are practically all from the 1980s, the decade so remembered at the beginning of this century when things weren't going well then, with 9/11, the second Iraq war, or the country's near-bankruptcy at the end of its first decade. Not everything is hauntology… or not so much, I suppose.

What happened? They recommended the music Carpenter makes with his son now, which obviously sounds like him, his OSTs, and the past because the gentleman is a veteran. But I didn't like it as much as other of his compositions that have been filmed precisely for this reason, and I told you in that post that music is very much about having phantasmagoria that enrich it, vital memories, and intertwined emotions that its sound unleashes. This has led the blog to discuss the Synthwave movement, a retro musical style that recalls a past… in my opinion, too focused on Carpenter and mannerisms forged by what they understand as the 1980s. I'm not diminishing the value of its fans (I've posted some Synthwave stuff on the blog that I like) or the director who inspired the movement. I'm expressing my opinion to get closer to the nature of these trends that I once defined here as 21st-century aesthetics.

¿Qué ha pasado? Que me recomendaron la música que hace Carpenter con su hijo ahora que, evidentemente, suena a él, sus OST y a pasado porque es veterano el caballero. Pero no me gustó tanto como otras composiciones suyas que tienen peli precisamente por esto mismo y os contaba en aquel post que la música es muy de tener fantasmagorías que la enriquecen, recuerdos vitales y emociones atadas que su sonido desencadena. Esto ha dado al blog para hablar del movimiento Synthwave, un estilo musical retro que rememora un pasado… a mi juicio demasiado demasiado centrado en Carpenter y manierismos forjados con lo que entienden como los años ochenta del siglo pasado. No resto valor a sus fans (yo misma he puesto al blog alguna cosa Synthwave que me gusta) ni al director inspirador del movimiento, expreso mi opinión para acercarnos a la naturaleza de estas tendencias que un día definía aquí como estéticas del XXI.

I find that Carpenter sounds like Carpenter to me, but not like Synthwave when those in the movement claim to be inspired by him, but this is expected and understandable. These kinds of revival movements always contribute and distort. This happens because the tools evolve and allow for greater complexity or skill, because the artistic context of the time in which you create or for which you create the work changes, and also because this is done not so much by looking to the past as by recreating what you understand by it and how it was done then. I don't know what Carpenter himself thinks of Carpenter Brut. I reckon he'll find them very fast and melodically complex, despite paying him so much homage and referring to him in his name. But this is understandable, and what we call neoclassical art would be seen by a Greco-Roman brought from the time of imitation as something very meritorious in workmanship, but somewhat stagnant in ideas and strange because… in his time, sculpture and temples had colors! But since polychromes didn't survive to be displayed in museums, by imitating a Greece that was never like that, we falsify it until we create something different.

Me pasa que Carpenter me suena a Carpenter pero no a Synthwave cuando los del movimiento se dicen inspirados por él, pero esto es esperable y comprensible. Este tipo de movimientos de revival aportan y deforman siempre. Ocurre porque las herramientas evolucionan y permiten más complejidad o destreza, porque cambia el contexto artístico del tiempo en que creas o para el que creas la obra y también porque esto se hace no mirando tanto al pasado como recreando lo que entiendes por este y como se hacia entonces. No sé que opinará el propio Carpenter de Carpenter Brut, estimo que los encontrará muy rápidos y complejos de melodías a pesar de rendirle tantos honores como remitir a él en su nombre. Pero esto es comprensible y lo que llamamos en arte neoclásico sería visto por un grecolatino traído desde el tiempo imitado como algo muy meritorio en factura, pero un poco anquilosado en ideas y extraño porque… ¡en sus tiempos la escultura y los templos tenían colores! Pero como las policromías no sobrevivieron para estar en museos, al imitar a una Grecia que nunca fue así la falseamos hasta crear algo distinto.

Is this bad in itself? Not at all. Art itself is born as an imitation of reality; first it purifies it (idealizes) and then it invents it (abstraction), breaking rules and references that it must first understand. It's only natural that one music reminds you of another because it takes elements and imitates them. Artistic movements themselves are fashions in their own way, and every fashion is about repeating what has been established as cool at the moment. Join me for an exercise. This one here is a musical theme included in the OST of a film released in the mid-eighties. The budget was limited to buy song rights, and this one was so filling that I can't remember when it appears in the film (I suppose it was at the disco where it appears). It was created as a commissioned theme that imitated popular hits like those Blondie were making back then. It sounds a lot like them.

¿Es esto malo en sí? Tampoco. El arte mismo nace como una imitación de la realidad, primero la depura (idealiza) y luego la inventa (abstracción) rompiendo unas reglas y unos referentes que debe primero conocer. Que una música te recuerde a otra porque toma elementos e imita, es natural. Los propios movimientos artísticos son modas a su manera, y toda moda es repetir lo que se ha establecido como cool del momento. Acompañadme en un ejercicio. Esto de aquí es un tema musical contenido en la OST de un film estrenado a mediados de los ochenta. El presupuesto era limitado para comprar derechos de canciones, y esta era tan relleno que soy incapaz de recordar cuando aparece en el film (supongo que en la discoteca que sale). Nace como tema de encargo que imitaba éxitos populares como los que hacía Blondie entonces. Suena mucho a ellos.

A few years later, with the film becoming an institution in the home video format (once again, we have repetition as an important factor), Bubblegum Crisis was born: a futuristic Japanese cyberpunk animation (another thing born in the early eighties that never left us). BG used the film Blade Runner as one of its references to generate its concepts (I myself knew it existed enough to be able to look it up precisely because I watched this anime in the 00s, when it was considered a classic). But the mix needs to be spiced up. BG also borrows elements from Terminator, and, in addition to its killer robots, this is evident in its main theme. Doesn't it remind you a lot of the previous one?

Pocos años después, con el film convertido en institución desde el formato doméstico (otra vez tenemos la repetición como importante), nace Bubblegum Crisis; animación futurista japonesa de corte ciberpunk (otra cosa nacida a principios de los ochenta que no nos abandonó nunca). BG tomó entre sus referentes para generar sus conceptos al film Blade Runner (yo misma conocí que este existía como para poder buscarlo precisamente por ver este anime en los 00 cuando era considerado un clásico). Pero hay que aliñar las mezclas, BG toma también cosas de Terminator y, además de en sus robots asesinos, esto se nota en su tema principal ¿No les recuerda mucho al anterior?

This is as legitimate as it is established in art. It's part of the very functioning of culture; it isn't born or created from nothing, but rather continues from what was done in previous decades, focusing on certain elements or works, and actively denying or forgetting other things. Thus, a "fake" pop hit created in the style of Blondie for a US film beats in a Japanese direct-to-video product born five years later. I worry about Synthwave, though, that they think too much they're making music from the eighties when that's how they remember it, and that this era is reduced in the imagination to the simple and effective melodies of Carpenter. Our director saved money this way and created recognizable and catchy themes that would do well for his films, in a style that, when continued today, is somewhat stripped down without dressing it up with images, and us with memories of them. But that's just my opinion, and I'm just a girl, as the meme goes.

Esto es tan legal como instaurado en el arte. Es parte del funcionamiento mismo de la cultura, esta no nace o crea desde la nada, sino que continua desde lo hecho en décadas anteriores poniendo el foco en ciertos elementos u obras, y negando activamente u olvidando otras cosas. Así un 'falso' éxito pop creado a la manera de Blondie para una peli en EEUU late en un producto japonés directo a video nacido un lustro después. Me pasa con el Synthwave que me preocupa que se crean demasiado que hacen música de los ochenta cuando es cómo la recuerdan, y que esta época se reduzca en imaginario a las sencillas y efectivas melodías de Carpenter. Nuestro director ahorraba dinero así y creaba temas reconocibles y pegadizos que hicieran bien a sus film, en un estilo que cuando lo continua hoy queda un poco desnudo sin vestirlo con imágenes él, y nosotros con recuerdos de estas. Pero es solo mi opinión y solo soy una chica, que dice el meme.

What really worries me is that in these revivals of new things that sound old, we forget the rest of what existed in that past during the exercise of hauntological nostalgia until it remains known only to connoisseurs and scholars. I've already talked about what I find in electronic music when I delve into its past. I recently listened to a band called Tangerine Dream, who also made soundtracks for films during that era. And while Carpenter intended this to provide soundtracks with melodies that have endured because, in their own way, they are jingles to sell his films, Tangerine Dream seems to do so with more thought about generating atmospheres with soundscapes than forging distinguishable recurring melodies. It's as if they were two different conceptions of an art as limited as scoring films. Just as not all music is conceived to be danced to, there are other worlds in the electronic music of the past and that made for films. We shouldn't get stuck in what Carpenter did or what we now understand Carpenter to be recreating.

Lo que realmente me preocupa es que en estos revivales con nuevas cosas que suenan a viejas nos olvidemos del resto de lo existente en ese pasado durante el ejercicio de nostalgia hauntológica hasta que quede solo conocido por entendidos y estudiosos. Ya he hablado de qué encuentro en la música electrónica cuando busco en su pasado. Recientemente he escuchado a una banda llamada Tangerine Dream que también hizo soundtracks para filmes en esa época. Y mientras Carpenter pensaba en esta para sonorizar con melodías que han perdurado porque a su manera son jingles para vender sus pelis, Tangerine Dream parece hacerlo pensando más en generar atmósferas con paisajes sonoros que en forjar melodías recurrentes distinguibles. Es como si fueran dos concepciones distintas de un arte tan acotado como el dar música a pelis. Tal como toda la música no se concibe para ser bailada, hay otros mundos en la música electrónica del pasado y la que se hacía para pelis, no hay que quedarse encallados en lo que hacia Carpenter o entendemos ahora que era Carpenter recreándolo.

I don't think electronic music is a style in itself or the property of anyone. It has fought to be taken seriously and not be relegated to being understood as an experiment, a toy, or filler. Whether because it couldn't hide that it is, due to its type of sound or the avant-garde enthusiasm of its pioneers, it has often seen itself as the sound of the future and a place to test or break rules. But the decisions about an art form belong to those who create it; I'm not here to tell anyone what to compose or what to listen to. I'm only showing the difference between Bublegum Crisis and what we're dealing with. That was a one-time thing, and it's honoring a small portion of one of the references with which they built something new. If they had applied the logic through which Synthwave understands itself, the exercise would have resulted in albums and albums by a supposed TerminatorCore that reduced it to the sound of struck metal with a keyboard melody. That would be limiting, and staying with Carpenter is also limiting. Restrictions strangle art, preventing it from enduring as something with more identity than a wink, a native internet exercise that lasts a breath.

No creo que la música electrónica sea un estilo en sí ni patrimonio de nadie. Ha luchado para ser tomada en serio y no ser relegada a entenderse como experimento, juguete o relleno. Ya fuese porque no pudiera esconder que lo es por su tipo de sonido o por el entusiasmo vanguardista de sus pioneros, se ha visto muchas veces a si misma como el sonido del futuro y un lugar donde hacer pruebas o romper reglas. Pero las decisiones sobre un arte pertenecen a quienes lo crean, no vengo a decir a nadie qué componer o qué escuchar. Solo muestro la diferencia entre lo de Bublegum Crisis y lo que nos ocupa. Aquello fue una sola vez y honrar una pequeña porción de uno de los referentes con lo que armaban algo nuevo. Si hubieran aplicado la lógica desde la que el Synthwave se entiende a si mismo, el ejercicio habría dado para discos y discos de un supuesto TerminatorCore que redujera aquello a sonido de chapa golpeada con melodía de teclado. Eso sería limitarse, y quedarse en Carpenter también lo es, las restricciones estrangulan el arte evitando que este perdure como algo con más identidad que un guiño, un ejercicio nativo de internet que dure un suspiro.

The aforementioned neoclassicism still endures in emblematic buildings in the United States, but in Europe, we see it differently from our similar fashion because we had something like the Renaissance, similar in concept but infinitely more glorious. This claimed to admire and revive a past of which little remained to be remembered. Its image was skewed and distorted because of this; there were no Tangerine Dream albums on YouTube to be ignored. But what made the difference was that they didn't clone classical authors or works, but rather used the framework of what they believed to be that era as a starting point, contributing in all its facets. True art owes its past, so it honors and remembers its references, but doesn't simply reproduce them. Like Bubblegum Crisis, you allow yourself to season the mix with traces. Synthwave isn't at all the music that was made back then, due to its bias, but will it remain a style in its own right, leaving something lasting, or will it be a hauntological relapse? Time and its artists will tell. Meanwhile, I'll listen to what they're doing and many other things from the past.

The video from the ever-reliable Café Kyoto will tell you about the analysis it contains and the logic of power to convey hidden messages (what the US president's political advisors called "soft power"), and the need to be wary of theoretically depoliticized content that only aims to entertain. You'll have to watch it with automatic subtitles if you're not fluent in Spanish, while interested Spanish speakers will find the downloadable book at the end of the post.

El video del siempre confiable Café Kyoto les contará sobre el análisis que contiene y la lógica del poder como para transmitir mensajes soterrados (lo que llamaban los asesores políticos del presidente de EEUU 'soft power'), y de la necesidad de estar atentos con el contenido teóricamente despolitizado y que solo aspira a entretener. Les toca ver con subs automáticos si no dominan el español, mientras que los hispanoparlantes interesados encontrarán el libro descargable al final del post.

Social, political, and intellectual analysis of these mass cultural products is now common, although it's often lacking in depth because either the mechanisms of popular fiction and its traditions are unknown, or the analysis is merely a superficial, bar-room-chat tantrum condemning paranoid elements of what they call "woke." However, this was an original and courageous idea for its time. If you recall, I mentioned that I read Pasolini's newspaper columns because I was looking for his critiques of Disney's imperialist cultural invasion, and I told you about a certain book by Umberto Eco in which he addressed the sector of the enlightened left that tended to despise imported pop culture. But I'd better finish now and let you enjoy the video and the book if you'd like. Kisses.

Ahora es común el análisis social, político e intelectual de estos productos culturales masivos, aunque muchas veces no se hace con la debida penetración porque o bien se desconocen las mecanismos de la ficción popular y sus tradiciones, o el análisis es una superficial rabieta de charla de bar condenando elementos en paranoia contra lo que llaman 'woke'. Sin embargo, esto era una idea original y valiente para su momento. Si recuerdan, comenté que leí las columnas periodísticas de Pasolini porque buscaba precisamente sus críticas a la invasión cultural imperialista de Disney, y les hablé de cierto libro de Umberto Eco donde trataba el sector de la izquierda ilustrada que solía despreciar la cultura pop importada. Pero mejor termino ya y les dejo disfrutar del video y del libro si les apetece. Besos.