Lessons Learned

I had a roommate in college who was a weird artist type. He wore corduroy during the Fall, drank Grand Manier out of coffee cups, and loved Woody Allen movies. He liked me because I was filthy, funny, and carried on good conversations. He also liked the fact that I still owned a record player because he had a lot of vinyl. Living with him was a lot of fun. He owned a ton of weird movies and strange things. I couldn't think of a topic for tonight so my best friend suggested that I write about things I learned from this guy. I'll pick five.

1. I learned to love David Bowie's Hunky Dory album.  While I'd heard tracks from this album all of my life, it wasn't until this roommate that I learned to truly love the album as a whole. Hunky Dory is a masterpiece, clearly written with a lot of love, thought, and enjoyment of complications. To this day, it remains a favorite.

2. I learned to love John Waters films. I'd seen a couple of them before I met Brian, but nothing like Pink Flamingos or Female Trouble. The Girl Can't Help It part Pink Flamingos is kind of my spirit shield whenever I'm in a situation where I know I'm not wanted. Divine was the first drag queen who really opened my eyes to the power of being the Thing that freaks everyone else out and I loved that.

3. I learned how to accept art, even when it offended me. This roommate had R. Crumb's work and when I first looked at it, I was really taken aback. Over time, I learned to understand Crumb's perspective and grasp what he was mocking, dealing with, and confronting as an artist, even when it was nothing more than his own complicated relationship with his desires.

4. I learned that sometimes cinema was beautiful and amazing, just because of how it looked. The stories might not be there, but something beautifully shot was still worth looking at . . . it just didn't really make it a good movie.

5. I learned that it's hard for artists to live together. We all have a lot of crap. We all have big personalities. We all have ideas and expectations about each other. You have to be really patient sometimes.

Even though it wasn't for very long and even though sometimes things got heated, I'm glad I had the time with him. It was a lot of fun and where a lot of my memories come from when it comes to my college experience.