Two Thumbs Up

For a Lurker Alley first, I've got a movie recommendation here...If you were born in the 70's and listened to alternative music in the 80s, you probably came across Joy Division songs at some point. Unbelievable band with that "Love Will Tear Us Apart" song, etc...

Control, a movie about their brief but epic career came out last year. I finally saw it last night and it's crazy good. Not too uplifting, though, so don't watch it before a birthday party or pep rally. But the music is amazing, and the guy who plays Ian Curtis is fully convincing as a troubled rock star in the 70s.

It mainly follows the life of their lead singer, who had some problems. But he was such a super-creative, tortured-soul guy at the same time, that it makes me wonder if for some people there's a price to being so creative...

For this guy, he would talk about how much of himself he put into his live shows, and because of his other problems, along with the rock star lifestyle, he just destroyed himself in a really short period of time.

Don't worry, I'll be back to talking about pee soon. But it is something to think about...is there a price to being really creative? You learn about writers (Emily Dickinson, Hemingway, to name two) just kinda falling apart, and is some of that because they couldn't handle the way their writing made them feel?

It makes sense, in a way. There's a price to being exceptionally gifted athletically, right? If you compete professionally, you can have major injuries that ruin your career and affect your post-athletic life. So maybe there's a similar price to pay for being really creative, especially if you don't have the right makeup to handle it or something.

Luckily I'm only kinda creative and mentally invincible. So I should be fine.