Poem on April 12
In my deck of Greek philosopher trading cards is the rare Tomarchus, disciple of Socrates, a rhetorician, accused of licentiousness by Aeschines, some other Greek philosopher so obscure he doesn’t have his own card.
In my deck of science fiction terminology trading cards is the word areography, the study of and/or mapping of Mars. Ares is the god of war in Greek mythology, the Roman equivalent to Mars, not the planet but the god. The word Ares, though, and the word areography, sound similar to me, at least in part. The first part.
I find it interesting that human beings are so committed to studying and mapping the planet Mars. I also find it interesting that the Romans named their planets after their gods. Or was it that the gods were named after their planets? The Greeks, apparently, named their gods after themselves.
Phoebe Bridgers, early this year, caused some controversy when she smashed her guitar on Saturday Night Live. I don’t understand this. Were people concerned about the guitar? My only concern was how adorable she was, and how incongruous it was for an adorable person to smash a guitar, but I wasn’t mad. There are better things to be angry about.
Phoebe Bridgers is not in my deck of rock star cards. I don’t think rock stars get in trouble for licentiousness, unless it involves something illegal and/or non-consensual. Smashing a guitar on stage doesn’t seem to fit the bill, although, I am relatively certain that the guitar did not consent to its own smashing.
It’s interesting to me that we call them rock stars. Is it because they seem so far above us mortals, like gods? I wonder why we don’t call them rock planets. While philosophers have looked into The Simpsons and South Park, I don’t know any philosophers that have looked into rock stars, but here I admit that I may have missed something.
The point I’m trying to make here is that philosophers, planets, Greeks and Romans, and rock stars all have one thing in common. When I know what it is, I promise, I will pass it on.
michael jarmer 