Modern Love

Fantasized about living in a different period of history? If so, what specifically appeals to you about any earlier era?

Maybe it's unimaginative of me but this particular fantasy has little allure. I could stand a little less traffic, political rancor, and intrusive technology, but in most respects, the second half of the 20th century and the early 21st century suit me just fine. For example ...

Despite sincere efforts to embrace the literary canon, most of my favorite books - novels and non-fiction - have been written during my lifetime. Film? A handful of pre-1950 movies still work for me in a big way but the overwhelming majority of films that really move me were released beginning in the early 1960's and, in my mind, movies keep getting better every year, noisy blockbusters aside. I love a lot of music written before the rock n' roll era but it's the later interpretations of many of those compositions  - and the modern day advances in the sound of recordings - that juice me. Traditional Dixieland jazz is energizing; modern jazz is transformative. Imagining the world of music before the Beatles? I'll pass.

House styles? Victorians, colonials and Capes are all nice but the only time I ever looked at a house on my own the architecture was modern all the way. Something about the lines in houses of that type just speak to me. Even when I'm out of my depth, spending a day at the Museum Of Modern Art stimulates me much more than visiting museums featuring art from earlier periods. I love the variety of foods readily available nowadays, the relative ease of long distance travel, recent advances in dentistry, how fast the lines move in the grocery store.    

With a nod to the late David Bowie, I say let's dance to modern love.