In Christopher Baldwin’s moodily brilliant Bruno, there’s a great moment early in the strip’s run where a Minneapolis (or St. Paul) punk says to Bruno: “…but I’m not an emotionally constipated self-degrading punk on a reckless streak. Are all New Englanders so uptight?”
Her reply: “Lemmings march into a drowning watery grave, elephants go to the secret sacred burial grounds; depressed, introverted, workaholic intellectuals migrate to New England. Go figure.”
Which, as Laurie Anderson says, explains quite a few things.
Of course, one of the compensating factors about being in Boston with all the other introverted, workaholic intellectuals is the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops. So I thought I’d mention that my debut with the Pops (as a member of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus) is tomorrow. The theme is “Red, White, and Blue,” and the music includes some really nice pieces by American composers as well as about the American experience. There are no tickets available online for tomorrow’s performance—you’ll have to go to the box office—but tickets may be purchased online for the Tuesday and Wednesday shows. Hope to see you there.