As promised, the Cranial Midget explains (or tries to provide some sort of illumination regarding) the rationale behind the second word of his blog's title. (If you missed the explanation of "hopeful," scroll down to "Genesis.")
The American Heritage Dictionary defines "curmudgeon" as "an ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions." Etymologically, the word first appeared in print nearly 500 years ago, and most etymologists concede that its origins remain a mystery.
So that leaves us with nothing but the definition to play with. And play we will...
Does the definition "fit" the Cranial Midget? While I concede that I most certainly possess stubborn notions, the ill-tempered person full of resentment label is more difficult.
My stubborn notions include things like: believing people should be kind to one another and to animals...we should try much more than we do to be good stewards of the earth...working just to make a buck is a sad waste of one's existence...big pharmaceutical companies and health insurance companies should be banned from lobbying legislators (and should probably be forced into "non-profit" status)...you are either part of the problem or you are part of the solution (regardless of the problem)- and living in the suburbs is part of the problem; those who contribute to suburban sprawl and then want to kill the wildlife (mountain lions, bears, wolves, alligators, etc) that threatens their babies and domesticated pets should themselves be shot...if America used its wealth and power more for humanitarian purposes and less for destructive purposes, it would have far greater success in achieving the ends it desires than by current methods...prosperous, prospective parents in the developed world should think more about adopting babies than creating replicas of themselves in their own image and likeness (and doing so shouldn't cost a friggin' arm and a leg)...the Kansas City Royals will play meaningful baseball games in September next year...Yankees fans who don't live in New York or weren't born there should be permanently demoted to double A fan-dom somewhere within Dante's 6th circle of hardball hell - say, the Tulsa Drillers, maybe?
Shewww...
...and those are just a few of my stubborn notions...
I concede: there are an almost infinite number of stubborn notions I possess which I firmly believe - should I awaken tomorrow endowed as dictator of the world - would make the world a better place. And some of them are quite stubborn. I relish inviting you to try banishing one of the above brain-barnacles from me.
But do I walk around in my internal daily life full of resentment, spewing vitrol and bitterness, ill-tempered and angry? No. (Well, okay - some days are better than others - but as a rule? Huh-uh...that ain't me.)
Hence, softening the hard edges of "curmudgeon" with the sweetly effervescent "hope." The word starts deep in the throat, with an exhalation, turning in the mouth to the "O" of surprise, of awe, demonstrating one's capacity for curiosity, realizing there is much still unknown, much to be enthused by and about. It ends with the satisfying smack of the lips...as in an air kiss or the culmination of a delightful culinary experience.
"Hope" is a great word (and an indispensible thing to have when needed), and not something I meant to diss(miss) too summarily in the last posting.
I'll just refer back to Lord Byron's quote and leave it with this: What the hell is wrong with "hollow-cheeked harlots?" Now, they give me hope...
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4 comments:
I think it is curious that in the literary evolution of the word curmudgeon, it has somehow gotten attached to the notion of "wiseman."
For example, Orion Magazine online as a regular column, Curmudgeon in the Wild: http://www.orionsociety.org/pages/oo/curmudgeon/index_curmudgeon.html
It is as if the notion of being stubborn and ill-tempered is aligned with great thought.
Or perhaps it is simply aligned -- as I truly suspect -- with a grasping at (dissipating) romantic notion of the loner, alpha male. Curmudgeon is rarely a term used to define the female.. it's an old git, stuck in his ways, cut off from modern social evolution that, perhaps, indicates he is somehow closer to the older ways. The Frontier, the cowboy, renegade life and true freedom. The American Ideal, which is essential male, in any case.
For my view, I wonder if "curmudgeon" -- in defining THIS author -- isn't really about what he is trying to AVOID being: that is, a sense of limited thought that he is attempting to grow away from, personally.
That, I believe, is HOW the modifier HOPEFUL fits. It assuming the past (or past perfect) state of curmudgeon-dom and modifies it, with a view toward the future. This is how modifiers work: in poetry, poetry, and in life.
It would be different, entirely, after all, (wouldn't it?) if the blog title were: The Curmudgeonly Dreamer?
(-: E
blog.elizabethhoward.net
e-e baby,
nice to see you again.
You actually "caught" me before I had completed my posting... responsibilities to get out and enjoy life to the fullest extent possible - especially on the weekends - kept me from finishing this morning.
That said, I like the way you think. (Maybe because it is in-line with my own?). Do you mean to imply that it is my HOPE to not become a full-fledged CURMUDGEON? That I'd like to NOT become a bitter and pickled old intolerant s.o.b.? Oh, I don't know...that might be kinda fun. I figure if I make to, say, 80, then I will have the right be as curmudgeonly as I wanna be.
But in the meantime, you speak truth: I'd like to continue progressing - spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, intellectually...politically, etc.
The trick is to keep thinking for ones' self while remaining open-minded and tolerant of others' beliefs and ways of life...within reason. But maybe the idea of moral/cultural relativism is better-suited for a full post, rather than a reply.
Thanks for visiting - and for taking the time to comment thoughtfully!
CM
Is the Curmudgeon hopeful because he is a loner? Is it loners who need hope the most?
e-e baby's comment on the curmudgeon as the alpha male is very interesting. I could take an example from my own life and definitely make that correlation.
My father: he hates children above the age of three and hates adults below the age of 60. He spends his evenings reading Larry McMurtry books and listening to jazz. His beloved dog received most of his attention, and they might as well have lived alone together out on the prairie. He is definitely a curmudgeon.
So, adding hopeful onto the front of curmudgeon, I think I have a different meaning of that than the author. If hope is an inside job, something that really exists through self-awareness and self-reliance, I see a hopeful curmudgeon as someone who would like to see the prairie roll on. I think a hopeful curmudgeon is looking for that next good cowboy book or that next beloved animal to continue to live out his existence with.
I am not sure where I am going with this, but I think I am correlating it to my father. I think I am looking for a way to relate to him and see him as a human being. I have always thought of him as a curmudgeon, and he definitely fits the loner Alpha role.
Maybe adding hopeful applies to him as well as the author. I just think they are hopeful about different things. I definitely think that my father is looking for that next long prairie, and the dog to follow him.
Thanks for letting me share. LT
LT: That's a pretty touching - and a very open - comment. That's just the kind of self-realizing, seeking-truth kind of thing I hope we can all be involved with here...
As it relates to me, though, I don't really think of myself as a loner...I do engage in many social events - I just don't like the big party type of thing. I have part f that figured out, I think: I am awfully ADD, and in a large group, I look around and see all these people I want to talk to, but prefer to engage at a more intimate level than such a venue allows - and my mind runs in all these different directions with each sweep of the eye. There's more to it than I am aware...and there's more that I am aware of that that...but that's enough for now.
As for the Alpha Male schtick...that certainly ain't me. While I appreciate the myth of "American independence" and all the lessons that can be learned from such a myth, I need community...and I know it. The true Alpha and the true curmudgeon (think they) need no one.
Been there...tried it...it is a breathing death sentence.
As for your father, I genuinely hope he comes home before it is too late...there's my hope for the day.
Thanks for visiting, and thanks for the comment.
CM
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