KING, DOLLY, POE: STILL DEAD. STILL MEANINGLESS.

Another Week, Another Round of Manufactured Significance

Let’s get this over with. The calendar insists on throwing “special” days at us like confetti, demanding recognition for things that, frankly, deserve a shrug. This week is no different.

Today, January 19th, we’re obligated to feign reverence for Martin Luther King Jr. – a man whose dream, let’s be honest, is still just that: a dream. Expect platitudes and performative activism. Alongside that, the birthday parade of the utterly irrelevant marches on. Dolly Parton? Pleasant enough, I suppose, if you enjoy saccharine country and aggressive wig maintenance. Edgar Allan Poe? At least he understood existential dread. Janis Joplin, Mac Miller, Lil Scrappy, and Paula Deen round out the birthday brigade. A truly diverse collection of…people who had birthdays. Congratulations to them, I guess.

Grand Rapids, as usual, is desperate to distract you from the bleakness of winter with its “World of Winter” festival. Ice sculptures and desperate attempts at cheer. The Grand Rapids Art Museum and Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park are, predictably, displaying…art. More things to look at. More ways to fill the void. Concerts and “performances” abound if you enjoy subjecting yourself to mediocre entertainment.

Tomorrow, January 20th, the art continues. As if that’s new.

The entire week is a cycle of manufactured importance and desperate attempts to distract from the encroaching darkness. Acknowledge the dates if you must. I, personally, will be attempting to ignore them all.