Tuesday, December 9, 2008

A Parting Word or Two From John Milton Cage

The following stories are random draws from Cage's work Indeterminacy:

My grandmother was sometimes very deaf and at other times, particularly when someone was talking about her, not deaf at all. One Sunday she was sitting in the living room directly in front of the radio. She had a sermon turned on so loud that it could be heard for blocks around. And yet she was sound asleep and snoring. I tiptoed into the living room, hoping to get a manuscript that was on the piano and to get out again without waking her up. I almost did it. But just as I got to the door, the radio went off and Grandmother spoke sharply: “John, are you ready for the second coming of the Lord?”

I was arguing with Mother. I turned to Dad. He spoke. “Son John, your mother is always right, even when she’s wrong.”

1 comment:

penny said...

That last part is so reminiscent of many of the endings of arguments with my mother. My dad will agree that I'm right, but my mother is my mother and so her argument trumps mine. Ugh! So not fair! Very Cagean though. You're always wrong even when you're right. Why even bother being right then?