The other aspect that creates dissonance has to do with abundance. The paradox of choice suggests that when a human is presented with too many options, he becomes paralyzed.
The Bagger got invited to quite a few functions, not because people find his company charming, but because his last name in social and business matters is Newyorktimes. (It’s just the web, but still…) Since he was a little boy, the Bagger has been terrified of missing something. And now that he is a taller and more wizened little boy, he may be at a perfectly lovely function which meets the needs of his job and his tastes, and still get frantic about where else he should be.
Which is why the Fox Searchlight function at STK last night was such an unalloyed pleasure. There were big doings at agent domiciles up in the canyons, but right after dinner was served, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova stood up to play a few songs. They covered “Into the Mystic” by Van Morrison, but it was a little hard to hear. And then Hansard stepped up onto the top of the booths in the middle and beckoned Irglova up with him. They kicked into “Falling Slowly,” which is nominated for best song. This being the end of the season, the Bagger can admit it is his one deep fan-boy rooting interest. There is something remarkable about a piece of song-craft that was used to open up the musical process so that even a civilian could understand that both melody and harmony derive from the space between separate, but suddenly joined, souls.
They may well be tired of playing it – they will play it at least one more time tomorrow night in front of 40 million people – but the Bagger felt like he was in exactly the right place.
Raise your hopeful voice
You had a choice
You’ve made it now
