Smartest Guy In The Room

Aside from the movie of similar title, that phrase often irked me.  Until now, I hadn't defined why.

For one thing, often the smartest guy in the room is a female, even if I don't know what constitutes being the smartest in a given room at a specific point in time.

Do some people look around a room, sizing everyone up to decide who is the smartest?  I wonder how many people in the room think, "Hmm.  I'll bet I'm the smartest guy in the room".  Even a female can have this thought without violating any PC mandates, I think.

I've noticed that different people have moments of clarity and inspiration at different times.  Some more than others.

So, even if the group is the same, at different times different people will rise to the position of Smartest Guy in the Room.  Or SGR.  Although a very small percentage will achieve the title regularly.

Nice Gathering

So, a friend who is more the target than I, of the previously mentioned drama, had a little jam at his house Sunday afternoon and evening.  It wasn't a jam like the kind where I learned to play with others, but it was a nice deal.  He invited people pretty much last minute and excluded the known drama purveyor.

Consequently,  no drama.
=======DRAMA UPDATE: the purveyor viewed the fb page of the guy who took these pics and left the classy comment, "Fuck this".  If you attended then of course it is about she who was not included.  It's like Mother Mary married to Satan, except the other way around.  
We are not talking children here.  
Welcome to the world of aging baby boomers, especially those who yearn to eternally protest, with or without a cogent cause, and be forever misunderstood flower children who've "got something to say".

I still want that amp he has.  He used the fact that the amp would be set up as bait in the invitation.  I like it when people think I do what I do well enough that they feel a need to coax me to show up.

He lives pretty much rent free in a house on a hill on the edge of El Cajon.  You can see a long way from certain spots up there.  It is closer to me than most of the places where people go to play.

I live somewhere over that ridge

someone else took the pics. i lifted them from fb

Point of interest--the mandolin player had a band back in the day which opened for the Moody Blues and some other very big names of that era.   Mandolin is a relatively new thing to him, an he rocks it.  The depth of talented musicians and songwriters in the San Diego area is surprising. 

Delayed Cognition

I saw an interesting quote somewhere, but I do not recall where.   Maybe on facebook or in a Mark Steyn essay.

What happens in these cases is that I take in some info, but I don't really process it until later.   Often, I remember things better an hour later than I do right after the event or reading.

This particular quote, which I am probably paraphrasing said, it is too late to hope for a perfect past.  That made sense to me, and is quite fitting in my case.  In other words, "Get over it."
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People are strange.  The east county open mic, backyard player circuit seems riddled with drama.  Actually only one or two create the tension, and then the enablers and instigators jump in to fuel the flames.  I've found that when people drink, and they are the type that become psychotic and/or total jerks, they'll zero in on you if you don't watch out.  It is the women who are often the most difficult.

Very odd dynamic. I attempted to avoid certain people because the encounters were always the same.  My boundaries get violated, I react, however diplomatically.  Boundary jumper goes off in drunken histrionics, maybe hiding in the forest until dark because I, or someone else, or "they" am/is/are a big meany.

OK. So, I dodge the encounters, so now other drama ensues.  Very hard to ignore, but that is all there is to do.

Friends usually know your tender points, but friends don't throw those things up to put you on the spot, embarrass you, or just make you feel bad in a social setting.  It is too bad when you encounter that behavior.  Especially if the boundary jumper's husband really is a friend.  But can't seem to go anywhere without toting the loose cannon along.

If there is issue with one then you have to avoid both.  Anything else doesn't work and seems inconsiderate.  Why be used as a vehicle for madness which only makes your friend's life less pleasant?

I tried every tactic I could think of but nothing worked for long.    You'd be surprised how many different ways there are to ask, "Do you still beat you wife?", in a public place.

Antidepressants and alcohol do not combine to enhance one's sanity or rational behavior.   Rationalizing, that combination will enhance.