An American Original

I haven't entirely decided — well, haven't come very close to deciding, actually — exactly what I want to be when I grow up. Lately, though, I've been thinking that maybe I'd like to be an "American original".

I admit, I'm not entirely sure what "an American original" is, but I tend to like the way it's used to label someone creative and iconoclastic. The google suggests there might a as many as a quarter-million "an American original"s, but I think this exclusive, elite set of authentic American originals would probably be somewhat smaller.

Without trying too hard, some example names come to mind: Walt Whitman, Charles Ives, Theodore Roosevelt, Leonard Bernstein, Georgia O'Keefe, Walt Disney, Martha Graham, Robert Rauschenberg, even Michael Jackson. They all seem worthy of admiration for one reason or another, although I don't know that I see yet what characteristic, what American originality, they all share. I think it's interesting that some of them would have known one another, though.

So, now I guess I'm on the look-out for some hints on how to become "an American original".

Posted on November 8, 2009 at 19.44 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Reflections

4 Responses

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  1. Written by rightsaidfred
    on Monday, 9 November 2009 at 02.44
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    I suspect one does not wake up one day, announce they will become "an American original", and then close the deal. Some pretty big dice are rolled to close the deal.

  2. Written by jns
    on Monday, 9 November 2009 at 16.32
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    I'll be disappointed if that turns out to be the case, Fred. Shouldn't becoming "an American Original" be an integral part of the American dream? I'll try to find out what the qualifications are, but so far it seems that one becomes "an American Original" merely by having people call him that.

  3. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Wednesday, 11 November 2009 at 02.59
    Permalink

    A fascinating question, Jeff. I'm thinking of a bunch of people who arguably qualify for various reasons, and then again maybe not. I'm not coming up with the common thread that makes me think of them.

  4. Written by jns
    on Wednesday, 11 November 2009 at 18.53
    Permalink

    It gets more complicated, SW. Today I saw this sign: Dairy Queen / An American Original.

    I'm not sure how Dairy Queen fits into the canon yet.

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