Write by Numbers

So, I love This American Life. All you non-listeners really should get with it. If you don't even know what I'm talking about... oh, I might cry. NPR, Ira Glass. Alex and I listen to it at night while falling asleep. I know, I know, don't we have anything better to do before falling asleep than listening to a gay Jewish man tell stories on National Public Radio? Don't worry, there's lots of hours in the day, there's time for Ira... and everything else. 

But, I've diverged. I meant to tell you about this one particular episode that I loved... and that I wish I could mimic when writing my own essay. See, these artists observed how everything in the world seems determined by polling and statistics. So they thought, why not art? Paintings, music? They commissioned a study to find out what the greatest numbers of people wanted in a painting, and then in a song. They painted two paintings: what people want, and what people don't want. The one that people want has blues and greens, a mountain, a lake, a family... and George Washington. 

They did the same for music. The most hated song is hilarious. They included everything that people do not want in music: accordion, banjo, bagpipes. It is 21 minutes long and features an opera singer. Who raps. About cowboys. There are intervals of children's voices - people apparently hate children's voices - and bits about random holidays. In my dream last night, I heard one of the children's bits, and woke up singing it. It goes something like "It's Labor day! Labor day, labor day. Schools are closed and pools are opened... Labor day, la-labor day..." (hear episode here or visit artists' website here... really, you should go listen)

I was thinking. I'd kind of like to write the rest of my essay by poll. Just survey all of you to find out what you want to read, now that you already have a general idea of the essay's direction. Find out what parts you like, what you want to know more about, what you want me to delete. I'd like to write by numbers. The customer's always right. So, I could just find out what you want and give it to you. It worked for painting and music...