Mark Phillips' Pages: Workbook: 7/15/03: What struck me most was their confidence.

Romare Bearden, "Bopping at Birdland" (1979) — Romare Bearden, *Bopping at Birdland* (1979)

July 15, 2003:

What struck me most was their confidence. They were gods, they knew they were gods, they were happy being gods. Their every movement and gesture said so.

Fast-forward. 2003. Nowadays it's painful listening to him. His voice lost its power many years ago, a fact he tries fruitlessly to hide with electronic effects.

The way of all things. You know this. As if knowledge could make it less painful.