Sophomore Jinx

"When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in confederacy against him."
- Jonathan Swift

My first blog was so well received (it's possible that at least one person read it) that I have decided to post my second blog. I feel a bit like John Kennedy Toole, who wrote one of the great American novels - Confederacy of Dunces. No, it is not the tale of the 2012 Republican candidates. Instead it is one of the best depictions of life in New Orleans ever put to paper. Eleven years after his suicide, his mother, with the help of another great Southern literary figure, Walker Percy, finally got JK Tooles book in print. It is now a classic. My point is not that my first blog, or any subsequent blogs, is a classic (surely they ain't), but rather that one lonely reader can be enough to make the writing process seem worthwhile.

But the title of this blog is Sophomore Jinx, not Confederacy of Dunces. And that brings us to the legendary singer/songwriter Willis Alan Ramsey. Willis Alan put out an album around 1970 on Shelter Records. Like the book, Confederacy of Dunces, it is a classic. Songs like The Ballad of Spider John and Northeast Texas Women sounds as fresh today as they did 40 years ago. Willis Alan solved the dilemma of the sophomore jinx by doing something few, if any artists ever do - he has yet to release another album. Like Jim Brown, he retired at the top of his game. Legend has it that he is a compulsive perfectionist who has yet to put together just the right follow-up to his first album.

Fortunately I am neither compulsive, nor a perfectionist (ask my wife, please). Therefore, this is my sophomore effort at blogging. Sorry, but there are more to come. My next blog will explain why my blog is called Johnny's Garden. For you Stephen Stills fans, you may already know.