Underground

I like stuff that's underground.
By my definition, underground means unbelievably cool but mostly unheard of. Like Rudyard Kipling's short stories, the Decemberists, Laura Marling, and going for super long walks.
Flight of the Conchords used to be underground but now they're pretty well known and it's a little disappointing.
Have I mentioned the book "Notes from the Underground" here before? I might have. It's by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. (awesomest name ever). It's this guy just talking about the working of his own brain. I think it's a very interesting piece cuz it shows what happens to someone's mind if they are alone for too long. He agrees with me that life is downhill once you hit forty.
It's not good though, for someone to be completely alone with their own mind for too long. I think certainly that exploration of your own mind is healthy and beneficial, but you need interaction with other people. It's too easy to just find all the stuff about your being that's not quite perfect. And if you spend too long with yourself, you end up building these cities and worlds in your brain. You experience a lot within your own mind, and there is no way to communicate that experience to other people. It completely alienates you from any possible relationships.
But then someone might argue that monks and hermits should all be nutty. And many times they are. I would argue back, though, that the monks have their monestary buddies. The hermits who aren't crazy are much more interesting though. Here's my theory: the ones that aren't crazy have some sort of influence outside of their own mind. Maybe they talk to a god of sorts. Maybe they have nature.
My point is that no one can be entirely alone and entirely sane. We're sentient beings. That's how we roll.