Quodlibets

When a book is really rewarding

The last line of the Rome book:

I looked down with gratitude upon the city where I had learnt many things: but one does not say goodbye to Rome.

I'm not sure I could ever say it better.  Thank you, HV Morton.

Truly Delightful

I had a delightful experience this morning.  At about five, sometime after he got up to get ready for work, S came into the room, stood over me, and said, "Are you okay?"  I'm pretty sure I looked up at him, said "Yes" and started laughing.  I think I was laughing pretty hard, and S told me that he thought I had been crying, at which point I told him no, I was probably laughing in my sleep, because (and here I laughed again, very hard) High School Best Friend faaaarted.  I then laughed some more.  S left, and I continued to laugh for a few minutes.  Something about the dream was just THAT funny to me.  I'm just delighted, too, that I was laughing in my sleep.  Because I remember laughing in the dream!

HSBF and I were in an office with five or six of the boys from our high school, and they were starting competing graphic design firms.  We chose to work for/with the one that Adam started, instead of Pat's, because deep down, we knew Adam would be a better graphic designer.  The office was sort of like a dorm, because there were a few lofted bunk beds in the room.  HSBF and I were on the top bunk, and Pat was on the bottom bunk, so were trying to whisper about how bad of a grahpic designer he was.  Later on, HSBF was on a sort of day-bed somewhere else in the room, and I was in a row of chairs against the back wall the room.  HSBF farted.  And then she looked at her ass like, "Whaaaaaaa?"  I think she might have even said, "Where did that come from?" and giggled.  Anyway, I found a really old book about the first bowling alley in our hometown and started looking at it.  My cousin Bee walked into the room, and immediately, she came over to sit near me to look at the book.  But HSBF wanted in too, so she took the book and sat in between us, so that we could all look at it.  At this point, HSBF let out the biggest, smelliest fart, at which point Bee and I started laughing hysterically.

That laughter is what S heard, and came into the bedroom to make sure wasn't crying.  It doesn't seem so funny right now, but dude, I cannot express how funny it was at the time. 

More than the levees is broken

When you watch one of the rescues on television, it's as if your heart is breaking into a million little pieces. 

Katrina

There's nothing I can say about Katrina that hasn't been said.  It's a disgrace that we can't organize a relief effort that actually provides relief; it's a tragedy that no one is saying a word about race and class, and how those things affect this disaster.  National leaders are passing the buck by saying that it was unexpected, or that it happened too quick.  Both of those remarks are untrue; I don't even live near the affected area, and as soon as Saturday night, I had heard that the hurricane could bring unprecedented damage to New Orleans.  So to pass this off as a surprise is disingenous, and terribly cowardly.

Again, the failure is at a magnitude that we can't even comprehend how bad it is.  All the reports from people in the city, from the reporters in the city and from the elected officials in NOLA make it clear how bad it is, but when you listen to the national people--the generals, the president--it's like there is some sort of disconnect between what is really happening and the glossy picture of relief that they're painting.  I'm sickened by the response that this is getting--there's NOBODY in this city helping these people. 

At this point, there's not much we can do for these people but hope, and donate money to the Red Cross.  Dear god, let's hope these officials get their heads out of their asses and get this organized.

****Update:  And for GOD'S sake please stop calling it looting.  What the fuck do you expect people to eat and drink if no stores are open and the damn government can't help them?  I'd do the same damn thing if I was in that situation.  It's not about stealing, people, it's about survival.  Jesus.

Little Miracles

Sometimes, I think it really helps if you take yourself out of the neverending stream of humanity for just a minute.  I imagine that when you do this, you have time to do things that you think you don't have time to do otherwise. 

Last night, I called my friend Audge, who I haven't talked to in 13 months and said something approximating this:  "You have to call me back.  You can call back and say, 'I no longer wish to associate with you" or you can say, "Hey, friend, how are you?' but you have to call back."  And she called back, and her voice was like warm honey, and it was so good to hear her voice.  She's doing well, so well that I'm not worried about her like I was for the past couple of months.  And I'm so damn glad I stepped out of things enough to make that call, a call I never would have made without stepping back. 

I could never explain Audge in a blog post; I could probably never explain Audge to you in a conversation.  You just have to know her.  She lights people up.  That's the best way I can describe it.  And perhaps it is worth mentioning that she is entirely unaware of her impact of these people.  Regardless, she's someone I value very much, 13 months notwithstanding.  Her phone call produced a burst of true joy that I'm sure will carry me as far as next week, as far as joy goes in breaking through the monotony and routine.

It's a little miracle, but it's a miracle nonetheless.