Forgive my tardiness in posting to print as often as I do video. Leaving Babylon is- happily- taking up a tremendous amount of my time as is my current writing project. Nevertheless, the cold winds of reality whip around me in swirling bursts and drag down both of these wonderful pursuits by embroiling me once again in conflict with that great, cynical mystery that is human nature. In such times I find myself returning to two specific observations from the annals of philosophical discourse.
The first is more bittersweet in its frustration:
"I love mankind, its people I can't stand." -Charles Schulz
The second, though sad in its truth, is refreshingly brutal:
"A true friend stabs you in the front." -Oscar Wilde
Once more the firm but vaporous hand that turns us to look full-on into the mirror of human folly has closed on my shoulders and in its grasp I find myself horrified by the bruised, bloody and swollen face that quivers in my reflection. I medicate this echoing, residual pain as I always have- with a glass of wine, a long hot bath, and a good book. Taken all at once these three elements combined allow me to feel like something other than Icarus laying crippled and broken, his virtue having melted away in a white hot moment of pride.
Right now I'm reading Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. It takes me to another world that is at once instantly familiar and impossibly alien, the singular gift that Murakami brings to all of his work. I had planned on reading A Wild Sheep Chase next, but when I learned that the film adaptation of Norwegian Wood was available on Netflix, I knew that duty called. Next I'll read Son by Louis Lowery. I spent August reading the two preceding novels, The Messenger and Gathering Blue, to be ready for this final installment in the Giver story cycle. I'm glad she's doing this- The Messenger answered a couple of questions left over from the Giver, but the story itself seemed to exist primarily for the sake of making a comment in immigration and border policy, which was a hot button issue in the 2004 election when it came out. After that I'm going to finish the Aliester Crowley biography by Richard Kaczynski. First book of 2013 will be Homer and Langely by E.L. Doctorow. I also have a whole shelf of unread Thomas Wolfe. I love his writing for its tenacity and gentlemanly demeanor, though I frequently get the feeling that he tends to stick his nose where it doesn't belong, often revealing more about his own ignorance than the shortcomings of his target.
Simba has spent the entire day sleeping on a decorative pillow. Oh to have that kind of determination.
