Animal Bombs

We were listening to the Iron and Wine session from the NPR link http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18351988. We were all quite anguished over tomorrow's forecast and fantasizing about laying the best bet. That was my excuse anyway. I'd been working through the beginning of the Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, and some of Hans Castorp's little forgotten complexes bestowed upon him by an isolated mountain time tie in so presciently to my other reads lately: Cortazar, Los Perseguidores; Felisberto Hernandez, The Daisy Dolls; Mutis, The Snow of the Admiral. We just saw the Into the Wild movie adaptation also which left me with the impression that the dissection of this confused kids' disconnection leaves a slightly exploitative taste. McCandless' borderline irrationality and rigorous adherence to his self-defined 'strict moral standards seems to be touched on as some sort of rare or mythical occurence, when, even from Krakauer's generous treatment of his odyssey, it is strikes one undeniably that this young man was both quite gifted and quite dangerously overconfident in both his ideals and his earnest belief that he could inhabit them as a consequence of his ideals and beliefs, not through the rigorous, cautious trial and error process that informs the abilities of authentic survivalists. The ill-defined, materialistic, self-obsessed society that Alex Supertramp so reviles is obviously a deeply-ingrained part of himself that he fears as some kind of plague. The Oxfam donation--so dramatic and seemingly noble--cannot but be viewed as some sort of get out of jail free card justifying an individualists' quest. There is no final judgement for Chris. What if he had made it out of the wild and gone on to be a great human rights crusader; a genuine and authentic advocate for freedom and justice and truth? He deprived us of this answer just as much he took it from himself by taking on a dichotomy as a doctrine: modern society and its ills vs. truth and freedom definable only by the individual. I have heard it said that uncompromising people are easily admired and that well-reasoned compromise has been justified by history. This I do not believe, for there are numerous counter examples, not to mention that history's greatest shifts have pivoted upon unwavering principles disguised as compromise, and history's most infamous judgements heaped upon those who have toyed with history's concept as a reflection of their legacy instead of as a direct result.

Pues, pues, pues

Not to overstate matters, but the label seems to say it all. By the way, I've given up the Hash Lover's Hash for '08. This is not meant to express in any way an anti-hash bias--any arbitrary bias has its slippery slope out back--though a dented can that says Hormel on it, no matter the tastiness of its contents, is simply too close to sounding like 'hormone smell'. If by some willfully ignorant circumstance y'all have not been made aware of the hormone, antibiotic, and canibalistically pumped state of industrially grown beef these days, it is scary as fuck. If you believe for one second that the huge agrobusiness folks consider possible/likely human (let alone animal) health concerns as more important than their profits, think again. If you believe that our U.S. government has devoted even the least controversial resources, and conscientiously advocated for the consumer as their primary constituent, woe is you. Feliz ano nuevo.

The Genial Student

I'm working regularly now, what a trifle. They give me a discount on classes but I'm only taking one that happens to fit into my schedule. Spanish 302 is a rather bland sort of thing. It's actually incredibly helpful in clarifying those situations that infuriated me when I was in Colombia. Now the arbitrary nature of prepositions is becoming clearer than ever and I'll be able to pull it off without a hitch when I'm back there, hopefully this summer. I receive high praise for my efforts at the job. These jab at me from a number of angles: A, I seemingly try very little. B, Being praised for efforts that strike one as inane and inherently absurd tends to reinforce one's sense that they are meant for different things. C, Notice I did not say better, though that is what I meant. D, I've been scribbling with the indifferent wail of the wind in the evenings at my corner pub when I'm done with the homework, cooking, cleaning, laundry and all that that becomes humans. E, I live more during those 1-2.4 hour snatches hunched over a dirty table than I do the whole rest of the day. F, That is of course not strictly true, but may provide a sense of the life of a genial student.

The New Year's Fortunes

I did not expect to eat Chinese food on New Year's Eve 2007>8, nor had I planned to do so in a fab, hip, Portland pearl district apartment; nonetheless I found myself doing so, and so and how ended up opening a fortune cookie. This is no lie. I was presented with 3 fortunes by this cookie; how can one interpret this as but an omen. 'An' is the key; good or bad, who could guess worth a fuck? Perhaps it was a prank, perhaps a mistake; that 'per' happening only to those who differentiate between those things too seriously. They read this way:

Fortune 1: Don't lose sight of your goals.
Fortune 2: This year your highest priority will be your family.
Fortune 3: Eat your fruits and vegetables to strengthen you health.

{Not to obfuscate too self-importantly, but these were my corresponding series of fortunate numbers}:

5 12 27 39 41 17
2 17 22 26 40 44
7 13 17 20 35 43

An overly detailed sketch of the evening seems excessive. Suffice it to say that Carson, aka C-bag, and I put to shame the local opposition in a half-hearted yet pleasantly drunken competition of Trivial Pursuit. The riffs on the ride home through the sneaking, drunken celebrant drivers cannot be recreated: they were pitched in a tent filled with the smoke of irony and obscenity and irreverence embodied; and hilarity embraced without reservation. We had no worries about the new year which we had already toasted to with cheap champaign. I had already purchased the rabbit for the 1st day's feast. All that was left was to prepare it without barfing. Benefitting from hind-sight, this will not be an effortless task. How those fortunes have played out since; (and they have!) that is another post

El Espejo Samario

Last June at my Aunt's house in Santa Marta, just before we came back to the States.