MOTHER
He's a hell of a kid
FATHER
It's true
MOTHER
I don't think he really needs a babysitter
FATHER
You're right. Let's just go. He probably won't wake up
***************************************
My guest lecturer has just blamed the recession on the immense surplus of information available to industries, the problems in processing this information and the resulting inability to make decisions. The recession, essentially, is the result of the paralysis of business and industry by too much information. Weird. But it makes intuitive sense, in way. On a tiny, personal scale, I am often paralysed when I can't block out incoming crap and focus on what I need to focus on. And in some ways, ionformation is deceptively comforting. Like, I feel on top of things when I have researched a bunch of articles for a paper and printed them out, and prioritized them with coloured paper clips. I haven't read the articles, and I haven't produced a paper, but just having the pile of paper in my hand...Or collecting links to job opportunities - I haven't applied to all of them, but I know they are out there because I have subscribed to the right listservs, etc, etc. As if a plan means something without the execution.
I feel like I am holding things together, but barely. I have applied for some jobs, namely this internship in Washington that I really want, I am handing in my assignments, I am keeping up, but I feel so many things piling up, a little out of control. My finding aid for the Quebec Gay Archives should really be finished up in the next two weeks, and I have to work on the online part of it. Essays, case studies, crap crap crap. And apply apply apply! There is a project archivist job available at Emory, near Miss J! which I applied for. I am not quite qualified, but it would be an incredible opportunity. Of course, convincing the Russian to move to Atlanta for 3 years would be tough beans. I mentioned it half seriously, and he replied quite seriously, 'I could do it for a year.' So, you know, whatever that means (duh, it means he could do it for a year, Sparks).
We are very happy at the moment. I feel...comfortable and challenged. It is a nice feeling. I like his creative influence on me. I have been writing for the first time in years, and there is some decent stuff coming out of me, I think.
And we had a really good time in Chicago. I like his friends a lot, although Nat was a bit reserved, but in a very sweet, kind way. Except when we went to a trivia night. The animal came out that night, but with reason: he is awesome at trivia. We also has a lot of fun playing balderdash. I bonded with his girlfriend Emmy, as we chose each other's answers and Nat and I both came up with a movie plot line involving an elephant named Twinky. The sleeping arrangements turned out to be totally fine (the Russian and I need an L shaped bed), and Chicago is just a really interesting city. Wide streets and the lake is just remarkable. It really changes the feel and the movement of the city. everything slows and grows as it gets closer to the water, although apparently the only reason there is no serious building on the banks of the lake is because they bulldozed the ruins of the city after the Great Fire towards the lake and couldn't build skyscrapers on a land fill. Dinner with the Jews for Jesus family was totally pleasant and pretty tasty as well, though it was pretty much exclusively Russian. I was too full to talk anyway.
This is the Cloud Gate, which I was like, whatev, what a stupid sculpture, but when you see it, it is really sort of fun and amazing:
Taxidermia: freaked me right out. It's a Hungarian movie about three generations of men each with a special sumpin sumpin. The grandpa has a penchant for inserting his penis into strange places, and sometimes ejaculates fire. After a psychadelic mating a baby with a pig tail is produced who grows up to become an almost champion speed eater, who in turn begets (thanks Pierre) a scrawny, sickly taxidermist. The final stuffing is one of the most insane things I have ever seen on film. It is remarkably well shot, and somehow manages to crawl in your brain and lay something a little fetid, but also unique.
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