2001-11-01 9:49 p.m.
hodgepodge (catching up with blamblam)

Days just keep blending together lately.

The past two have been one big sleepover with S. and my roommate Rachel, saving her from a very uncomfortable situation at home (long story, not worth repeating). It's been insane: staying up late making dinner, getting drunk, baking cookies, carving pumpkins for Halloween, Rachel and I making fun of S. and her roommate for liking WB shows, lots of deep and candid discussions about my brother and life matters... not to mention two separate tea-lunches this week at my new favorite place, Tamarind.

Quick summary: "tea for one" there means a gigantic pot of the tea of your choice (I've tried a peach-scented oolong and their amazing masala chai; both are fabulous), a big sandwich wrap (both the saag paneer and the tandoori salmon are stellar), and a big plate of desserts, consisting of walnut bars, brownies, shortbread cookies flavored with star anise, and two puddings, one saffron/almond/rice vermicelli and one dulce de leche with rice. "Da-yam" does not begin to express how lovely the experience was, let alone twice in one week (especially while playing hooky from work).

Anyway, my existence has felt at times like a John Hughes movie, an episode of The Real World (without the other person's after-the-fact POV), and a replay of the WTC disaster on smaller-scale — no falling buildings, but similar emotional turmoil.

And then S. and Rachel start with girl talk, we put on that dog's "Retreat from the Sun," and things get brighter.

I can't believe I went so long without people like them in my life.

left turn:

Here are some of this/last week's worktime observations and thought highlights, scribbled down or typed up for your viewing pleasure...

Thinking about Grant Morrison and The Prisoner:

• where does absolute freedom lead? the anarchy of bliss? entropy? cannibalism?

• transgression supposedly leads to the evolution of ideas, which supposedly leads to the education of others (via subversion, hidden messages, mass media), so...

  • where do ideas evolve? in isolation? if not, in what venues?

  • how effective is mass media for the education of others? how receptive are people?

Christ, the Beatles are amazing. I just listened to the Magical Mystery Tour and the White Album for the first time, and I feel like I've been missing out on some joke my entire life � this stuff's amazing, despite it positively dripping with acid, weed, etc...

Mind you, I've already found a few allusions to The Prisoner already in their lyrics (which came out about the same time)...

There's nothing you can do that can't be done
there's nothing you can sing that can't be sung
there's nothing you say, but you can learn how to play the game
it's easy

all you need is love

there's nothing you can make that can't be made
there's nothing you can save that can't be saved
nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time
it's easy

all you need is love
love is all you need

Smart blokes, these Liverpool lads...

If my bosses knew how distracted I am vs. how productive I am when I'm clearheaded, they'd fire me in a heartbeat.

If examined closely, the texture of human skin is very reptilian, but softer, comprised of different protein combinations. Hair, sweat glands, all reflecting the stratiated structure & texture of the muscle underneath.

New solution time: instead of the federal government subsidizing their precious, religiously-biased private schools over the public school system, why not give massive tax credits (or subsidize) for homeschooling as an alternative?

• teach parents to teach kids themselves or provide assistance for homeschooling as a replacement for "day care" w/education

• create benefits for children using the library; stop treating reading as an obligation, but as something to be rewarded

• fund the goddamn arts properly in exchange for the artists providing teaching services in the public school system; make it like the Federal Theater Project ('we all work together, we all get what we want'), but on a larger scale

I can't date anyone who thinks as furiously and quickly as I do (and Mei was pretty damn close); our heads would implode from second-guessing each other.