quickie for my lovey.
They say the planet is dying – but the planet is not dying, it just has a major infestation of us. – Michael Lipsey
Helen Macdonald at the Wisconsin Book Festival, 4/13/16
“You know, this place makes me wonder.”
“Yeah, what’s that, boss?”
“Which would be worse - to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?”
Shutter Island (2010) dir. Martin Scorsese
NO “TELEPHONES”. TALK TO EACH OTHER. FACE TO FACE ONLY. WRITE A LETTER. SEND A TELEGRAM TO YOUR MOM. PRETEND IT’S 1860. LIVE.
NO ‘WRITING’… TALK TO EACH OTHER. THROW A ROCK AT YOUR MOM. PRETEND IT’S 10,000 BCE. LIVE.
URGGA. ROU GRAAURH. RUH.
<SMACKS HANDS ON WALL WITH PAINT.>
NO ‘HIGHER BRAIN FUNCTIONS’ …USE YOUR REPTILIAN BRAIN
EAT YOUR MOM’S CORPSE SHE DIED TO PROVIDE YOU WITH SUSTENANCE
PRETEND YOU HAVE JUST AROSE FROM THE SEA
SURVIVE
NO “MULTICELLULAR TRAITS”….. USE YOUR SYMBIOTIC MITOCHONDRIA
REPRODUCE ASEXUALLY, YOU’RE YOUR OWN PARENT
PRETEND IT’S 2BYA
EVOLVE
NO “LIFE.” USE FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICAL FORCES TO FORM SPHERICAL OBJECTS REVOLVING AROUND ONE ANOTHER IN SPACE.
FUSE HYDROGEN INTO HELIUM USING GRAVITATIONAL PRESSURE TO PRODUCE HEAT AND LIGHT.
PRETEND IT’S 4.5BYA.
STABILIZE INTO EQUILIBRIA
NO “MATTER”. EXIST IN THE VOID WITHOUT PURPOSE OR MEANING.
THERE IS NO “YOU”, ONLY THE VAST CONCEPT OF NOTHING.
TIME DOES NOT EXIST.
BE.
"There is too much self in my writing."
Anne Carson, from Economy of the Unlost: (Reading Simonides of Keos with Paul Celan) (via violentwavesofemotion)
"Very often I don’t feel like I’m there, or here, or anywhere."
Mark Strand, from an interview taken by Adam Fitzgerald (via violentwavesofemotion)
The hateful thing at the heart of politics is the drive to have power over others for your own purposes, whatever they may be — altruistic, selfish, economic, fanatic, utopian, genocidal, saintly, totalitarian, spiritual, but never to simply be a person in this world and let others live their lives as they see fit. Politics operates entirely by means of skillful lies and insinuations. No truly decent person wants any part of this game. – Michael Lipsey