Laziness and a Lack of Ideas

As we move from spring to summer....

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get fired up about anything. There, I said it. I have tried to come up with a post for quite some time, but there's nothing in my head except endless details as I prepare to leave for Africa. Africa. For everyone who has asked and not gotten a good answer out of me...yes, I am going to Ethiopia in July. Ethiopia and then on, to Tanzania where I plan on climbing Kilimanjaro. Not a technical climb, so don't worry - the difficulty is in acclimatizing to the altitude. Kilimanjaro is over 20,000 feet above sea level and the trek up takes one through five distinct climatic zones, from rain forest to snow and ice. And yes again, I am going alone. And, no no no - no one should worry about me once I'm there. What people should worry about is getting me out of New York - with another draft of the screenplay to write, kids to play with and visa issues - the mountain part is seeming like pure pleasure. So that's where I am and that's why I haven't been moved to write anything in awhile...

That said, you should all go out and buy a copy of Philip Roth's latest book, EVERYMAN, immediately. I was literally breathless at points, and I'm in my early-thirties so mortality is not the most pressing issue on my mind at this stage in life. Oldsters, beware! (for those of you above fifty and men...double beware).

Peter Viereck - Founder of mid-20th Century American Conservative Movement Dies at 89

"The liberal sees outer, removable institutions as the ultimate source of evil; sees man's social task as creating a world in which evil will disappear. His tools for this task are progress and enlightenment. The conservative sees the inner unremovable nature of man as the ultimate source of evil; sees man's social task as coming to terms with a world in which evil is perpetual and in which justice and compassion will both be perpetually necessary. His tools for this task are the maintenance of ethical restraints inside the individual and the maintenance of unbroken, continuous social patterns inside the given culture as a whole."

-"The Unadjusted Man" (Beacon Press, 1956)

For those smarty-pants among you who think they know the difference between Liberals and Conservatives, read a bit of Viareck before you align yourself with the propaganda-based definitions commonly accepted post-Buckley. Check out the Times obituary, as linked to this post, for a quick overview. I recommend reading his book, "Conservatism Revisited". Us 'liberals' would do well to revisit his theories.

Things I've Learned Today

1. Insta-families, much like sea-monkies, are possible, minutely lovely - and pretty damn cute, as witnessed this afternoon in TioPol, after a patient wait for my erstwhile Parisian, by way of New York, friend J and his new brood of multi-lingual boys. The changes a year can bring, here's to a future generation of voices booming out 'Heath' from afar.
2. Seven shots are also possible. Innoculations. Without fainting, but aching arms and hot headed.
3. An addendum to above: A vast collection of arrowheads gathered during the ill-fated, Stanley-led Emin Pasha Relief Expedition are on view at my new doctor's office at 5th and 66th Street. Fun for girls who've been engrossed in Colonial history and expeditions (much the way a teenage boy circa 1952 might have been).
4. JS is alive and well and resting (?) in Brussels.
5. Goulders alive, well, spawned resting in ........ (bad news for my autumn solitude - no laughs K, no laughs).

ViviaN GiRlS on the RuN

I wanna be the Henry Darger of the jogger/gator battles to come....

Rant

Walking through Chelsea today, looking at the various new art exhibitions being installed around town and found myself in a silent scream. The fucking mediocrity in this world - in areas we consider sacred. Pathetic, really and maybe not even worth talking about. Maybe we're all mediocre at our core, as we sit back in our comfortable SUVs, turn on our airconditioners and have a muffin while there are treacherous things happening to other people on our planet. So, should we expect more from our 'art', from our movies or from our music. The cultural decay, the moral decay is such that it is almost as though we are sinking in some disgusting bodily fluid each of us afraid to climb out because, hell, at least it's warm in here. I'm starting to obsess over political martyrs, writers who point out our irrevocable fall (o.k. I've always been obsessed over political martyrs and writers who point out our human shortcomings but stay with me here)....I would like to refer back to my previous post about characters of wally shawn and tony kushner, real life people like rachel corrie and and and.....I think we cannot live with ourselves, deepdown in our souls. We know enough of the horror on the periphery - ignoring it has made us rot, and this is reflected in our current popular culture. So, there.

Speaking of Leni Riefenstahl.....

Recently, this came up - influential film directors who happen to be female. A few came up, including Leni and Agnes Varda; Vera Chytilova from Czech new wave. Influential American....? P.S. In terms of acting, I am coming around to the fact that Sissy Spacek made American film in the 1970's not only generally better (in a muse-like way) but just plain gorgeous....can anyone else's face hold light the way hers seems to?

My New T-shirt / I Still Love Leni

Thanks to KL's uber-browsing skills, I will return home to my spanking new, self-created, neo-political, ultra-contrarian two-tone orange 'Rachael Corrie' T-shirt. Why is this my new cause-celebre - what happened to my passion for Leni Riefenstahl you might ask. I'll tell you. It got old. It got obvious. It got too damn acceptable. This leads me to believe that five to seven years of quiet support for a dubious personage or cause will inevitably lead to a shift in social trends ie. acceptance. Time to move on. Corrie, in death and within the current theater season, is a bit more shifting sand. Just because I support PALES...T...I....well, you know, Ms. Redgrave and all....well, most people don't. Surprising after one looks at the facts, I think. So, hence, my fun new T-shirt and the five to seven year path. So. Leni, leni, leni.

OH MY!

Summer Assignments / We should all read Roth

Who can answer the central conceit of this novel!?

What would we give for a genius response. Larkin, cast aside your damn Melville and get on it.