1/27/23
Surprise! I’m back. And after a pleasant lunch with a martini. Now that “the authorities” are admitting that alcohol is basically poison and even a single drink is bad for your health, I have to wonder if that is not part of the attraction -- playing with death. I think it actually has more to do with just altering your state of mind, but this new alternative is interesting. For unknown reasons -- possibly related to anticipated rioting? -- my Bank Cafe closed at 2pm today so I’ve taken refuge at the Mechanics Institute. Turns out there are more people here mid afternoon on a Friday than I would have guessed.
I just climbed the stairs to the upper (magazine) level which turns out to be rather good exercise. If I were them I would repaint the lower walls lining the stair with semi gloss or at least a satin finish as I was dragging along it for support. Of course I have a preference for semi gloss anyway so this means nothing.
As of today before lunch I was to the section of “Less is Lost” set in the South. It is surprisingly good. Some really profound passages even though not much is actually happening at the moment. This is why Greer deserves the praise he has received for his recent work.
1/30/23 - This morning I bought my monthly breakfast croissant sand with egg and did not put on my mask for the transaction. And I paid with cash. After that first, I went to the bank and withdrew $40 for the first time since lockdown. Weeee! Some of the staff at Capital One and Peet’s are still wearing masks, so I do as well here at the bank cafe, but not when I’m off by myself.
I’m dying to go to Pagan, but since we are coming up on a period when I normally go there four times in less than two months, I’m putting that off until my mother’s birthday.
Still reading “Less is Lost.” As usual, I’m finding there is an advantage to not having read much fiction for so long now. I am newly struck by the wonder of fiction. Greer is an inventive author, but what I’m most struck by is the ordinary creation of characters and situations. I may even need to read Martha Grimes again, the queen of characterization. If, as I can’t help thinking, an author can be responsible for keeping their characters alive, wouldn’t that logic apply even more to gods? Which brings me back to my wondering what the “party line” is for Ultra Orthodox Jews when it comes to the Holocaust. Of course, following this same logic, authors are required to kill off characters at times either to further the plot or for emotional effect. Are there limits to how much you can forgive an author for. “Game of Thrones” comes to mind here.
And, having just read to the very end of the third chapter, how sweet it is for the author/creator to summon a hurricane to avoid the nuisance of a trip to the dump. Now this is something a god would do. So what will he do with the van? I have three ideas: It breaks down, which has already been hinted at, but is that foreshadowing or misdirection?; He gives it away; Or my favorite, it is stolen, suddenly leaving him fancy free
Alas, it was foreshadowing after all.
1/31/23 - Returning to my long ago story set in a retirement home for Boomers, I’m now imagining a Pendelton fad and scooters with banana seats.
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