Asked Chat if I would like Underworld since I discovered that Chris Viala devotes three hours to talking about it for his end of year video. That alone made me suspect I would not dig DeLillo that much and AI confirms it, especially with this line about what Handke features: Concerned with individual perception, the boundaries of language, and a skepticism of grand narratives. Does Viala ever talk about Handke, not that that would matter much. I enjoyed his takes on Schattenfroh. Nope.
This morning we wait for tech delivery from Dead River. Called them but they have no idea of the route the truck is taking today. Oh well. Wait. Pick up the car at 2 pm. It closes at 3 pm.
Yesterday we managed to rack up over 2k steps just here in the house. Do that again today. Really cold outside, below 10, will go up only to 17 or so.
Found one person on Quora that Chat said sees Handke as an infJ! Clearly wrong. Playing Myers-Briggs as bad as astrology I guess. Headache strong five minutes ago. Diminished a bit since. Wait before popping another advil. Do a stretch walk around the house or something. Rinse off some dishes.
The painter's tirade against border fraud and the horrible stairway at the Festival theater is magnificent! And not at all the work of a J but of an F in tirade mode, rife with cultural observations and niggles, perceptions and discernments about the deadly weight of bad design on the soul of the place and the souls of those condemned to climb the stairs and run down it. 77 "The painter stopped and laughed. 'Hm. What will I do? What will we do? Because my enemies elude my enmity.'"
Dead River delivery. If I had known the main office was in Philadelphia I would have switched thirty years ago!!! Paid for the rental car too. Bright afternoon, cold!! High of 17 or so. General Hospital on too.
from John the literary historian---
I don't think I have anything as interesting to say on this subject as you guys have. To go way back, there was a time in high school where I thought about the priesthood, and though libido had pretty well convinced me by graduation that that wasn't the road, I was still torn at the end of h.s. about whether to go to Harvard or Holy Cross, the top Catholic college I'd applied to.
As I recall (and I wish I'd been a journaler, Phi), I stopped going to Mass by the summer after freshman year. For me, the theology was crucial. Sometimes I wish it weren't. There is something good for manyin hanging onto community and custom, but I couldn't do it. I would call myself an agnostic rather than atheist, in no small part because modern cosmology and physics are so mind-boggling. Sometimes I joke that I'm so agnostic I'm not sure I am.
Having a number of very smart friends at Notre Dame who are devout Catholics has been interesting. They were politically liberal and very often complaining about "the Church" but not inclined to leave. Catholicism has this interesting dual tradition of authoritarianism, including siding with Fascism, and leftist concern for the poor and suspicion of capitalism.
There are times, including these last few months, where I miss believing in prayer. But a fundamental problem for me is that I have trouble imagining a god who would need or want to be prayed to.
So here I am. Some nostalgia at Christmas and other times, but not enough to think about returning.
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we watched the second Love in Barcelona movie from Hallmark Media. Village in Euskadi famous for making azafran from the fields of crocuses. Family over generations, village so remote no one can find it. Sounds like the village we found and later got the photo of it from Bill Baker. L'Alberca. Wow that name came after only a few seconds of searching my mind for it.
Waiting now for the plane to land and the kids to arrive. Maybe by 10 pm. Now almost 5 pm. Bela on the piano now. She found a house in Javea with a heated pool.
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