oh, well. enough of That.
you know you're in trouble when you look up and the girl across the lunch table from you is wearing a cross.
school is Silly And Ridiculous (i finally finished song of solomon!) but we did get to write an essay in english today.
i miss Good English Classes. they should happen more often.
and here is A Joke:
last night, i dreamed i was eating flannel cakes. and when i work up the blanket was gone.
on another note, i'm thinking i'm not such a fan of utopian novels. i'm reading herland by charlotte perkins gilman (feminist-y, mid-1800s) and it smacks of looking backward, and they're both so lame.
i mean, i read about These Wonderful Clothes That Are Beautiful And Yet Functional...draw them for me, ms. gilman, please.
show me your cute little socialist women's society where virgin birth is related to willpower and then, then, maybe i'll believe that this isn't just a slightly creepy socialist wetdream. edward bellamy, you too. even plato...come on. yes, it's social critique. yes, [at least in some cases], it's probably not a realistic model. but utopian novels portray this uberreality with a clear disdain for the failings of the present--bellamy has his time traveller, gilman her three men. they view the unified patriotism, the neighborly desire to contribute to society, the perfect social order created by a community of cogs; and then, when forced to reckon with the conditions of their America or their Europe or their Reality, they look ashamedly at their feet and say:
well, gee. gee whiz. i guess we aren't so great after all.
as if, if someone proposed to stop musicians outside the city gates and don't let them inside to perform unless their lyrics uphold the patriotic spirit and ideology of our city and unless their music is harmonically in accord with the highest musical principles, it would go over well, and our society would be the better for it. and maybe if we stopped coveting our property and shared even our children, everyone would benefit.
maybe.
intellectually, i get it.
it's interesting that the more i read and travel, the more respect i have for certain ideas that are basic to american ideology. not all of them, mind you--i pick and choose. but i do not unabashedly and ignorantly rebel against all things north american, as i once did. the East doesn't have the mystical appeal it used to; true, the culture is fascinating, the social order is wonderful to observe, but it is a conformist culture which uses religion and culture and tradition to bind its peoples into comfort with the status quo.
ah.
that feels nice.
pianotime.
school is Silly And Ridiculous (i finally finished song of solomon!) but we did get to write an essay in english today.
i miss Good English Classes. they should happen more often.
and here is A Joke:
last night, i dreamed i was eating flannel cakes. and when i work up the blanket was gone.
on another note, i'm thinking i'm not such a fan of utopian novels. i'm reading herland by charlotte perkins gilman (feminist-y, mid-1800s) and it smacks of looking backward, and they're both so lame.
i mean, i read about These Wonderful Clothes That Are Beautiful And Yet Functional...draw them for me, ms. gilman, please.
show me your cute little socialist women's society where virgin birth is related to willpower and then, then, maybe i'll believe that this isn't just a slightly creepy socialist wetdream. edward bellamy, you too. even plato...come on. yes, it's social critique. yes, [at least in some cases], it's probably not a realistic model. but utopian novels portray this uberreality with a clear disdain for the failings of the present--bellamy has his time traveller, gilman her three men. they view the unified patriotism, the neighborly desire to contribute to society, the perfect social order created by a community of cogs; and then, when forced to reckon with the conditions of their America or their Europe or their Reality, they look ashamedly at their feet and say:
well, gee. gee whiz. i guess we aren't so great after all.
as if, if someone proposed to stop musicians outside the city gates and don't let them inside to perform unless their lyrics uphold the patriotic spirit and ideology of our city and unless their music is harmonically in accord with the highest musical principles, it would go over well, and our society would be the better for it. and maybe if we stopped coveting our property and shared even our children, everyone would benefit.
maybe.
intellectually, i get it.
it's interesting that the more i read and travel, the more respect i have for certain ideas that are basic to american ideology. not all of them, mind you--i pick and choose. but i do not unabashedly and ignorantly rebel against all things north american, as i once did. the East doesn't have the mystical appeal it used to; true, the culture is fascinating, the social order is wonderful to observe, but it is a conformist culture which uses religion and culture and tradition to bind its peoples into comfort with the status quo.
ah.
that feels nice.
pianotime.