Derrick Jensen's Endgame
My brother, for the holidays, gave me a book entitled "Endgame."
The entire book is just the first half of a two volume set. The first half contains 452 pages, excluding the notes and index. I'm on page 17.
17 pages into this book and I already feel moved enough to drag my severely pained body (SI Joint Issues) out of bed, down the stairs and through the dark living room to fish for my computer so I could drag my crippled legs back up the stairs, thrust my un-crippled portion of my body back onto the rich white sheets and claw my way up into a position comfortable enough to type about my experience with the first 17 pages of this awesomely incredible book.
The secondary title of this book is "The Problem of Civilization" and indeed, this is no metaphor or witty title or over-thought cutesy bullshit catchphrase to interest the apocalypse-fetishized(?) indie shits as they browse their "local" book stores for more works by that dude that wrote Running With Scissors (the single most entertaining and worst piece of literature I have ever read.)
Anyway... The Problem of Civilization. Yes. Indeed. He dives right into it.
"To pretend that civilization can exist without destroying its own landbase and the landbases and cultures of others is to be entirely ignorant of history, biology, thermodynamics, morality, and self-preservation."
- Derrick Jensen (Endgame: Volume 1: The Problem of Civilization)
As I started reading this book I think I felt these things:
1.) All stages of mourning while at once being gleefully distracted from the things I was mourning.
2.) Eerie ghosts crawling around in the shadows of my understimulated grey matter whispering sweet nothings to me about our recent economic collapse.
3.) Happiness.
4.) Jealousy. (Often times, I find that when I have not been very active in the intellectual world and find myself reading excellent material, I kick myself and go "I WAS THINKING THIS TOO! WHY DID I NOT WRITE IT DOWN?!")
5.) Love.
So, I recommend that you all go out, purchase this book and sit your asses down and read it before you do so much as make yourself a god damned pot of tea.
In academic news:
In the way of botany I have submitted an abstract to the Southeaster Biologists Association. In April me, my mentor and a couple of the graduate students will be taking a trip to somewhere here in the South to give presentations on whatever topics we submitted abstracts for. My abstract was on a grape (a grape that some of my friends don't appreciate nearly as much as I do... I can't blame them for their lack of love towards Dionysus's single most important and exclusive source of botanical energy.) It's a grape that hasn't been found in over 100 years and was thought to be extinct and Estes and I rediscovered it two miles from where my shitty apartment marinates in its bed of concrete and asphalt and cigarette ash.
If I spin my web of scientific semantic in just the perfectly enchanting manner I may find myself accepting a sum of 1000$, or more appropriately, the number on my screen when I log into my bank account will have been impregnated with three more numerals. (I currently have a dollar to my name. Donations accepted.)
In other academic news, so far all of my classes are going to be super easy and super awesome with exception of my microbial biology class which I have yet to meet the professor because he canceled class until Wednesday. I imagine it will be a bit challenging but I am ready, especially since my other classes demand so little of my energy.
In relationship news:
The razzle dazzle of the new boy is over with. The expiration date has come and gone and the jug of once refreshing razzle dazzle is sitting in my fridge in a smelly colloidal state bursting with the stench of reality.
1.)He loves two things in life: music and me. He loves them with all the intensity his large body can muster up and he gives equally copious amounts of time to each of these things.
2.)He has the potential to exercise incredible mastery in various (intellectual) fields but due to a.) severe dyslexia b.) a poor Montgomery County Education System and c.) an environment not very conducive to rich cultural experiences, he has yet to come to fruition in this area. I will be the first to admit that I am not too patient in this matter either and that the intense love I described above, mixed with some intimidation, prevents him from caring about the matter any further.
3.)The consequences of one and two combined leave me and the music having to bear all of the responsibility weighed upon us by his mass amount of caring and love he gives. It is overwhelming for me (I can't speak for the guitars and mandolins) and somewhat off-putting.
4.)He lies about really small things because he is embarrassed by them and it really really pisses me off when I catch it.
Other than that, I still really like him! I hope those four things are things we can work through because it would be a huge shame and I would be heartbroken if it was the death of us.
The entire book is just the first half of a two volume set. The first half contains 452 pages, excluding the notes and index. I'm on page 17.
17 pages into this book and I already feel moved enough to drag my severely pained body (SI Joint Issues) out of bed, down the stairs and through the dark living room to fish for my computer so I could drag my crippled legs back up the stairs, thrust my un-crippled portion of my body back onto the rich white sheets and claw my way up into a position comfortable enough to type about my experience with the first 17 pages of this awesomely incredible book.
The secondary title of this book is "The Problem of Civilization" and indeed, this is no metaphor or witty title or over-thought cutesy bullshit catchphrase to interest the apocalypse-fetishized(?) indie shits as they browse their "local" book stores for more works by that dude that wrote Running With Scissors (the single most entertaining and worst piece of literature I have ever read.)
Anyway... The Problem of Civilization. Yes. Indeed. He dives right into it.
"To pretend that civilization can exist without destroying its own landbase and the landbases and cultures of others is to be entirely ignorant of history, biology, thermodynamics, morality, and self-preservation."
- Derrick Jensen (Endgame: Volume 1: The Problem of Civilization)
As I started reading this book I think I felt these things:
1.) All stages of mourning while at once being gleefully distracted from the things I was mourning.
2.) Eerie ghosts crawling around in the shadows of my understimulated grey matter whispering sweet nothings to me about our recent economic collapse.
3.) Happiness.
4.) Jealousy. (Often times, I find that when I have not been very active in the intellectual world and find myself reading excellent material, I kick myself and go "I WAS THINKING THIS TOO! WHY DID I NOT WRITE IT DOWN?!")
5.) Love.
So, I recommend that you all go out, purchase this book and sit your asses down and read it before you do so much as make yourself a god damned pot of tea.
In academic news:
In the way of botany I have submitted an abstract to the Southeaster Biologists Association. In April me, my mentor and a couple of the graduate students will be taking a trip to somewhere here in the South to give presentations on whatever topics we submitted abstracts for. My abstract was on a grape (a grape that some of my friends don't appreciate nearly as much as I do... I can't blame them for their lack of love towards Dionysus's single most important and exclusive source of botanical energy.) It's a grape that hasn't been found in over 100 years and was thought to be extinct and Estes and I rediscovered it two miles from where my shitty apartment marinates in its bed of concrete and asphalt and cigarette ash.
If I spin my web of scientific semantic in just the perfectly enchanting manner I may find myself accepting a sum of 1000$, or more appropriately, the number on my screen when I log into my bank account will have been impregnated with three more numerals. (I currently have a dollar to my name. Donations accepted.)
In other academic news, so far all of my classes are going to be super easy and super awesome with exception of my microbial biology class which I have yet to meet the professor because he canceled class until Wednesday. I imagine it will be a bit challenging but I am ready, especially since my other classes demand so little of my energy.
In relationship news:
The razzle dazzle of the new boy is over with. The expiration date has come and gone and the jug of once refreshing razzle dazzle is sitting in my fridge in a smelly colloidal state bursting with the stench of reality.
1.)He loves two things in life: music and me. He loves them with all the intensity his large body can muster up and he gives equally copious amounts of time to each of these things.
2.)He has the potential to exercise incredible mastery in various (intellectual) fields but due to a.) severe dyslexia b.) a poor Montgomery County Education System and c.) an environment not very conducive to rich cultural experiences, he has yet to come to fruition in this area. I will be the first to admit that I am not too patient in this matter either and that the intense love I described above, mixed with some intimidation, prevents him from caring about the matter any further.
3.)The consequences of one and two combined leave me and the music having to bear all of the responsibility weighed upon us by his mass amount of caring and love he gives. It is overwhelming for me (I can't speak for the guitars and mandolins) and somewhat off-putting.
4.)He lies about really small things because he is embarrassed by them and it really really pisses me off when I catch it.
Other than that, I still really like him! I hope those four things are things we can work through because it would be a huge shame and I would be heartbroken if it was the death of us.