Reticent, Riot, Wrought — Noreen Petrichor Interview (EDITED and UNEDITED VERSION) by Gerry Fialka — Oct, 2020
Reticent, Riot, Wrought — Noreen Petrichor Interview (EDITED and UNEDITED VERSION) by Gerry Fialka — Oct, 2020
EDITED VERSION:
‘RETICENT, RIOT, WROUGHT:’ THE WIT AND WISDOM OF ‘NOTES FROM NOREEN’
The Westside’s own ‘paramedia ecologist’ Gerry Fialka interviews The Best ‘Westchester Crank’ around in this correspondence for the ages
The Argonaut 10–21–20 Best of Westside https://argonautnews.com/humor-best-letter-to-the-editor-2020/ T
Interview by Gerry Fialka | Edited by Christina Campodonico
I was in stitches, laughing my head off reading a witty letter to the editor of The Argonaut written by the “Westchester Crank” known as Noreen “Do Not Resuscitate” Petrichor, who occasionally submits humorous letters under the guise of an old lady (or maybe she is a little old lady!) to our local rag. She’s commented on everything from the plethora of Bird Scooters on the Westside (Issue: July 24, 2018) to the dearth of affordable housing west of the 405 (Issue: Oct. 17, 2018). You may have seen these “Notes From Noreen” in the letters section of The Argonaut with the tagline, “She may be fictional, but nobody’s perfect.”
Then I found another letter by Noreen “Blood Type: Cod Liver Oil” Petrichor (again aka “Westchester Crank”) in the June 10, 2020 issue. In it, she lamented the tough times on local journalism and relayed her astute observations on the recent George Floyd protests in Santa Monica with wit and wisdom.
Since I immediately wanted to interview Noreen, I asked the editor, who kindly gave me her email address. I sent the request. Noreen granted my request on the condition that we conduct the interview via email. I sent her over 130 questions. I have interviewed people for 60 years. Noreen’s interview rates as one of the very best.
No one has ever answered all of my questions. She did! Usually I do these interviews in person, and cover the first 60 questions. I was in tears of laughing fits reading her answers. The following includes highlights from an insightful, hysterical and enlightening correspondence. To this day, Noreen’s true identity remains a mystery.
1. What’s the best thing for a human being?
To remember to breathe. And to try your best in the face of all-out calamity.
5. What is your earliest memory?
I remember being in some waiting room with garish fluorescent lighting. The floors were linoleum and everything gleamed with antiseptic cleanliness. I like to think it was some kind of pre-life purgatory I was loitering in.
6. Is memory a curse or a blessing?
I’m leaning toward a blessing. Though memory can be an accursed thing. It’ll always wake you up to the good stuff. The cherished nostalgia that enwraps and transports you to bonnie yesteryear.
7. Who were your earliest role-models within your immediate family, and how did they specifically influence/affect you, briefly?
My brother. That’s probably the first time I’ve ever conceded the significant impact he had on my upbringing. He was a right-proper son-of-a-b*tch. Taught me the meaning of duress and grace under fire.
Again, son-of-a-b*tch.
8. Who were/are your role models outside your immediate family and how specifically did/do they affect you, briefly? Earliest, and/or later in life.
Garfield. I was a lonely child and the only true-blue companions I had were those goddamn books. Taught me the importance of lasagna and the absurdity of Mondays.
10. Do evil people exist or does evil use people as a vehicle?
Evil is temporary. Evil is usually a byproduct of fear. But evil using people as a vehicle like an Uber or something is an interesting notion.
11. How do you advise someone to deal with an enemy? Consider — Alan Watts: “If you acknowledge your enemy, you empower them.” Coppola stole from the Mob and Samurais: “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” Frenemies. JFK: “Forgive your enemy but don’t forget their name.” Fellini: “I need an enemy.” Chinese proverb: “He who cannot agree with their enemy is controlled by them.” Levi-Strauss: “Cannibals boil friends, and roast enemies.” Also, please comment on the first quote.
Be the first to extend that hand of reconciliation and understanding. Little use for an enemy in your life. Convert your enemies to friends. You can still hate them as friends.
13. Lewis Hines published photos of child labor in newspapers, printed matter. Upton Sinclair wrote the book “The Jungle.” They both have been credited as the tipping-point to change laws. Can you tell me of any music, theater, art, or film that actually was the tipping point to change laws?
I think “Super Size Me” was pretty pivotal in getting people to rethink McDonald’s. It certainly dented their bottom line to no end. Which is great because they’re McTerrible.
Same with “Blackfish.” I think that documentary really horrified people and got people to stop patronizing Sea World. I certainly did. And I had such fond childhood memories of the flamingos.
15. What first attracted you to pursue writing?
It was something I had a knack for. Spending a majority of my youth writhing in the aisles of libraries and my library card permanently welded to my gnarled hand, I was hopelessly bookish. And my background and career just kind of veered in that direction, like a moth to a flame.
16. If clothing is an extension of skin, and knife & fork are extensions of teeth, what human sensorium does the moving image camera extend? (Or the pen, paint brush, musical instrument, etc.).
The arch of the feet. Because good art should incite something within to get you out and about and pursue something creative yourself, lighting a little fire under your soles to seek out meaning through creation.
22. “Film as an art form has been swindled by capitalism.” Any comments?
There’s probably some validity to that statement. But commercialization and the de-soulization of art can also take on a beautiful medley. I imagine one can easily orchestrate some kind of EDM tune out of cash register ka-chings. Something throngs can dance to. Or at the very least writhe to hopelessly.
23. Jean-Luc Godard told Michael Moore his film “Fahrenheit 9/11” was going to help George W. Bush get elected. With the slew of political documentaries over recent years, do they activate or make us more passive?
Jean-Luc Godard is still around? Jesus Christ.
24. Marcel Duchamp said there is no art without an audience. What role does the audience play in your creative process (during the making)?
Wouldn’t your own morbid curiosity stand in as an audience? That’s kind of the way I approach it. Lots of the stuff I write has the primary purpose of amusing myself. And whenever I attempt to write for a specific audience in mind, I find the product stilted and wooden and quite often not worth the effort. It’s probably why a majority of my writing shan’t ever find the light of day.
25. What was the motive of the cave artists?
Their scrawling probably stemmed from the great existential compulsion: To impress chicks. And if my understanding of prehistoric times is correct, chicks in sabertooth tiger leopard print bikinis holding medium-rare mastodon steaks.
26. What is more important — conviction or compromise?
You’re doing yourself a disservice confining yourself to dual absolutes. There’s always a third option. Hell, there’s always usually forty options. “Sit and eat mustard.” There. There’s a perfectly good alternative avenue. It’s not always the best or most salient, sure. But it confounds conventional offerings and opens up a wealth of paths. You can replace “mustard” with any number of suitable condiments.
27. Is ambition based more on fear or joy?
Fear is probably going to be the most effective flammable kindling to fuel any endeavour. Can’t say it’s the most sustainable nor healthy accelerant to stoke your creative drive. But it works. I’m not sure a starving man is able to wrestle away a discarded chicken bone from another starving man during a famine because joy imbued him with bloodthirsty survival instincts.
Cheesecake is more a joy thing. I can see someone bludgeoning someone over the last crumb of cheesecake joyfully. But that’s just me.
29. T.S. Eliot said that poetry is outing your inner dialogue. What language is your inner dialogue in? What form is your inner consciousness in?
A high-pitched regional dialect of Klingon. And the consciousness employs the same tongue. Just with a Long Island accent.
36. What elements of your art have changed and what have remained the same since you started creating art?
As I age, I have to ward off complacency more. And coasting. Get good at writing a certain way and it’s all too alluring to just keep ringing that bell. The trick is to find a knack to keep seeking out new challenges. Otherwise, stagnancy sets in. And that’s doom… Learned doom.
42. Is human progress cyclical or cumulative?
All these either/or questions. I’m always going to opt for some third option. Just to be contrary. It’s just become knee-jerk at this point. I’m going with human progress is rhombus-shaped.
48. If a publisher was to release your autobiography, off the top of your head, what would the title be? They want to scent the glue in the binding. What smell would it be?
“Paradise Misplaced: Where’s the Spare?”
I’d want it to smell like shellfish.
50. Please tell me something good you never had and you never want.
Common sense.
51. If you were in a vat of vomit up to your neck and somebody threw a bag of sh*t at your face, what would you do?
I’d ask them how much I owe for the fancy exfoliation. My skin’s never looked more aglow.
55. The internet connected the world with one another. Communication has never been swifter or more readily available to the masses. What does it retrieve that was previously obsolesced?
Being a shut-in. It’s quite in vogue now.
62. Summarize your life in three words, all starting with the same letter.
Reticent, Riot, Wrought.
65. What is the worst thing for a human being?
A hip replacement.
78. What is going to be after the internet?
Handprints on cave walls.
81. Are the laws of nature cruel?
The laws of nature are stoic and have no use for our feelings. But don’t take it personally.
122. If God exists, what do you want God to tell you after you die ?
Directions to the bathroom. I imagine it’ll have been a long trip.
136. If the journey is more important than the destination, why do we have to seek (or name) a destination?
Always. The destination is incidental. It’s the journey that’s worth a damn at all. Sometimes we’re so preoccupied with the destination that we miss out on the journey altogether. And that’s pretty pitiable, all said. There’s some nice views along the way. Smell a few roses. Kick over a few rocks. Why not?
Gerry Fialka is the author of the new book ‘Strange Questions: Experimental Film as Conversation.’ The book’s salon release party happens virtually from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 24. RSVP or learn more at laughtears.com/strange-questions.html. Upcoming events hosted by Fialka include: The PXL THIS 30 Toy Camera Film Festival (tinyurl.com/pxlthis) on YouTube from 7 to 10 p.m. Nov. 15, the 18th annual Venice Film Fest on Jan. 23, 2021, and the 11th annual Poetry of Venice Photography on Jan. 30, 2021. Visit laughtears.com to learn more and stay updated.
Gerry Fialka’s new film/philosophy/interview book Strange Questions: Experimental Film as Conversation
was just published October 1, 2020 Available here in paperback and kindle from Amazon
Compelling interviews with notables in avant-garde cinema offer insights into moving image art — its creative processes, formative influences, and hidden psychic effects. Through interviews with George Manupelli, Chick Strand, Tom Gunning, Lynne Sachs, Jay Rosenblatt, Martha Colburn, Evan Meaney, Mike Hoolboom, Robert Nelson, and Nina Menkes, Strange Questions links powerful personal stories with the contemporary media-scape. VISIT: http://laughtears.com/strange-questions.html
PXL THIS 30 Toy Camera Film Festival premieres Sunday, Nov 15, 2020 at 7pm on Youtbe. The PXL-2000 (Pixelvision) is a toy camera, manufactured by Fisher-Price from 1987–89, that records on quarter-inch audio cassette tape. The low resolution and high contrast was made for kids, but became suitable for artists. Today Pixelators are merging Pixelvision with cell phones and live streaming. Electronic Folk Art . . . Lo-Fi Hi-Jinx ! The 30th annual toy camera film festival PXL THIS 30 features Pixelvision. PXL THIS, one of the oldest film festivals in LA, celebrates visionary moving image artists from seminal experimental filmmakers to 2-years-olds to homeless to professionals.
Zoom Salons also — rsvp for details pfsuzy@aol.com
VISIT: https://www.facebook.com/events/3778262985534746/ and http://laughtears.com/PXL-THIS-30.html
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COMPLETE, UNEDITED VERSION
Reticent, Riot, Wrought — Noreen Petrichor Interview (COMPLETE, UNEDITED VERSION) by Gerry Fialka — Oct, 2020
1- What’s the best thing for a human being?
To remember to breath. And to try your best in the face of all-out calamity.
2- What is your favorite form of information?
Stumbled upon and new. And old information reexamined to reveal further insights.
3- Why do we collect/gather information?
To grow and learn. And to appeal to our hoarder mentality.
4- Is this need or want to collect information learned or hardwired?
Likely learned. The urge to hoard information. Like people who survived the Depression and live the rest of their lives saving twine and little nuggets of soap and stuff. Just out of habit and fear of want.
5- What is your earliest memory?
I remember being in some waiting room with garish fluorescent lighting. The floors were linoleum and everything gleamed with antiseptic cleanliness. I like to think it was some kind of pre-life purgatory I was loitering in.
6- Is memory a curse or a blessing? (Please note that we are trying to get beyond either/or, and deeper into the meta-cognition of it all. We know it involves the context and/or the specific situation, but what is this question really about?)
I’m leaning toward a blessing. Though memory can be an accursed thing, it’ll always wake you up to the good stuff. The cherished nostalgia that enwraps and transports you to bonnie yesteryear.
7- Who were your earliest role-models within your immediate family, and how did they specifically influence/affect you, briefly?
My brother. That’s probably the first time I’ve ever conceded the significant impact he had on my upbringing. He was a right-proper son-of-a-bitch. Taught me the meaning of duress and grace under fire.
Again, son-of-a-bitch.
8- Who were/are your role models outside your immediate family and how specifically did/do they affect you, briefly? Earliest, and/or later in life.
Garfield. I was a lonely child and the only true-blue companions I had were those goddamn books. Taught me the importance of lasagna and the absurdity of Mondays.
9- Were you raised a particular religion? If so, are you still practicing? Do you pray?
I went to Catholic School as a youth. And grew up with Buddhist sensibilities. At the moment, I just kind of make up my own religion as I go along. I do pray incessantly. But I’d be okay if they fell upon deaf ears. I just like the tune of them generally.
10- Do evil people exist or does evil use people as a vehicle?
Evil is temporary. Evil is usually a byproduct of fear. But evil using people as a vehicle like an Uber or something is an interesting notion.
11- How do you advise someone to deal with an enemy? Consider — Alan Watts: “If you acknowledge your enemy, you empower them.” Coppola stole from the Mob and Samurais: “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” Frenemies. JFK: “Forgive your enemy but don’t forget their name.” Fellini: “I need an enemy.” Chinese proverb: “He who cannot agree with their enemy is controlled by them.” Levi-Strauss: “Cannibals boil friends, and roast enemies.” Also, please comment on the first quote.
Be the first to extend that hand of reconciliation and understanding. Little uses for an enemy in your life. Convert your enemies to friends. You can still hate them as friends.
12- James Joyce was the first projectionist in Dublin over 100 years ago. He checked out and asked, “Why should I go inside a building and see a movie of a tree when I can go outside and see a real tree?” Years later William Faulkner said that the best fiction can be more true than journalism. Why do we have to recreate/reproduce things in order to get them? Why do we go to a theatrical play of people acting out life? Why don’t we just live life?
All of these answers can be connected with a fear of death and the imminent acute awareness of their own mortality. We seek distractions to momentarily get death off the mind. And we create because it yields a fleeting sense of control. And control helps us cope. Even the illusion of it.
So, in a nutshell, maybe people prefer the manufactured and tidy world of fiction because real life is just too improvisational. And that lets in the possibility of death (!) sluicing in between the crevices of reality.
13- Lewis Hines published photos of child labor in newspapers, printed matter. Upton Sinclair wrote the book The Jungle. They both have been credited as the tipping-point to change laws. Can you tell me of any music, theater, art, or film that actually was the tipping point to change laws?
I think Super Size-Me was pretty pivotal in getting people to rethink McDonalds. It certainly dented their bottom line no end. Which is great because they’re McTerrible.
Same with Black FIsh. I think that documentary really horrified people and got people to stop patronizing Sea World. I certainly did. And I had such fond childhood memories of the flamingos.
14- A screenwriting teacher told me a great film is when you can clearly see the intention of the maker. Stanley Kubrick says the opposite: great art is when you can not see the intention of the maker. What role does intention play in your creative process?
Intent seems kind of incidental to the whole creative process and consumption. Authorial intent is kind of tough to navigate and when one is really in a writing frenzy, serves as more of a hindrance. I don’t always have a target I’m trying to hit when writing. So when I miss completely, I don’t feel so gloomy.
15- What first attracted you to pursue filmmaking? (and/or writing, activism, painting, etc)
It was something I had a knack for. Spending a majority of my youth writhing in the aisles of libraries and my library card permanently welded to my gnarled hand, I was hopelessly bookish. And my background and career just kind of veered in that direction. Like a moth to a flame.
16- If clothing is an extension of skin, and knife & fork are extensions of teeth, what human sensorium does the moving image camera extend? (or the pen, paint brush, musical instrument, etc)
The arch of the feet. Because good art should incite something within to get you out and about and pursuing something creative yourself. Lighting a little fire under your soles to seek out meaning through creation.
17- McLuhan said there is no such thing as a good or bad movie, it’s a good or bad viewing experience. Any comment.
I’d lend a degree of credence to that statement. Sort’ve. I’m of the belief that there aren’t bad films. Any film that manages to navigate the gauntlet of getting-made in the first place is going to have some merits going for it. And I choose to focus on that no small Herculean attribute. But, also, I’ve sat through atrocious movies. But if you’re with the right people and right crowd, can still prove to be a memorable experience. Those midnight screenings of The Room or any live screening of Mystery Science Theater 3000 are testament to that. It’s like a fine dining experience. You can be feasting on filet mignon and imbibing champagne with a shitty person and that meal is going to be grating. But you can have a stale hot dog in Central Park with a good friend and that just may be the best meal you’ve ever had. Company counts.
18- Peter Greenaway said that cinema is much too rich a medium to be left to storytellers. Are experimental filmmakers telling stories a different way or doing something completely different? Is Tony Conrad’s The Flicker storytelling?
I immediately screened The Flicker upon reading your mention of it. And now my neck is permanently strained from the weight of numerous tumors that have sprouted spontaneously upon my brain. Which is fine. My doctor says I was dangerously under-weight. This should count as additional heft. I’ll be celebrating by skipping lunch.
19- If you and I were starting the Ann Arbor Film Festival with George Manupelli many years ago, would you want to be more inclusive or exclusive? Keep in mind that it’s featured a fraction of animation and documentaries, but mainly is experimental films. Chick Strand was starting Canyon Cinema around the same time in the SF area. She told me they were trying to recreate their 11 cent movie-going experience by showing a feature along with a newsreel, a cartoon and then added an experimental film. Stan Brakhage told them to just show experimental because those other genres have venues. And what are the possible motives and consequences of being more exclusive or more inclusive (which means showing all genres: animations, documentaries, experimental and mainstream movies too)?
I’d want to be more inclusive. Just heap it all on my plate. I was one of those Depression-era kids that just lumped everything into a mush and still managed to scrape the bottom of my bowl with my spoon. And just hoped for nutritional value and nourishment. As a result, I pretty much have an appetite for everything. And a very much diminished gag reflex.
20- What are the services and disservices of the ghettoization of experimental film? When Jackson Pollock was on the cover of Life Magazine in 1949, regular folks could start developing an aesthetic on experimental painting. There was no Bruce Conner or Maya Deren Life Magazine covers. Generally it’s the privileged (alot of rich art kids) who develop an avant garde aesthetic and dominate the experimental film world. Any comments.
I suppose this statement boils down to starving and well-nourished artists. And can artists bang out decent artistic expression when they know they have a plump chicken in the oven. I don’t know. I imagine you can have a sizeable bank account and still maintain artistic validity. Michael Jordan was a multimillionaire. And, boy, could that guy dunk well into the twilight of his career.
21- When I asked Michael Apted years ago why rock video makers feel so obliged to edit fast, he told me “because we have learned to take in information faster.” Martin Scorsese also said that he edited his films faster because of MTV. Can we indeed learn to take in info faster? Is it literally possible to multi-task?
I’m of the school that quick-quick-quick is slowly degenerating our brains. We aren’t bored enough anymore. And I think from boredom springs forth some of our most vigorous ideas and creative impetus. We may be receiving information into our brains faster but I’m not certain how thoroughly we’re actually processing it. I think we’ve sped up information-intake but have dampened thoughtful rumination.
22- “Film as an art form has been swindled by capitalism.” Any comments.
There’s probably some validity to that statement. But commercialization and the de-soulization of art can also take on a beautiful medley. I imagine one can easily orchestrate some kind of EDM tune out of cash register ka-chings. Something throngs can dance to. Or at the very least writhe to hopelessly.
23- Jean-Luc Godard told Michael Moore his film Fahrenheit 9/11 was going to help Bush get elected. With the slew of political documentaries over recent years, do they more activate or more passive?
Jean-Luc Godard is still around? Jesus Christ.
24- Marcel Duchamp said there is no art without an audience. What role does the audience play in your creative process (during the making)?
Wouldn’t your own morbid curiosity stand in as an audience? There’s kind of the way I approach it. Lots of the stuff I write has the primary purpose of amusing myself. And whenever I attempt to write for a specific audience in mind, I find the product stilted and wooden and quite often not worth the effort. It’s probably why a majority of my writing shan’t ever find the light of day.
25- What was the motive of the cave artists?
Their scrawling probably stemmed from the great existential compulsion: To impress chicks. And if my understanding of prehistoric times is correct, chicks in sabertooth tiger leopard print bikinis holding medium-rare mastodon steaks.
26- What is more important — conviction or compromise?
You’re doing yourself a disservice confining yourself to dual absolutes. There’s always a third option. Hell, there’s always usually forty options. “Sit and eat mustard.” There. There’s a perfectly good alternative avenue. It’s not always the best or most salient, sure. But it confounds conventional offerings and opens up a wealth of paths. You can replace “mustard” with any number of suitable condiments.
27- Is ambition based more on fear or joy?
Fear is probably going to be the most effective flammable kindling to fuel any endeavour. Can’t say it’s the most sustainable nor healthy accelerant to stoke your creative drive. But it works. I’m not sure a starving man is able to wrestle away a discarded chicken bone from another starving man during a famine because joy imbued him with bloodthirsty survival instincts.
Cheesecake is more a joy thing. I can see someone bludgeoning someone over the last crumb of cheesecake joyfully. But that’s just me.
28- Is loyalty based on reason?
I can see appealing to someone’s sense of reason when it comes to loyalty. Though I imagine it comes in all shapes and sizes. Like snowflakes.
29- T.S. Eliot said that poetry is outing your inner dialogue. What language is your inner dialogue in? What form is your inner consciousness in?
A high-pitched regional dialect of Klingon. And the consciousness employs the same tongue. Just with a Long Island accent.
30- George Manupelli says “Ignore yourself.” Jonas Mekas says there is no self-expression. Cecil Taylor says he is a vehicle and it comes through him. Is art making more self-expression or more vehicles for whatever dominant technology or culture is currently present? Can art-making be egoless?
The only ego-less art would be the secret art that is intended for no eyes but your own. Art that you create and immediately put to a flame consign to nothingness and eternity. That’s probably the best art. That’ll hang on no hinge in any gallery anywhere. Art without eyeballs. Without scrutiny or scoffs or any sort of judgement No posterity and no past to be accountable to. Perfect art, all said.
31- Is perception reality?
It’s the best consolation we’ve got for the time being. And often time it serves its purpose and is just enough. And when it’s not we can learn to lump it.
32- McLuhan probed Finnegans Wake by James Joyce: artists dream awake. We all have creative powers we use to dream while sleeping, but artists also use them while awake. Dream awake. Have dreams played a role in your creative process? How? Please recall a dream. Consider- “It is a film-maker’s privilege to be able to allow a large number of people to dream the same dreaming together, and to show us, moreover, the optical illusions of unreality with the rigor of realism” — Jean Cocteau
I dream quite a bit. And I’ve kept rigorous records of said dreams for decades. I keep a fastidious dream journal and springing out of bed to scrawl it in has become second nature. It was a bit of a strain at first to teach myself to remember dreams but it’s like a muscle that just needs to be exercised. Now I can recall dreams mostly effortlessly. My dream journal is like eight hundred pages now. Some entries a few sentences. Others are entire symphonies of oddities. I enjoy going back and reliving them immensely. They’re little wormholes into my subconscious.
33- McLuhan reworded Browning’s “Our reach should exceed our grasp or what is heaven for?” to “Our reach should exceed our grasp or what is a metaphor?” How and why do you use metaphor in your art?
If I’m employing metaphors in my work, then it’s unintentional. Alot of my life’s achievements have been unintentional. Incidental and unsought success somehow is more savory to me.
34- Why is it so difficult for humans to consider the possibility that life may be pointless?
Ego. They find inconceivable the idea that their toil and sweat of getting up every morning and giving a damn is all for naught. They just can’t entertain the notion that everything is meaningless and without purpose. That’s a fate that’s worse than the agony of a thousand deaths. But a little nihilism can go a long way.
35- Lewis Carroll said “I believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” Have you believed in any impossible things lately?
The impossible things are the only worthwhile things to assign any reasonable thought to. The world belongs to the people who can see value in longshots. Who can see the one-in-a-million successes regularly. X-ray specs for the implausible. If you can train yourself to cultivate that spectrum of vision, you’ll be just fine.
36- What elements (one major element) of your art have changed and what have remained the same since you started creating art?
As I age, I have to ward off complacency more. And coasting. Get good at writing a certain way and it’s all too alluring to just keep ringing that bell. The trick is to find a knack to keep seeking out new challenges. Otherwise, stagnancy sets in. And that’s doom. Learned doom.
37- Moshe Feldenkrais said that it is literally possible to identify a weakness and incorporate it to become a strength. We are normally taught to overcome a weakness. Please tell me a weakness that you have turned into a strength.
I’ve converted my peanut allergy into a lucrative lawsuit against the Planters Corporation.
38- The American Indians and Eastern culture respect their elders. Can you explain Western culture’s disdain for old age?
Again, a fear of their own death and an inability to come to terms with their own mortality. They project their own rejection of death to the people who are a little more proximitous to it. If they would just accept that their demise is inevitable, maybe they would be a little more courteous to the elderly. Or at the very least stop trying to steal our PIN numbers all the time.
39- Why would Joseph Beuys say “Make the secrets productive.” Lew Welsh said, “Guard the secrets, constantly reveal them.” Thorton Wilder (1928) said, “Art is confession; art is the secret told. . . . But art is not only the desire to tell one’s secret; it is the desire to tell it and hide it at the same time.” What are you really all about? What role do secrets play in your creative process?
I like to think that a certain degree of vulnerability is critical to producing honest work. Or any sort of work that I would care to invest time into. Why bother if I’m just going to dodge and weave truth? Anything worth a damn should yield some kind of emotional return upon completion. Some kind of personal payoff. Otherwise, maybe I’m working on the wrong project.
Vulnerability is critical to good art. Or at least honest art. Peel off that layer of artifice and even if the art is loathed, it’s still a success in terms of its authenticity. And the frothing crowds have gotta spare some plaudits for that. Whether they realize it or not.
40- Fill in the blank: Anger be a productive emotion when …………..
…it’s bottled up and combusts at an opportune moment. Preferably when there’s a precariously ornate wedding cake nearby.
41- Can satire be destructive? Swift compared satire to a mirror in which people could see every face but their own.
Anything can be destructive. No matter how innocuous and anodyne-appearing. I’ve read about people in prison that fashion crude but effective weapons out of toilet paper rolls and balled up socks. That must be a disappointing end. To be murdered with a q-tip or something.
42- Is human progress cyclical or cumulative?
All these either/or questions. I’m always going to opt for some third option. Just to be contrary. It’s just become knee-jerk at this point. I’d going with human progress is rhombus-shaped.
43- What the most significant difference between women and men, physical aside? Why do women live longer than men?
I’d warrant that it’s physiological. Something in the ovaries, I’d say.
44- “You create what you resist” and “You are what you hate” Any comments. James Joyce wrote, “It is a curious thing…how your mind is supersaturated with the religion in which you say you disbelieve.” “Thank God I’m an atheist” — Luis Bunuel
Maybe religion is like quicksand. The more you struggle, the more mired you become in it. So just let it happen. And hopefully your lungs will fill quickly with the goop. That could be your only clemency remaining.
45- How do you find peace of mind?
Birdsong. And watching the pretty things go by. That usually winds my clock.
46- If you were walking down the street today and you met yourself as a 12 year old, what would you say to your 12 year old self?
I’d say little. Lest I ruin the surprise. I’d probably provide my prepubescent self some illegal firecrackers though. Man, that would’ve made my day.
47- Should toilet paper go over or under the roll? Why? ( “The silly question is the first intimation of some totally new development” — Alfred North Whitehead)
It should alternate. Keep your butthole on its toes.
48- If a publisher was to release your autobiography, off the top of your head, what would the title be? They want to scent the glue in the binding. What smell would it be?
“Paradise Misplaced: Where’s the Spare?”
I’d want it to smell like shellfish.
49- If a statue was built in your honor, where would it be displayed and what would it be made of?
I’d want it to be placed on some oil rig in the Caspian Sea. And it can be made of clumps of dried spaghetti.
50- Please tell me something good you never had and you never want.
Common-sense.
51- If you were in a vat of vomit up to your neck and somebody threw a bag of shit at your face, what would you do?
I’d ask them how much I owe for the fancy exfoliation. My skin’s never looked more aglow.
52- What is the healthiest cultural shift you see developing today?
Kindness. I felt like people were meaner when I was younger. Maybe as I age I’m more prone to exposing my soft underbelly more. If I’m gutted and my entrails spread out all over my vintage duvet while my valuables are ransacked, well, I suppose I just had it coming.
53- What gives you the most optimism?
Youthful enthusiasm. Before the crushing onus of existence extinguishes it.
54- What is the most overrated idea ?
Communism.
55- Please answer the 4 questions of McLuhan’s Tetrad for:
One= the most dominant invention of all time,
Two= the most dominant invention in your lifetime,
or any human invention (tangible or not)
A: what does it enhance or intensify?
The internet connected the world with one another. Communication has never been swifter or more readily available to the masses.
B: what does it render obsolete or replace?
Patience and thoughtfulness. With this push-button age, consideration and reflection seems to have taken a backseat.
C: what does it retrieve that was previously obsolesced?
Being a shut-in. It’s quite in vogue now.
D: what does it become when pressed to an extreme, what does it flip into?
Skynet.
56- Any rituals or routines in your creative process?
Submersion in freezing cold water followed by a series of vigorous squats. I’ll then warm-up by sobbing a little and then it’s just an outpouring of inspiration from there.
57- What is the function of poetry? music?
Consider-
Kenneth Rexroth said, “The purpose of poetry is to woo your lover and subvert the bourgeois”… Leo Bersani’s Mallarme study: “The very crisis which threatens the writing of poetry sustains poetic composition.” … Gary Snyder said: “My task as a poet entails the work of seeing the world without language and then bringing that seeing into language.” …
Consider- John Cage learned that the function of music was to “to sober and quiet the mind, thus rendering it susceptible to divine influences”.
I’d wholeheartedly agree with all those sentiments. There’s a proximity to the divine with poetry and music. It transports and thins the walls of self-consciousness so that you’re more receptive to a calling of enhanced self-awareness. Everyone should have a steady ration of poetry and music in their lives daily. It’s as essential as food and sunshine.
58- What questions remain unresolved for you?
What could’ve been? And when will enough be enough?
59- What is it about your art that audiences resonate with?
There’s a carefreeness that percolates through the paragraphs. The lack of drafts and revisions are readily apparent in my writing as well. There’s a spontaneity that is pretty evident. And rightly so.
60- Larry Jordan: “Human beings conduct their lives from much stronger sources than the rational mind.” Name other sources? How do you navigate and understand their relationships. What about the spaces between the sources?
Intuition. And that’s something you learn to embrace or renounce as you get older.
61- Put in order what the most important “W” words are for you: who, what, when, where or why.
Why, What, Who, Where, and When.
62- Summarize your life in three words, all starting with the same letter.
Reticent, Riot, Wrought.
63- Are we hardwired for blaming? storytelling? violence?
Hardwired for storytelling sounds about right to me. That’s just boiled into our DNA, it seems. Before babies can speak words they’re already pointing at things and trying to convey a series of somethings to us. That’s storytelling at its most elemental principle. “You, me, and this now. Look”
64- Consider: TV is light through, like stain glass window, right brained, more female. Film (movies) is light on, like a mural, left brained, more male. Movies present reflected light (‘light on’) to the viewer, while a TV picture is back lit (‘light through’). McLuhan said the cinema image, typically a 35mm frame, is made up of millions of dots, or emulsion, and is much more ‘saturated’ than the lines and pixels of the TV image. He argued that the TV screen invited the audience to ‘fill-in’ a low-intensity image, much like following the bounding lines of a cartoon. That made TV more ‘involving’ and more tactile. The high-intensity film image allows for much more information on screen, but also demands a higher degree of visual perception and cognition. In that sense, he said, film is a ‘hot’ medium, TV a ‘cool’ bath. Hearing is related to the associative thought attributed to the right brain, while sight is connected to the left brain’s rational structuring. “The phonetic alphabet forced the magic world of the ear to yield to the neutral world of the eye. Man was given an eye for an ear.” -McLuhan. “What can’t be coded can be decorded if an ear aye sieze what no eye ere grieved for.” — James Joyce Finnegans Wake (482.30–36). Any comments.
That’s a lot to chew. But I like the visual metaphor of film being hot and television being a cold bath. What does that make watching something on your phone? A well-aimed water balloon to the face?
65- What is the worst thing for a human being?
A hip replacement.
66- What artist would you want to do your portrait?
That Russian artist who did “Girl With Peaches.” I like the cut of his jib.
67- If you were a chair, who would you want to sit on you?
Winston Churchill.
68- Who started it all? Are we going to make it? Where do we put it? Who’s cleaning it up? Is it serious?
Respectively: Galactus. We’re definitely going to make it. We’re tough as nails and tough to eradicate. Like cockroaches. We must place it back where we found it. We also must learn to clean up after ourselves. That’s just roommates 101. It’s serious on paper but it’s best to approach it cavalier. Otherwise, you’ll get into your own head too much.
69- Are we making it happen or watching it happen?
We’re passively making it happen.
70- “I am trying to get more control over my spontaneity.” Any comments.
Some folks just have improvisation be a knee-jerk reaction. It’s best to be aware of such leanings and try to be purposeful in your recklessness.
71- What moment (memory) in your life were you absolutely totally loved?
It’s probably one half-remembered and involves me in some sort of diaper surrounded by family cooing and admiring the dribble down my chin.
72- Introducing Andrei Tarkovsky to an audience at the 1983 Telluride Film Festival, Stan Brakhage declared: “I personally think that the three greatest tasks for film in the 20th century are 1) To make the epic, that is, to tell the tales of the tribes of the world. 2) To keep it personal, because only in the eccentricities of our personal lives do we have any chance at the truth. 3) To do the dream work, that is to illuminate the borders of the unconscious.” Any comments. What are your 21st century’s updates?
Those three tasks seem quite accurate and courageous to tackle. I wouldn’t change a word. We must delve into and highlight the eccentric spaces if we’re to have a chance at striking originality.
73- What qualities must an artist bring to their work regardless of the era, medium or technology?
Fearlessness. Or at least a willingness to march into failure with a positive attitude.
74- What is that thing in art (and what causes it) that makes it transcendent and flips consciousness? Why is it often elusive?
Because art is difficult. It’s easier to keep coasting along. To pick up a trowel blade and excavate and express yourself with your art takes a certain threshold for self-inflicted pain. And most don’t have that kind of self-discipline or have a better regard for self-preservation.
75- What guides your decision making? Allen Ginsberg says first thought, best thought. Jonah Lehrer (How We Decide) says fast-blink decisions are not always useful. Malcolm Gladwell (Blink) recommends gut-decision making.
Depends on the situation. Big, life-changing decisions: Gut reaction. Figuring out soup or salad: Weigh every possible scenario and weigh all the potential consequences. Confer with friends and family and tergiversate as much as possible.
76- “Whatever happened to letting kids stare out the window?” — George Carlin (updated to “Whatever happened to letting kids stare at their cell phone?” — GF) Any comments.
Or Carlin. The great soothsayer of our times. I think about that bit often. And I wonder what’s lost now that kids hardly have an opportunity to not be distracted. Every sense is bombarded. Sensation floods in from every angle. Sparks of inspiration usually reside in those moments of cloud-watching and daydreaming. ANd I can’t help but to think we’re at a loss now that whose moments are more rare and far between.
77- Will there ever be silence?
Yes. On the seabed. With only the distant mourn of humpback whales echo against echos. Muffled by darkness and the scuttle of sea crabs picking blindly at the current. Our ruins carved permanent in underwater trenches.
78- What is going to be after the Internet?
Handprints on cave walls.
79- “A person’s identity is a socially induced hallucination. There’s no such thing as a person. There’s only a bundle of consciousness that’s constantly in flux.” — Deepak Chopra. Any comments.
Peoplehood is a social construct. Manufactured in any image we see fit. If we begin to see past this artifice, we might have a chance. A slim chance.
80- If you were an experimental film, what would your subject matter be? (or a novel, painting, etc)
An orchid unfurling from the corpse of a flattened road armadillo.
81- Are the laws of nature cruel?
The laws of nature are stoic and have no use for our feelings. But don’t take it personally.
82- If you were the ruler of the world, what would you do on your first day?
String cheese for all.
83- Are we hardwired for competition? “Games were created to give non-heroes the illusion of winning. In real life, you don’t know who really won or lost, but you can tell who is a hero and who is not.” — Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Again, competition helps dull the brunt of our own deaths. It gives us an illusion of meaning and fulfillment. Put down the bowling ball. Drop the golf club, man. It’s all for naught, I’m afraid.
84- On what occasion do you lie?
When my lips are moving.
85- “It’s not what you are that counts, it’s what you think you are.” Any comments.
“Fake it ’til you make it,” goes the sage advice. You are what you think you are. As much as reality tries to convince you otherwise. Just strut away, my friend.
86- Is that a real question?
Or just preface to an asinine answer.
MUSIC specific:
87- Thelonious Monk said there are no wrong notes. Agree or disagree. Any comments.
I’d agree with that. If a note is played, it’s the perfect one played at the most auspicious moment. Even unplayed ones are correct ones. I wouldn’t even know how to characterize a wrong note. It’s the right note, just maybe not at the most ideal time.
88- Miles Davis spoke of the space between the notes. Any comments.
The space between the notes are just as important as the notes themselves. I’m not basing that on any quantifiable study on the topic or anything. It just sounds like something someone wise might’ve said at one point. Like Confucious or something. Holding a flute.
89- “The key is to bring the audience up onto the stage and into the scene with you. It is they who must give you even more than you give them in way of imagination and creative power.” — Ruth Draper. How do you accomplish this?
Consider — Augusto Boal & Paulo Freire (The Theater of the Oppressed), who use theater as a means of promoting social and political change. The audience becomes active (“spect-actors”) and explore, show, analyze and transform the reality in which they are living. Judith Malina & Julian Beck promoted: “We believe in the theater as a place of intense experience, half-dream, half-ritual, in which the spectator approaches something of a vision of self-understanding, going past conscious to unconscious, to an understanding of the nature of all things.” Nadia Boulanger told Quincy Jones “Your music can never be more or less than you are as a human being.” Any comments?
All that the theater is capable of is what you carry into that darkened room with you. You may carry out more than what you carried in though. And that’s really the magic of theater. It’s ability to heap and add on to you throughout the process.
90- Please comment on-
A= Copland’s 4 elements or ingredients of music: melody, harmony, rhythm, tone color (what is tone color?)
I like the idea of assigning a hue to a song. It doesn’t seem like that much of a stretch. Songs can definitely have an aura. Sometimes coruscating. And sometimes dull and lacking in luster.
B= Dave Liebman’s 5 elements: melody, harmony, rhythm, form, color
Sounds alot like Copland’s elements above.
C= Dave Liebman’s tenets: (to balance) hand, head, heart
That’s a pretty holy trinity. I’d throw lungs into that equation too. Lungs play a role in the whole music-making process too. The breathing and all iambic nature of it all.
D= Another musician’s 3 tenets: taste, technique, theory
Sounds a little more heady and theoretical.
E= “Song is slowed-down speech. The reason cultures have different musical tastes is ultimately connected to language difference.” — McLuhan
An interesting concept. I’d need to hear more scholarly research and peer-reviewed studies to lend it any weight and credence though.
F= Name an instrumental that makes you laugh? (other than Spike Jones)
Maybe it’s because he’s been in the news lately but the works of Ennio Morricone really blows my hair back. Every brassy note and bold flute flutter makes my heart skip a beat. So much playfulness and confidence. You can’t help but to laugh at the masterfulness and craft of it.
POLITICAL specific:
91- What is the difference between rights and responsibilities?
A responsibility seems more universal and transcendent. A right sounds more enshrined in legal documentation.
92- What is the difference between rebellion and revolution?
Sounds like one feeds off the other. The revolution also has a more permanent and long-lasting vibe to it. A rebellion sounds more likely to be squashed and consigned to the ash heap of history.
93- “Anarchy is making rules for yourself, not others.” — Utah Phillips. Who is entitled to make rules?
Collective rules that are tacitly implied seem like the way to go. Anything else just begs to be defied and derided.
94 — “Where the people fear the government you have tyranny. Where the government fears the people you have liberty.”- John Basil Barnhill. In the 2005 film V for Vendetta, this quote was paraphrased “People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.” How do you personally handle false fears (such as “the war on drugs”) ?
Manufactured fears are just anothe version of bread and roses. The sands of the coliseum swirling and keeping out attention off of the real issues at hand. One has to be extra vigilant to stay on their toes and maintain their eye on what;s important. It’s a real struggle. That twenty-four hour news cycle is just so all-consuming.
95- Are you for or against the death penalty (capital punishment)? How do you qualify your decision? If you are against the death penalty, what would be a satisfactory resolution?
I’m against the death penalty. Never really bought into that “eye for an eye” mandate. Seems like everyone should be eligible for a second chance. No matter how repugnant and irretrievable one’s humanity might seem. There’s always that outside chance of rehabilitation. And we can stand to withhold a little more bloodshed in this chattel house of a world we live in.
An alternative to the death penalty would be comprehensive support. Even if it takes the rest of their natural life, who knows, that could be the accepted amount of time it takes to get better. Or see the error of their ways or whatever.
96- Discuss “them or us” and “divide and conquer.” “In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.” — Charles de Gaulle. Baudelaire wrote that the devil’s greatest achievement was to have persuaded people that he does not exist.
That’s a good quote. Was that Baudelaire? I thought that was The Usual Suspects. You ever see that one? Great flick. Whatta twist.
97- Does life require a meaning beyond itself?
No. Whatever meaning that can be extrapolated during the course of life itself should be perfectly sufficient. Anything else would just be a bonus, I suppose.
98 — If we did not have nationality, how would it affect you?
I’d be a lot more detached during the World Cup.
99- Regarding life expectancy, the age of death has climbed a great deal in the last 60 years. What role did meds play?
It played a major role. We’ve somehow extended our life expectancy well beyond what the human mind should be capable of enduring. We’re regularly breaching the century mark. And it’s atrocious, this silver tsunami. It’s like not knowing when to leave the party. We’ve just hanging out by the chips and dip while the hosts sigh exasperatedly in their bathrobes in disbelief that we can’t pick up the nonverbal cues that we should go home already.
100 — Can we think without language?
Totally. Language is just an encumbrance in our heads.
101 — “How about technologies as the collective unconscious and art as the collective unconsciousness?” — McLuhan
You’re getting a lot of material from this McLuhan guy. Maybe I should look up a few of his books.
102- From Orson Welles unfinished film — The Dreamers : “There are only two things it is ever seemly for an intelligent person to be thinking. One is: ‘What did God mean by creating the world?’ And the other? ‘What do I do next?’” Also consider Gunther Anders: “Human beings are ashamed to have been born instead of made.”
Clever one, that Orson Welles. He peaked too soon. A mysterious figure that still baffles and delights to this day.
103- How do you determine what is true? Consider — Luis Bunuel: “I am for anyone who seeks the truth, but I part ways with them when they claimed they found it.” “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. — Schopenhauer. “There are three sides to every story: Your side, my side, and the truth. And no one is lying.” — Robert Evans. Shelby Foote said, “A fact is not a truth until you love it.” Agree or disagree?
All of these are unique and hilarious takes on Truth. And I wouldn’t dispute any of them. Which just speaks to the multi-faceted nature of truth itself. There doesn’t seem to be one singular be-all-end-all Truth. It morphs and transmogrifies which probably accounts for its elusivity. Truth’s a wily one.
104- How do you rate these three elements in regards to your accomplisments: ambition, luck, talent?
All three are significant ingredients to whip up any cake of success worth a crumb. I’d have to say the mixture is more heavily guided by ambition. That’ll probably be the element that determines the overall cakiness of your pastry. And whether it ends up on a loved one’s plate or in the backyard for the birds.
105- How do you deal with stress?
Strangulations.
106- How do you deal with failure?
Consider: “I am a failure, but not a miserable failure” — Zappa. “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. — Beckett. “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” — Churchill.
These are all excellent advice when it comes to approaching failure. I’m also of the belief that most failures can easily be converted into successes as long as you’re learning something from it each time. You learn very little from straightforward successes. It’s the failures that yield the most useful life lessons. So fail and fail big, my friends.
107- Are you more afraid of new ideas or old ideas? Consider: “I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m frightened of the old ones.” — John Cage. “People are very open-minded about new things — as long as they’re exactly like the old ones.” — Charles F. Kettering
Lots of wisdom in this. People are more wary of new ideas and are hesitant to tackle. But they should really be more concerned with the old ideas and being welded to them without the ability to recognize what a rut they’re mired in. Out with the old. The old is just a lead anchor wrapped snugly around your neck in the vast ocean of possbilities.
108- Does punishment work? If not, what do you suggest? When a criminal gets caught, do they think “I have done something morally and socially wrong?’ or do they think “My criminal skills were not up to snuff?” Consider Gregory Bateson’s Double Bind as the human condition. “Don’t notice I am lying to you.” “Forget that you are forgetting.” “Pull the wool over your own eyes.” James Joyce, said “Remember to forget.” He deepens our feelings ala Marcel Duchamp and Alan Watts, who said that Double Bind has long been used in Zen Buddhism as a therapeutic tool.
Punishment certainly has consequences. As an effective learning tool or method of correction, I’m not sure it’s the best avenue. I think a little more patience and compassion and understanding goes a long way. I’m also not sure how often the notion of wrong and right flashes in the mind of a criminal on the cusp of a crime. I’m not sure it ever gets that ontological at the moment.
109 — Do you believe in life after death? Any comments on these: “What if we forget to die?” -Jean Baudrillard …. “Objects are unobservable. Only relationships among objects are observable. So if you think that the question, “Will we ever learn?”, implies a goal, a particular point and time we will arrive at, a particular object, we will never know that. Because objects like that do not exist, only relationships among objects exist. It is like asking, “Will there ever be silence?” It’s like, “Will you ever die?” Well, you’ll never know because to be dead is a specific experience that seems to imply isolation which could not be known. Because nothing exists in isolation, you will never experience death. You will only experience those things that involve relationships. The end point of time, death, cannot be experienced because it’s not a relationship among events.” — Robert Dobbs.
Death seems like it would be the ultimate sensory experience. Singular and unique and you’re afforded only one in a lifetime. So make sure you’re paying attention and keep your eyes open when it finally happens. You don’t want to blink and miss it.
110- What does courage mean now? Consider: “Discovery cannot be purely intellectual but must involve action; nor can it be limited to mere activism, but must include serious reflection.” — Paulo Freire
Courage is an inexorable march toward your own demise. Confronting and understanding your own end with grace and poised resignation. Surrendering any sense of false comfort and just wallowing in the inevitability of ceasing to exist. That’s undiluted courage. And something we should all strive toward.
111- Can you forget to die? Can you learn to die?
I see a thin line between living well and dying well. They seem inexorably linked.
112- Can we imagine we are free? Sartre wrote that becasue we can imagine, we are ontologically free.
Imagining we’re free might be enough to tide us over until we’re actually free. We probably can barely tell the difference anyway.
113- Who is the victim?
Without a corpse, there is no victim. No jury in the world…
114- Who is the villain?
Whoever has the shiftiest eyes and the handlebar-iest moustache.
115- Who is the hero?
We are the heroes.
116- What is the crime?
Whatever it was, hopefully it’s worth the time.
117- What counts as victory?
If you find yourself doing a fist pump and colleagues are dumping a cooler of Gatorade on you, that’s a close simulacrum of victory.
118= 1m- Do thoughts create emotions ?
Sometimes thoughts can be impediments to the production of emotions. Lots of things curb emotion. Like reasoning, accountability, and a sense of consequence. Forego those minor details and you’ll get a windfall of some primo emotions.
119=2m- Do you more pursue happiness or meaning ?
Both aren’t mutually exclusive. I’d like to strike a fine balance between the both of them, if possible. But if I had to fill my grab-bag with more of just one, then I’d have to go with happiness. Meaning can be meaningless without an iota of happiness.
120=3m- Does the brain more detect or create consciousness ?
Create, I’d like to think. The brain sounds like the source of everything. Though I do like the idea of the brain beeping like a metal detector whenever there’s consciousness in the vicinity.
121=4m- What is faster — the speed of light or the speed of thought ?
Thought. Light ain’t got nothing on thought. Like the rabbit on the turtle. Slow and steady, baby.
122=5m- If god exist, what do you want god to tell you after you die ?
Directions to the bathroom. I imagine it’ll have been a long trip.
123=6m- “You can’t dismantle the masters house using the masters tools.” — Audre Lorde. Yvonne Rainer responded “You can, if you expose the tools.” What new tool(s) can you suggest?
I was watching television around 3am once and saw this infomercial for this ladder that can be reconfigured into like twelve different ladder positions. Maybe something like that.
124=7m- Why are most artists liberal?
Because they’re poor and hungry. Conservatives are usually wealthy and have a paunch.
125=8m- McLuhan learned from Pound that artists are the antennae of the race, broadcasting the hidden psychic effects of what we invent, so we can learn to cope with them. McLuhan probed how we can look to the artists to uncover these hidden effects, but we ignore them. Why do we ignore the hidden psychic and social effects of our inventions?
We’re probably too distracted by our air pods and tamagachis to pay any mind to these social effects. But once these things begin to get less interesting, then we’ll look into it. At least until the next Playstation comes out.
126=9m- Basically, are we more feeling beings or thinking beings? In general, I know it’s both and it depends.
I think we start off as being feeling beings effortlessly. Then logic and society starts to rear its surly head and we’re reprogrammed to be more thinking. And then we spend the rest of our lives trying to remember what it was like to be feeling-driven. Some are better than others at remembering.
10m- “Everybody experiences far more than he understands. Yet it is experience, rather than understanding, that influences behavior.” — McLuhan. Any comments.
Lot of truth can be mined out of this. I bet if you can get the font small enough, you can get most of this on a fortune cookie. Or a series of fortune cookies.
127=1j- Tell me a stupid mistake you made and the story about it.
I did a reverse mortgage once. I also keep signing up for Youtube Premium.
128=2j- What is the most important question in life?
What’s for dinner?
129=3j- What is the most important activity in life?
jazzercise.
130=4j- Tell me one quality that makes you feel your life is worthwhile. (tangible or nontangible)
Sunshine. And birdsong.
131=5j- If you have it, what does it allow you to do in life?
I have good knees. Which allows me to mash potato frequently and with gusto.
132=6j- If you have it, and know it, how does that make you feel inside?
Wondrous. Like my lungs inflating with helium. And I loft myself up to the blue-black border of space. And from there I start to backstroke through the constellations. And I wade for a good eternity.
133=7j- What has the greater impact on you: friend betrayal or values betrayal?
Values betrayal. I’m not even exactly sure what that is. And my fear of the unknown has conflated it to be much more severe and worse than it probably is.
134=8j- Can you hate the sin and not the sinner?
Sure. I wouldn’t even hate the sin. I don’t think the sin can help it and we should endeavour to be a little more patient and understanding with the sin. I’m sure the sin is going through enough already as it is. And it hardly needs our animosity to compound the problems further.
135=9j- What do you worry about when you go to bed at night?
Sleep paralysis. Which I suspect is just some rando poltergeist crawling through my window at night and sitting on my chest. It’s completely non-consensual and I’d like to establish some kind of spectre department in which we can lodge official complaints.
136=10j- If the journey is more important than the destination, why do we have to seek (or name) a destination?
Always. The destination is incidental. It’s the journey that’s worth a damn at all. Sometimes we’re too preoccupied with the destination that we miss out on the journey altogether. And that’s pretty pitable, all said. There’s some nice views along the way. Smell a few roses. Kick over a few rocks, why not.
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Please let me know your reactions. Big thanks to Christina Campodonico and Noreen Petrichor,
Thank you, Gerry Fialka
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