Tuesday, August 25, 2009

While the sun and moon endure luck's a chance, but trouble's sure

Here's all the evidence you need that Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace is a great book.

-I carred it around urban metro Boston for a few days, and got no less than three comments from complete strangers about how much they liked it, including from the conductor on the Commuter Rail.

-I was walking in front of North Station and a woman passing by on a bike, who was presumably homeless, said "Great book. Great man. Too bad he offed himself." You can't say it much better than that, and that's really all you need to know about the book.


-I am still almost completely unable to describe the book to people who ask me about it.


I strongly urge everyone to read it.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

missed the saturday dance

The world is a big place. There must be room in it for me. I pray for the serenity and the forethought to realize that anything good or bad that happens to me is small potatoes simply because of the grand scale of life and the world.

There are pluses and minuses ahead, but the most important point is that there is an ahead.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

As the time that we can share never is enough it seems to me



There's really nothing like the nihilistic pleasure of knowing that you'll be dead before climate change really gets started on ravaging the earth in life-altering ways. The temptation is great to just say "I won't be here, so good luck with all that."

For now, I'm ready to indulge that temptation. Am I wrong? Probably. But I'm also an American. I'm free to think whatever I want. And right now, I think that I'll be long gone by the time the German tourists are learning to swim in Arizona Bay.

So as the sea level rises, I urge you to not worry about it too much because, frankly, it's not your problem. We're probably talking about at least three generations before things get really drastically wicked bad. And someone else will think of a cheap, easy, nearly effortless way to stop global warming by then, right?

Right?

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

don't worry if I write rhymes, I write checks

I'm ready for whatever comes next.

And I'm excited. Something's gotta give here, right? And really, I am a pretty employable person.

This summer has been fun in spite of the rain, but it doesn't last forever. It gets colder at some point and this old Allan has to move on. Bob Vila, anyone?

I have almost no idea what the future will bring, but I'm ready to check it on out. Bring it on, future, I'll take it.