Yet she wanted it all to be fantasy, some clear result of her several wounds, needs, dark doubles.
“
| — | From The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon |
In Golden Gate Park she came on a circle of children in their nightclothes, who told her they were dreaming the gathering. But that the dream was really no different from being awake, because in the mornings when they got up they felt tired, as if they’d been up most of the night. When their mothers thought they were out playing they were really curled in cupboards of neighbors’ houses, in platforms up in trees, in secretly-hollowed nests inside hedges, sleeping, making up for these hours. The night was empty of all terror for them, they had inside their circle an imaginary fire, and needed nothing but their own unpenetrated sense of community.
“
| — | From The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon |
From Happiness (1998) by Todd Solondz
Joy Jordan (Jane Adams) sings this little jem which I am convinced sparked the entire idea of emo-ness. I love the song though (specially in the movie context), not as a song, but as a statement of universal being.
DIANE: You know, when I was a child I always
imagined I’d marry the man I fell in
love with, have a son and daughter who
loved me as much as I hated my mother,
then die tragically and suddenly,
young and beautiful. Later, when
Vincent left me, I imagined I’d finally
be happy.
LENNY: I guess you’ve never lost your imagination.
“
| — | From Happiness (1998) by Todd Solondz |
Submarine (2011) by Richard Ayoade
This movie is so high up on my to-watch list. I was supposed to see it during the Panorama of European film back in November but I had courses during the screening time. I heard it’s wonderful though and I am very intrigued by the trailer and direction.
From Mein Kampf
this ain’t no party
this ain’t no disco
this ain’t no foolin a
grab-bag of
clever wordplay and sensitive thoughts and
gracious theories about
how many ambiguities can dance on the head of a
machine gun
this ain’t no
genteel evening over
cappuccino and bullshit
this ain’t no life-affirming
our days have meaning
as we watch the flowers breath through our souls and
fall desperately in love
this ain’t no letter-press, hand-me-down
wimpy beatnik festival of bitching about
the broken rainbow
by David Lerner
No matter how careful you are, there’s going to be the sense you missed something, the collapsed feeling under your skin that you didn’t experience it all. There’s that fallen heart feeling that you rushed right through the moments where you should’ve been paying attention. Well, get used to that feeling. That’s how your whole life will feel some day. This is all practice.
“
| — | From Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk (via ivylively) |
My mother sends me pictures
of herself. At first, I thought
this odd. I know what she
looks like. My father says
that people do this when they
think they are dying, send
things out – knick knacks
from the attic, baby pictures,
ephemera. My father says
most people think they are
dying. I too have started to
send pictures of myself out.
of herself. At first, I thought
this odd. I know what she
looks like. My father says
that people do this when they
think they are dying, send
things out – knick knacks
from the attic, baby pictures,
ephemera. My father says
most people think they are
dying. I too have started to
send pictures of myself out.
“
| — | From Postage Partum by Nik de Dominic |
Wacky Lists, #2: Last Words of Executed People
This is a list of catchy, somewhat funny, famous last words of executed (justly or unjustly) individuals:
1) “Hurry up, you Hoosier bastard, I could kill ten men while you’re fooling around!”
Spoken by Carl Panzram, convicted serial killer.
2) “Hey fellas, how about this for a headline for tomorrow’s paper? ‘French Fries’”
Spoken by James French, convicted murderer. Apparently the dude was given a life-sentence and decided it was a really fucking long while. So he thought it was a brilliant idea to kill his cellmate so that he would be executed! Good for him.
3) “I’ll be in hell before you start breakfast!”
Spoken by Tom “Black Jack” Ketchum, a murderer and a thief. As one can see, Ketchum was a morning person and as things go, his executioner didn’t appreciate Ketchum’s witty remark since a “technical issue” with the rope, which caused him to be decapitated when he dropped through the gallows.
4)“Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.”
Spoken by George Appel, convicted murderer.
5) “You sons of bitches. Give my love to Mother.”
Spoken by Francis “Two Gun” Crowley before getting executed for a three-months killing spree among other crimes.
6) “I’d like to thank my family for loving me and taking care of me. And the rest of the world can kiss my everloving ass, because I’m innocent.”
Spoken by Johnny Frank Garrett, who was executed for raping and murdering a 76 year old nun when he was 17. when examined by a psychiatrist, it was discovered that Garrett suffered from multiple personality disorder. However, the state refused to test for DNA evidence and whether Garrett really committed any crime is unsure.
7) “I’d rather be fishing.”
Spoken by Jimmy L. Glass, executed at the age of 25 for murdering a couple.
8) “I did not get my Spaghetti-O’s, I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this.”
Spoken by Jimmy L. Glass, executed for murdering two women: one 87 years old and another 81 years old.
9) “Such is Life”
Spoken by Ned Kelly, convicted cop-killer.
10) “Shoot straight you bastards and don’t make a mess of it!”
Harry Harbord “Breaker” Morant, convicted mass murderer.
The God Who Loves You
It must be troubling for the god who loves you
To ponder how much happier you’d be today
Had you been able to glimpse your many futures.
It must be painful for him to watch you on Friday evenings
Driving home from the office, content with your week—
Three fine houses sold to deserving families—
Knowing as he does exactly what would have happened
Had you gone to your second choice for college,
Knowing the roommate you’d have been allotted
Whose ardent opinions on painting and music
Would have kindled in you a lifelong passion.
A life thirty points above the life you’re living
On any scale of satisfaction. And every point
A thorn in the side of the god who loves you.
You don’t want that, a large-souled man like you
Who tries to withhold from your wife the day’s disappointments
So she can save her empathy for the children.
And would you want this god to compare your wife
With the woman you were destined to meet on the other campus?
It hurts you to think of him ranking the conversation
You’d have enjoyed over there higher in insight
Than the conversation you’re used to.
And think how this loving god would feel
Knowing that the man next in line for your wife
Would have pleased her more than you ever will
Even on your best days, when you really try.
Can you sleep at night believing a god like that
Is pacing his cloudy bedroom, harassed by alternatives
You’re spared by ignorance? The difference between what is
And what could have been will remain alive for him
Even after you cease existing, after you catch a chill
Running out in the snow for the morning paper,
Losing eleven years that the god who loves you
Will feel compelled to imagine scene by scene
Unless you come to the rescue by imagining him
No wiser than you are, no god at all, only a friend
No closer than the actual friend you made at college,
The one you haven’t written in months. Sit down tonight
And write him about the life you can talk about
With a claim to authority, the life you’ve witnessed,
Which for all you know is the life you’ve chosen.
By Carl Dennis. I absolutely love this poem and I love that it speaks to you whether or not you believe in some higher power. I also deeply enjoy Dennis’s very satarical tone, not only in this poem, but in general. I shall be posting something else for him soon.
