Notes From My Desktop: Part 2 3/26/12
It’s time to clean off my desk again and give myself some breathing space to think and write.
“If you are making your journey in a hurry, you are making it poorly”
“Let the Great World Spin“- Book Club book for this Wed which I haven’t started yet becuase I’m reading six other books including two for other book clubs. Wow – I had no idea it was based upon Philippe Petit, the French acrobat who in 1974 walked across a tightrope between the twin towers.
“Renee’ Zelweger as Beatrice Potter” – movie to check out and possibly watch sometime when I am not checking out news stories or watching documentaries.
“Ask B and K about about the success of the music industry since the internet” If internet sharing has decreased profits to mega- music-companies and the acts they produce, hasn’t it also increased the reach and exposure of less popular genres? Maybe this is just my anti-mega-companies self talking here. Anyone have any ideas?
“”How could God let that happen?” is an attitude of affluence” per a lecture I attended. Religious belief and practice grows where suffering is more prevalent. God is with us in tragedy, not meting it out. This is the opposite of the “prosperity doctrine” that says “If you have money/resources it is because God favors you.” note to self – reread the Book of Job. Give thanks in all cricumstances, not for.
“Borderland – essays from the US Canadian divide” – Provocative essays on the distinct history and culture of Buffalo and the Canadian border region.
Poor Buffalo—so rusty and abandoned, so sadly persistent in its despair, so abused by comedians, yet so close to serene and orderly Canada, and so blessed with an attractively resilient and rebellious spirit that its expatriates cannot wait to return. In essays that are historical and lyrical, objective yet powerfully emotional, Bruce Fisher offers a unique look at the distinct history and culture of Buffalo and the Canadian border region.
MY FRIEND DAHMER - the haunting, new graphic novel by Derf Backderf,an award-winning cartoonist and comix creator.
In these pages, Backderf tries to make sense of the iconic monster who he shared the same school hallways, cafeterias, libraries, and compulsive car rides. What emerges is a surprisingly sympathetic portrait of a disturbed young man struggling helplessly against the ghastly urges bubbling up from the deep recesses of his psyche. The Dahmer recounted here, universally regarded as an inhuman monster by the rest of the world, is a lonely oddball who, in reality, is all too human.
I haven’t read more than a few pages, but my favorite line so far is:
“Where the hell were all the adults?“
I read the book by Jeff’s father. A bit too self absorbed at times, but a good read. He really seems baffled by how his son turned into a monster. His marriage was a wreck, true, and there were the usual dysfunction things going on when families fall apart. My assess: some people are either just born screwed up, or get that way, without it necessarily being the fault of parents, or anyone else. Usually there’s something there, but people seek what they seek, sometimes, get thrills where they do. This excuses nothing and I think his soul searching a good thing. Those who just brush such off… those are the ones who probably share a bigger portion of the fault.
I have not yet read “My Friend Dahmer”. From the excerpts I have seen, I think the school/social experience has much to do with it. As far as later, in adulthood, there were opportunities to stop the crimes, but more than once the police did not investigate “a gay crime”
Just came back from Buffalo: judged beer on Grand Island. I’ve always thought Buf gets a bad wrap, thought it does seem to suffer a bit from multiple personality disorder; due to closeness to Canada and tourists. Crime also a bad problem. I was going to stay the night and the young guy (30s) who was loaning me a futon told me his car had just been broken into. And I remembered my brother-in-law had a car stolen here when he was going to UB. I politely skedaddled.
Guys artwork reminds me of Foolbert Sturgeons (not his name, like I suspect your artist is doing the same.) Foolbert Stugeon wrote The New Adventures of Jesus. Funny: what would happen if Jesus came back now.