The Sound and the Fury

Thanksgiving break was awesome. I was really glad to see all of my family (it was my mom’s side of the family). We all met in Gatlinburg, kitch captital of Tennesse. We actually didn’t go into town and do anything any tacky. On Friday our whole family took a hike up Chimney Top. It was a two mile hike that climbed 1,200 feet. The path was muddy and rocky the whole way up. The top was a beautiful rock outcropping that seemed to be on the top of the world, with a view for miles. It’s called Chimney Top because of this crevice between two very large rocks. As you climb down the larger end of this crack, it opens off the side of the mountain, meaning that if you slip, you fall a couple hundred feet straight down. One would even be tempted to use the word “vertiginous” to describe the feeling. Once you get into the crack, you have to shuffle sideways through this passage that must have been six inches wide. It was awesome, and I was surprisingly not sore on Saturday.

After that, my uncle, two cousins, my cousin’s boyfriend, and I went to the Smoky Mountain Knife Works. We took an hour and ten minute “shortcut” through the National Park which was very windy and motion sicky.  The store had finished the construction they had been working on the last time we visited.  There is a surprising variety of blades in the world.  I ended up getting a 3 1/2 in. lockback blade which has already proven useful.

Shun the nonbeliever.

“There is not growing in knowing where you’re going”

I saw Deliverance last night. It was really weird, but I have to say oddly good. I can’t really pinpoint what was good about it, but I realized as I was watching that I was watching a well-made movie. This week has been upsettingly lacking in James Bond, but I’m hanging out with my cousins, so it’s worth missing Bond. On a related note, my reading of Gravity’s Rainbow is not really on schedule. I’m on page 34 and I should be at page 400. I don’t think I’m going to finish before Monday. It’s very good, though. Thomas Pynchon creates these really great places and a good sense of space. Hopefully it won’t take me as long to finish as To the Lighthouse.

Thanksgiving was awesome. I know you don’t really care what we ate, but I’m going to tell you anyway. As with every year, we had turkey, green beans with potatoes and bacon, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, and stuffing. If you can’t tell, our family really likes potatoes. My cousin Carrie’s boyfriend, Jamie Black, is staying with us this year. He’s a cool guy, and is extremely smart. Apparently he hung out with Children of Bodom, but I’ll have to ask him about that. He also apparently invests in gold, and his job involves screwing the skulls of rhesus monkeys to a metal post in order to stick probes into their brains. Like I said, a cool guy.

Let’s get some shoes.

I’m going to continue my normal schedual of blogging about innane things.  Many people had many things to say about the deaths.  I appreciate their input, and each are entitled to their own opinions.  However, I’m moving on in terms of blogging matter.  If you find me pretentious, then don’t read my blog.  Obviously nobody is changing anybody’s mind.  My question is, who found my blog and told all their friends about it, and how did they find it?  At any rate, I’m still writing only for myself.

I finished To the Lighthouse Saturday night (did I actually beat you, Kevin?).  It was very good, though I have to say that, at least in terms of modernist writers, I like Faulkner and Joyce a little better.

I finished  The Winged Seed by Li-Young Lee a couple of days ago.  Not only was it a very successful and effective hybrid between prose and poetry, but it was also a moving autobiography.  The language was beautiful, as is always the case with Lee, and he presented his family as very complex characters.  His anecdotes were always illustrative, and his symbols were significant.

I visited school again Monday, though I saw different teachers from the last time I went over homecoming.  It was great to see Mr. Brame and Mr. Bleck again.  Ms. Glarner was very busy, as usual.  I guess I’ll just have to start e-mailing her. 

I’m finally in Gatlinburg with my cousins.  Apparently Carrie reads this, which I guess is only fair since I read hers.  I don’t think I’m going to finish Gravity’s Rainbow, but I’d rather spend time with my family anyway.  As a side note, hurray for James Bond!

Ginger, thank you for your intelligent, well-articulated criticism. I don’t know if you have read my last two posts in which I said that I perhaps used the word “karma” incorrectly. I know better than anyone what I meant, and it is not fair of you to say that I wasn’t misinterpreted when I know that I was. I was not splicing academic hairs when I distinguished between karma and cause and effect; I obviously did so because I though that the difference was important at the time. I also want you to know that I don’t look up anything for my blog, and I certainly don’t brood for hours. My blog is, rather, a therapeutic outlet for me in which I write stream of consciousness. I don’t think anything on here is as premeditated or as well though out as you give me credit for. That having been said, your comment did actually prompt me to look up the wikipedia entry on “karma.” It says that “karma is not about retribution, vengeance, punishment or reward.” Instead, “all living creatures are responsible for their karma – their actions and the effects of their actions.” I see now that I had my definition of “karma” wrong, and that I was drawing a non-existent distinction. Thank you for correcting me. Now that I know the correct definition of “karma,” I can confidently say that, yes, “karma” is exactly the word that I meant. This still doesn’t mean that I believe they deserved death, as I’m sure I’ve made clear by now. I do believe that everybody’s actions have consequences, mine being no exception. One possible consequence of driving drunk is having an accident.

I’m sorry if you felt that I was attacking your diction.  I did not mean you specifically.  You have proved that you write very well.  I would like to point out that you exaggerate when you call “acquisition” and “promontory” junior high words, but that’s not important.  My intentionally pretentious use of [sic] in refernce to Dan’s comment was used in part due to my frustration at the lack of intelligent comments.  I was solely being yelled at in an unproductive way.  While I readily admit that my diction is often pretentious, I object to you labeling it rediculously so.  I fail to see how my comment about Edgar is either incorrect or particularly pretentious.  Upon review, I do admit that it is somewhat difficult to follow my syntax in your second example.  I don’t edit what I write. I just write it in the order in which I think it.

Thank you again for the intelligent, well-articulated comment, and thank you for pointing out my error. I will switch my wording back immediately.

Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Elizabeth, Dan, Becca and Ginger, you have all misunderstood me. Perhaps if you took the time to read what I actually wrote, then you will realize that I never once called any of the boys that died a bad person. They are very good people who made decisions that directly or indirectly lead to their deaths. I agree that I have come off callous, and I did not mean to be insensitive to anyone’s feelings. I know how tough it is to lose people close to you, and if I have disrespected your grieving, then I am sorry. However, I have said nothing that I believe is not the truth. If you would take a moment to actually think about what I said, then perhaps you can get past your anger and realize that, however unpleasant it may be to admit it, these three young men made poor choices. Perhaps what I wrote could be interpreted as “mean,” but it was entirely honest, and I am not going to compromise my honesty for anything. As for my comments being unnecessary, I believe that they are absolutely necessary. They were necessary for me to work through my feelings on the matter (and, yes, I do have feelings which you, ironically, are not respecting despite your indignation about my callousness). More importantly, they were necessary comments if we are to avoid deaths as unnecessary as theirs in the future. You can’t pretend everything is alright, because something is obviously wrong if we’ve had three deaths in the past month. We can ignore the issue, allowing more people to make the same kind of mistakes, or we can accept it in all its unpleasantness, and hopefully we can keep other people from dying so unnecessarily.

I’ve already addressed my use of the word “karma.” I did not mean it to imply anything about what they did or did not deserve. I meant it solely as a poetic sounding title. Becca, I appreciate your honesty in apologizing for your last comment. I understand how hard that is to do, especially when someone has made you very angry. Perhaps you can appreciate my honesty in writing what I did.

I don’t claim to have any “vast knowledge” of the English language, but I am certainly not going to dumb down the way that I write simply to be easier to read. Elizabeth and Ginger, I’m sure that you are two very intelligent people, and if you wanted to take the time to think about what I have written, none of it is beyond your comprehension. It’s not my fault that society expects people to use simplified and often incorrect English in order to be accepted. I hope that you are not dumbing yourself and your vocabulary down in order to fit in.

Ginger, I’m glad that I have made you more thankful for your family and friends. Maybe you will think about them the next time you or one of your friends considers driving drunk.

Now, if anyone had read and thought about what I have written and would like to offer intelligent, well thought out criticism of my ideas, then I would gladly encourage them to post their comments which I will address. However, if all you have to say is “fuck you,” then I have neither the time nor the energy to deal with you and your hatred. I do have feelings and emotions, and they are in the process of getting hurt.