My father drinks only black coffee.
Therefore, growing up, I thought without cream or sugar to be the right way to drink coffee.
Therefore, I have looked down on those who drink coffee any other way.
Therefore, I have been rude or insolent with those who drink their coffee with cream or sugar.
Therefore, my situation has become one of egocentrism.
Apply this formula to all aspects of cognitive development and my shortcomings are all justified.
“I cannot count the times I have cursed our lack of urgency. If I ever love again, I will not wait to love as best as I can. We thought we were young and that there would be time to love well sometime in the future. This is a terrible way to think. It is no way to live, to wait to love.” — Dave Eggers
[video]
“The Further Adventures of Martha George” by Russell Edson, from his selected poems anthology given to me by my own Haley Cove. I’ll be scouring this little landscape as well as DeLillo’s Cosmopolis while I’m taking a break from school in Miami this week.
You can’t see me.
P.S. Stapler.
“How strange it is. We have these deep terrible lingering fears about ourselves and the people we love. Yet we walk around, talk to people, eat and drink. We manage to function. The feelings are deep and real. Shouldn’t they paralyze us? How is it we can survive them, at least for a little while? We drive a car, we teach a class. How is it no one sees how deeply afraid we were, last night, this morning? Is it something we all hide from each other, by mutual consent? Or do we share the same secret without knowing it? Wear the same disguise.” — Don DeLillo
Amazing concept art for the rejacket of DeLillo’s backlist by Pan Macmillan. The Hunger Artist is by far my favorite from the ones I’ve seen. Some of the others can be seen here and/or here.
“Because we’ve grown up thinking of ourselves in relation to the political-media-entertainment ephemera, in our safe and comfortable homes, given the time to think about how we would fit into this or that band or TV show or movie, and how we would look doing it. These are people for whom the idea of anonymity is existentially irrational, indefensible. And thus, there is a lot of talking about it all — surely the cultural output of this time will reflect that — there’ll be a lot of talking, whole movies full of talking, talking about talking, ruminating about talking about wondering, about our place, our wants and obligations — the blathering of the belle epoque, you know. Environmentally reinforced solipsism.” — Dave Eggers
“I write to find out how much I know. The act of writing for me is a concentrated form of thought. If I don’t enter that particular level of concentration, the chances are that certain ideas never reach any level of fruition.” — Don DeLillo