Some friends and coworkers came to an unofficial going away party at Olive Garden this evening. There've been some cracks about how many parties I'm going to have; the answer is, of course, as many as it takes to get me to leave. No, but seriously folks.
*sound of crickets*
So anyway... Today was mildly productive -- I got some reading done in A Heartbreaking Work which I purchased the other day, along with Mother Night, Player Piano, Gravity's Rainbow and a road trip atlas. Adam's been suggesting GR for quite the while, and it seemed like a good idea since I'm going to have a good week in the car to do nothing but listen to philosophy 101, bone up on my German, and read. Of course, we'll probably end up screwing off and having a Radiohead marathon instead.
In other news, Denise flew back from Peru last night, and she came along for OG and coffee tonight, and much revelry was had by all. Had a little exchange about the concept of "connections" (why C-students tend to make more money than A-students) and my (perhaps rather utilitarian) use of them. May loosely tie in with that whole manipulation discussion, in that it makes me out to be a shallow and conniving individual. I'm not -- really, I'm not! And if I tell people I'm not, soon they'll start believing me! Muahahahah! Shh! It'll be our secret! Hey! Why are you looking at me like that?! Don't leave!
To top it all off, I spent the last half-hour feeding the Amazon recommendation engine information about my purchases, ranking them, etc, so that I can further define myself by the purchases I make and the media I consume. In this case, self knowledge really is happiness; but I'd still like to ponder how this might affect social evolution. I read a short-story in Harper's about a town where everyone learns the day of their death, and then plans their life using that information -- marrying people that will die at the same time, that kind of thing. Makes me wonder whether I'd fall in love with a girl that loves Vonnegut, reads computer code and philosophy texts just because they're inscrutable and listens to blues-influenced techno and techno-influenced jazz. Yes, I am that narcisstic. So long as she was cute. Yes, I am that shallow.
... Damn, I'll never be able to self-promote.
Posted by Admin at August 27, 2003 12:54 AM