I’ve written and written, erased and written more, added links to appropriate sources to lend credence to the story, but I can’t get a handle on it. The enormity of the hurricane situation is too much for me. Can’t do it. Don’t bombard me with stories, histories, or the way the 4th Estate is portraying the “truth.” Like many other tasks, when I’m overwhelmed, I merely farm it out to someone who is better than me. This is one that’s “not my job,” and therefore, I’m not going to get a grip on it. My sleep has been interrupted by it, and I don’t even own a television, so my exposure to the images is limited.
A friend was in town from overseas, so it was a few of the “typically Austin” tasks that had to be accomplished, which included a quick spin by the bookstore. I’ve resisted the temptation to pick up the latest from Cormac McCarthy for a while, but I finally caved in. Plus a little ditty from the remaindered stack. No Country For Old Men and The Fish’s Eye.
So it was a little local cuisine, a little local bookstore, and then I wandered off into the afternoon, leaving my friend at Waterloo (Records) for some guitar slinger. She was interested in the guitar god, not me.
I’ve resisted the temptation to just grab and burn through No Country For Old Men because I suspect it’s another one of those dense books. I can’t just lightly read McCarthy’s work. I was pleased, though, because next to it is one of his finest novels, and in my mind, better than the “Pretty Horses” trilogy, Blood Meridian.
I’m stuck about halfway through the critically acclaimed version of The Illiad , and I’m at that point where the carnage and slaughter is almost making me ill. The capricious gods and their whims, change with the moment, and the sons of so many Greek and Trojans all fall dead. I so enjoyed the sequel, I mean, that’s me, reading books out of sequence, but the conclusion to The Odyssey worked – I enjoyed that translation.
Musical interlude (Sagittarius):
“Sometimes you wanna get higher
And sometimes you gotta start low
Some people think they gonna die someday
I got news ya never got to go” (Stranglehold – Ted Nugent)
I was looking for the lyrics for the song “Stromtrooper,” and toying with loading songs on an iPod for this weekend – I can never tell what the mood will be – classical? Bach. Rock? Country? Or some Terry Allen?
As I was catching up on local gossip, another singer/songwriter’s name popped up, which lead to a discourse about the relative merits of certain Texas artists (The Flatlanders, in whole or in part).
Unfiltered. Unadulterated. (Might be unpublishable, too). Maybe this should be bullet points, but I’m not sure.
One of the beauties of the “internet experience” or whatever we’re calling it these days, is an entry from a weblog that goes through an article, point by point, or so it seemed. As long as folks want to dissect, I consider most “news” to be point-of-view. And I never claimed to objective, but I found this refreshing.
I can count numerous close acquaintances who have family in/from the New Orleans area. I’m not trying to be insensitive. But I turn to “big media’ for their vaunted “trusted sources,” and the recent coverage of the disaster in Louisiana, like many, has left me distraught. Isn’t it time to start looking forward?
I always assume that there’s a bias. Comes from having spent a certain amount of time in a real newsroom (old-style except for hot wax instead of hot lead). I’m also a broken, broke, bitter old fart. No claims otherwise.
