International Style

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DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR

Things can get pretty complicated living in the city. That is why it is time to start planning a journey of epic proportions - on an epically simple machine!

I probably slept 15 of the 24 hours I was alive yesterday. But I woke up this morning and found that I did indeed write something last night on the ole' Schreibmaschine. And it goes like this:
(If I can ever get my epically plagued computer "fixed" then I can finally start scanning things in. But in the meanwhile, I've got to work with what I've got.)


L_ve Epic

because Peter Paul and Mary said so.

Eero Saarinen was the most important architect in my life

because I'm from the mid west.

Remember when we were long distance?

for a few days?

for a few years?

reunion

of epic proportions.

start writing letters to your friends.

and tell them

how much you miss them.

cast iron get-away,

a ship that goes to Jamaica

and returns with soldiers hardened from war.

go home kid.

Rebirth of the Great American Airship

Hello,

My name is Nairda Ecartal and I'm running to be your next representative.

You're busy? I promise I won't take long...

Oh yeah? I'm sorry to hear. I realize that times are hard for single mothers with children.

I understand. I hope the economy improves as well.

Yes, I agree. I also think that children should have safe and open streets to play in. I certainly did.

My background? No. I'm not an attorney.

Ah, ok. No, no. I was once an Airborne Ranger during Vietnam. Yeah, except I never fired my gun. I guess you could say that I was a conscientious objector who just accepted the fate of civic "duty". I entered the war at a time where dissent was climaxing back home.

No, it wasn't that I was looking to avoid killing anyone. The irony is that I was a really good shot. I was actually part of a sniper squad. We'd land in our target zone - always somewhere in the bushes - and lie in the prone position for days, sometimes even a week,. and sometimes longer. I'd be in that same position for so long that I would lose sense of being. You wouldn't believe how scary the jungle is at night, but you have to lay there in silence for days until the moment approaches. Either your target advances to a point where you can complete the task or they don't. And when your target never arrives, it's then time to retreat. I can't even tell you about half of the creepy crawlies I had all over my body when I was able to finally get up. Needless to say, I wasn't reviewed as a potential recipient of a noble medal of any sort...

Sorry, wasn't planning on going into so much detail about those things...

I understand. A lot of people have friends and family in the current conflict.

Oh really? Your nephew? What's his name?

That's a nice name. You know, they say there's a lot in a name. I wish him luck.

He won a medal? That's great! You don't say - so he's also a good shot?

A video game huh? Interesting. Seems to be a common theme these days.

Medal of Honor? Well maybe one day! We'll have to wait and see.

Not quite, not in this conflict. Actually, more soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor following the Wounded Knee incident than in any other time in American history.

No, it wasn't during World War II believe it or not. The battle happened long before that - during the era of American expansion, similar to what is happening today in a way...

Well, it was a battle in the 1800s between the settlers and the Lakota tribe. The soldiers were awarded the medal for shooting 150 indians at nearly point blank range and then burying the bodies in a mass grave.

Can you imagine? Yeah, that kind of thing does sound familiar...

It is quite fascinating... American's intrigue of manifest destiny.

Me? What I do for a living?

I'm an investor in an idea that most people think will fail.

One time I was in Germany, and I met a man who owned a small company that took people in flights across the country in zeppelins - airships. They used to be quite popular in the United States too. It used to be the most luxurious and peaceful way to travel throughout a large city.

Yes, it is a hard sell to most,. considering that most people fear the risk of terrorism.

But could you imagine being above the streets and the noise, and just having some time with someone you love alone in the sky? Or maybe, you'd prefer to just take pictures. Think about it - flying from Chicago to New York in a machine where you weren't strapped down to your seat. You could have a conversation while sipping a glass of wine without having to talk over the engine noise. And then when you're done you could have lunch or dinner in the Empire State Building after you've docked at the top of the tower.

Well, actually it wouldn't just be for rich people. That's the idea. It'd be available at a price that most could afford. You've ever heard the old adage, "A picture is worth 1,000 words"?

Yes? Well how much is the most beautiful landscape you've ever seen worth to you?

The economy concerns me also. Well there is a lot to be said. Let me ask you this,. When was the last time that you made a living wage?

Never?

I did go to college, yes. As a GI, the government rewards you for serving in the military. This is why so many children from marginalized communities end up joining the forces. Except now, even these kids have to compete with "security companies" who send highly paid soldiers overseas.

Agreed. Things certainly are a lot different.

My parents? Well my mother worked at the Savannah River Site her whole life. Starting in the 50s, it became one of only a couple of places in the country where uranium was enriched for nuclear weapons.

However, I staunchly oppose nuclear proliferation.

It does seem contradictory huh? It's kind of like being a pacifist while carrying a sniper rifle. I feel that we've grown up and realized that "duck and cover" won't save us from the great flash of light that will happen over head in the sky.

Well, the Cold War is not really over actually. We're in the middle of a war that nobody wants to talk about.

Yes, those conflicts are the wars that take center stage in American life. However, we are yet again facing another civil war. We live in a nation that is hopelessly divided, and sometimes I wonder if we will ever make it out alive.

No, it's actually not about north and south, nor Republicans and Democrats for that matter.

We're in the final throws for our livelihood. People don't realize how desperate the situation for our youth is.

In a world that is so systemically globalized and mechanized around currency, there is no more room for creativity.

Well, we have more kids in art school than we have kids majoring in chemistry. But what are the art students taught? That television commercials are a form of art? And even these kids who do study sciences get picked up straight out of college by pharmaceutical companies and spend the rest of their lives developing drugs that keep diseases incurable. There may have been a time where the young scientist wanted to see a moon landing of their own. But people said that it was costing the taxpayers too much money... So instead, the scientist gets married and buys a house. And instead of shooting for the moon, his student loans kick in and he decides that there is no more room left for dreams and then he buys in. He becomes wealthy beyond imagination.

Yeah you're right. It is a game. People like to play tricks on one another. And God likes to play tricks on us - it's called deja vu. And if you pay attention close enough, you'll see history repeating itself as we speak.

Did you know that there are more millionaires per capita in Norway than there are anywhere else in the world?

It is surprising. However, Norway is also a place where there are no rich nor poor people.

Actually, it does make a lot of sense. But, it's unfair to call it "communism" with that kind of connotation.

Socialism? How about the New Deal?

How many men do you think it took to build the Hoover Dam?

Do you think the workers ever went on strike?

You know, they used to make really good quality things in this country.

I've seen so many people wearing clothes - shirts and hats with the dollar sign everywhere. And this is fashionable. Why has the dollar bill become the most important symbol in society?

In many ways, I feel that the dollar sign has replaced the swastika. It has become the new great symbol of voluntary oppression.

How many people will keep dying for capital gain? And how many of those with wealth will die for a cause?

People don't die for ideology anymore. This is where they have everyone fooled.

No, I realize that we're all looking for a good place to call home.

No, I don't have any children of my own.

Well, I guess I can't say that I do know what it's like...

But I do know what it's like to die and to be brought back to life. When I fall out of the airplane without a parachute on, I will realize that it is too late to call on God. Sometimes, I wonder where this civilization will go. They say that the universe is expanding. But one day it will all collapse on itself. This will be the ultimate day of reckoning. Even St. Peter himself will be up for review.

Familiar with the phrase "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust"?

January 4th, 2010

The radio DJ is talking about his future funeral. It's actually not that late right now but it certainly feels late considering that the sun retreats at about 4:25 these days.

I bought a book from the thrift store the other week called HERO TALES FROM AMERICAN LIFE by Francis Trevelyan Miller. It's actually really quite old but the binding is still in decent shape. The front cover intrigued me so I opened it up to a random page. I opened the book up to a story called, "The Tale of the College Student On The Great Lakes" and it starts off like this...

"This is the tale of a college student
who, when he heard of distress in a storm on the Lakes,
left his studies and hurried to the shore, where he swam to
the rescue of seventeen lives and regretted that he could not save
more; a tale of unconscious heroism that crippled its hero for life."

The book is full of short stories about common folk saving the day. And although the book and its stories may be a bit hokey for most people who prefer to read very calculated and ornate stories about crime or cowboys, for some reason I felt compelled to continue. Most of the stories are titled, "The farmer who saved such and such" or, "The young Priest who changed the nation",. you know, things of that sort. When you finish the story, be it about an explorer, or a homeless girl or a school master, it is revealed that the story is indeed about a famous American. For instance, the story about the young farm boy turns out to be the abridged life story of General Robert E Lee.

Today I spent over $50 at the thrift store. It's becoming more and more difficult to call these stores "thrifty". They are now indeed looking to make a profit just like every other part of American life and industry that was once an institution of service and public welfare.

Most everything I buy at thrift stores anymore are some sort of artifact that reminds me of a place that used to exist - a world in which we still live, but no longer exists. I bought a reel to reel tape recorder, a recorder (the instrument, you know like the kind you had to play in 2nd grade), a 35mm camera - Argus C3 (also known as the Argus "Brick" camera), a couple of old comics from the 70s and then a standard issue Army infantry winter coat.

I'm sitting in my basement at my desk wearing this jacket. I probably look like I've completely lost my mind. Well, it's going to be in the 10s and 20s all week. Winter has finally arrived.

I was reading an article today about going to grad school for the humanities. It certainly reaffirmed a lot of fears I had about the current situation of higher education. Then I thought about the rent check I just wrote to my landlord. $500 - poof. Just like that. Do you know how hard it is to come across $500 these days? Think about how hard it is to get a job that pays a living wage. They're really not that easy to come across these days. Hell, if we had factories left in Chicago I would love to go work at one. Nope, no industry left so it's back to retail after my short stint in the political realm. There's an old adage that everyone has heard before, and it's that "good things come to those who wait". So then I ask myself, what am I waiting for?