SOUTH OF THE BORDER, WEST OF THE SUN
Just finished this book by Murakami. If anyone wants to discuss..let me know..because my feelings about it are a confused mess of envelopes and strange diseases
DIRTY GIRL
You know that Atmosphere song, Dirty Girl? “I love you like a rap kid loves breaks.. Dirty, dirty, you’re such a dirty girl”? Well I think it should be rewritten about me with the word ‘thirsty’ instead of ‘dirty’. Those who know me intimately have long made fun of how much I fucking drink (no I’m not trying to be a tool here - I mean non-alcoholic beverages). I seem to be CONSTANTLY thirsty. I think I may just be permanently dehydrated. I’m only posting about this because yesterday I noticed that it was 1 PM and I had already drank a large bottle of Tropicana orange juice, two thermoses filled with tea, a styrofoam cup of coffee, and a water bottle - and I was still “that girl who has to leave the class to fill up her water bottle because she’s that thirsty”.
Also, I just finished reading Jude the Obscure, the last of Thomas Hardy’s novels. As Victorian literature goes, it wasn’t my favorite, but I love Victorian literature, so I still enjoyed it. It has pretty dark and oppressive vibes, and you never feel fulfilled, because nobody is ever happy. I wouldn’t recommend it to casual beach readers. At all.
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING
- Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer:
This is a true story, based on the life of Chris McCandless (aka Alexander Supertramp) who, after graduating college, donated his ~$24,000 savings to a charity, rid himself of most of his worldly possessions, and set off to live off the land for the rest of his life (which would sadly be only two more years). He died during his final adventure in Alaska, where he lasted 112 days. This was immensely interesting and inspiring, and made me want to research edible plants and go survive in the wilderness with only what I can carry on my back.. For two weeks max, of course. If you suspect that you have an inner adventurer and that this material world is too constraining on your bursting soul, then you should read this. It is probably the push you need to get the fuck outta town. I haven’t seen the movie, is it good? - The Other Boleyn Girl, by Philippa Gregory:
I tore this book a new asshole. It’s been a long time since any fiction novel drew me in like this one did - perhaps though, because it is historical fiction. Also, as you may know, I am obsessed with English literature. This book did not leave my hands until I finished it. I mean like walking through the parking lot reading, getting to my car to go somewhere and ending up sitting there for half an hour reading, choosing reading over beer, etc. etc. The approximately 670 pages took me from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon. You probably know the plot because of the movie that came out - which I haven’t seen either, was it good? - but it’s set in the Tudor period (1500’s) and follows Anne and Mary of the royal Boleyn family as they vie for Henry VIII’s love. That makes it sound so simple, but what I truly find intriguing about English high society in the olden days is the immense COMPLEXITY of relationships. For example, this logic: if she is married, she can sleep with the king, but not court him openly, and her husband will get favors.. But if she isn’t married, she can court him openly, but not sleep with him, and no man will marry her. Also, the properness with which they speak; their minds must have worked in such interestingly twisted linguistic ways! The book isn’t that well written, but Gregory knows her historical shit and it’s pretty damn good. - Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self, by Robert Waggoner:
Dangerous is very interested in lucid dreaming, so he bought this book awhile back and has been reading it. I was disinterested in the whole concept at first, but was, of course, drawn in by his fascinated ramblings, and now I am reading it with him and am equally fascinated. What is lucid dreaming? It is where you are aware that you are dreaming and you can manipulate your dream. Eventually, after years of practice, lucid dreaming takes you to a higher discovery of your unconscious and Self. Here are a few interesting ideas and choice quotes I underlined from Part I of the book:
“To protect our view of ourself, we imagine that impulses and desires arise from the unconscious, instead of admitting that they are our ego ideas brought into the unconscious.”
“Because the unconscious is not just a reactive mirror reflection, but an independent, productive activity, its realm of experience is a self-contained world, having its own reality, of which we can only say that it affects us as we affect it - precisely what we say about our experience of the outer [physical] world.”
“We tend to consider dreams as ‘unreal’ and physical life as ‘real’, yet who hasn’t woken from a frightening dream with his or her heart pumping wildly? if the dream is unreal, how does an unreal event affect the physical body in such a real, dramatic way?”
