"beauty is the ache of mortality"

"'Gods fly through space in bubbles of glass, and their powers exceed ours as ours exceed those of the stones we stand on, who know only to endure.  And once long ago gods voyaged through this forgotten bay of the night sea, and to pass the time they argued a point of philosophy.'  And here the speaker's voice grew harsh, the edge of every word sharper until they were as edged as the taste of Garth's shoulder fruit, sending the same kind of bitter shock through Thel.  'They argued aesthetics, the most metaphysical of philosophical problems.  One of them said that beauty was a quality of the universe independent of any other, that it  was inlaid in the fabric of being like gravity, in a pattern that no one could pull out.  Another disagreed: beauty is the ache of mortality, this god said, an attribute of consciousness, and nothing is beautiful except perceived through the love of lost time, so that wherever there is beauty, love was there also, and first.'"

-- Kim Stanley Robinson, A Short, Sharp Shock

"a funny city"

"Kathmandu is a funny city.  When you first arrive there from the West, it seems like the most ramshackle and unsanitary place imaginable: the buildings are poorly constructed of old brick, and there are weed patches growing out of the roofs; the hotel rooms are bare pits; all the food you can find tastes like cardboard, and often makes you sick; and there are sewage heaps here and there in the mud streets, where dogs are scavenging.  It really seems primitive.

Then you go out for a month or tow in the mountains, on a trek or a climb.  And when you return to Kathmandu, the place is utterly transformed.  The only likely explanation is that while you were gone they took the city away and replaced it with one that looks the same on the outside, but is completely different in substance.  The accommodations are luxurious beyond belief; the food is superb; the people look prosperous, and their city seems a marvel of architectural sophistication.  Kathmandu!  What a metropolis!"

-- Kim Stanley Robinson, Escape from Kathmandu

Scariest Thing I've Seen Today

Bellingham, Washington. 

I mean, does this virus ever go away fully?  Probably not.  If a solid 20 percent or so of Americans truly believe this nutso stuff, then they'd probably rather die then admit they're wrong.

"Penelope she came and went / We assumed that all her savings were spent"

Elvis Costello and the Imposters, "Penelope Halfpenny"

I know it's a new album, but I feel like this will go down as one among dozens of great "hidden gems" for E.C.

My part-time job is going well.  On weekends I answer phones with Animal Control at the local Humane Society.  Saturdays are pretty busy, Sundays are usually quiet (but hey, now I'm jinxing it).

It's one of those jobs where we have a pretty good set of rules for every situation, but within those situations you have exceptions and twists and turns.  I'm still learning, basically, and probably will be for as long as I work here.  I've been yelled at and cursed out three times now on the phone.  Just this past weekend I managed to get a lost dog back together with its owner without sending out an officer.  And I directed folks to a freshly deceased deer, and they're planning on getting a lot of meat and meals out of the thing.  Good and bad, helpful and no good shall come of this all in the same hour.

It's good.  It's interesting.  It's stressful.  I really like the people I'm working with, and I hope they like me.

Since you didn't ask, the Bengals are going to win the Super Bowl this Sunday by 12 points.  It is known.  I'll get home in time to watch the second half (the only one that matters, if you think about it) with my Dad.

"even war ran up the white flag"

"He sipped his coffee and thought about the old lady in the red sneakers, the one Malenfant had killed, the one who came to visit Sully.  She wouldn't be visiting Sully anymore; there was that much, at least.  Old mamasan's visiting days were done.  It was how wars really ended, Dieffenbaker supposed -- not at truce tables but in cancer wards and office cafeterias and traffic jams.  Wars died one tiny piece at a time, each piece something that fell like a memory, each lost like an echo that fades in winding hills.  In the end even war ran up the white flag.  Or so he hoped.  He hoped that in the end even war surrendered."

-- Stephen King, "Why We're In Vietnam," Hearts in Atlantis

Old Man Take a Look at My Life

My grandchildren: "Grampa James, tell us about the great Spotify war of 2022..."

Me: "Well, you might not remember this but there was a time before Joe Rogan was declared God-King of the Universe by the GOP, not long after his presidential victory in 2024..."

— Baby New James (@wetcasements) January 30, 2022

"life's most refined pleasures"

"There is a subtle state most dedicated urban walkers know, a sort of basking in solitude -- a dark solitude punctuated with encounters as the night sky is punctuated with stars.  In the country one's solitude is geographical -- one is altogether outside society, so solitude has a sensible geographical explanation, and then there is a kind of communion with the nonhuman.  In the city, one is alone because the world is made up of strangers, and to be a stranger surrounded by people one passes, is among the starkest of luxuries.  This uncharted identity with its illimitable possibilities is one of the distinctive qualities of urban living, a liberatory state for those who come to emancipate themselves from family and community expectation, to experiment with subculture and identity.  It is an observer's state, cool, withdrawn, with senses sharpened, a good state for anybody who needs to reflect or create.  In small doses melancholy, alienation, and introspection are among life's most refined pleasures."

-- Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking

Since Nobody Asked Me...

This probably isn't the hugest of limbs to go out on, but I'm feeling the Chiefs and Buccaneers in the Super Bowl yet again next month.

I'm rooting for the Bills though.  Loved to see them beat the tar out of the Patriots.

Standard disclaimer: I am always wrong about sports predictions.

Gimbap Blues

I think part of the issue is that I live in the middle of nowhere, but my strong craving for Korean convenience stores is real.  One-dollar gimbap.  A single three-dollar can of Japanese beer.  A decent two-dollar sandwich.

Maybe it's just knowing that they're there, 24 hours a day without fail.

Snacking just isn't the same in America.

Bad Boy or Just Bad?

Reading James Ellroy's Perfidia and as usual I can't tell if he's one of the greatest American novelists ever, or a complete hack.  I go back and forth while on the same damn page.  The same damn sentence, if I'm being honest.

My working weekends are also going pretty well.  Without saying too much, the mix of untreated mental health issues and drug use in America does not make for the easiest of times when dealing with people who are having health issues with their pet.  If your animal is sick, you need to have enough cash on hand to take it to a vet.  Taking on a pet is awesome, but also a responsibility like any other.  Enough said.

Snowbound

 

Bellingham, Washington.

It's been dumping snow pretty hard out here lately, but hopefully some rain is coming in tomorrow to melt most of it before I have to go into work this weekend.

It's pretty!  It's also annoying!  Work-wise, people lose their damn minds when the weather turns bad.