motion. new.
i am sick. since friday night i have been more or less holed up in bed. i have become very familiar with two views, left and up:
with no energy to get out of bed, and nothing really to do while i’m lying here — no tv, the only book i have in english is Latin American Political Economy, and spanish is too much work — i have been left to think.
…
yeah, scary. i’ve remembered more dreams in the past two days than the past six months, i think, long, complex dramas. probably i figured out all kinds of things out about my life, only to forget the answers again in my fever-induced stupor.
of course, after the heavy questions of life and politics come the little questions that nag me every day. one that’s been particularly perplexing is how, after eight years of using the same bedspread, i still can’t remember which way the pattern goes so the blanket reaches all the way to my feet. and: how, then, in all my tossing and turning, do i turn this same blanket into a perfect oragami heat machine, precisely folded to prevent any escape of heat?
the hot topic this weekend, actually, has been why did i get sick. always looking for the cause, never content with chance or fate. the last time i was sick, two months ago or so, a girl tried to tell me it was psychological, something about my country and the war, a kind of penance. right.
this time i decided the sickness was my mind-body’s way of telling me to slow down. since march i’ve been going like mad. besides my job and my soap opera, i finished the design of an online travel magazine (take note, i have nothing to do with the content), an automated butterfly map/sighting site, a spanish vocabulary quiz page (for me), and the new unglued.
after each new project i finish i tell myself, ok, now i will have all this free time, i can relax a bit. but then something else comes up and i’m off again, sleeping five, six hours a night, working weekends, desperately focused… if i can just finish this one thing…
by sunday afternoon i had decided to give into the sickness, to accept it as a sign to simplify my life. maybe start going to church, take up yoga. walk the dogs every day. keep a journal. read the morning paper every day. drink herbal tea instead of coffee. write letters instead of email.
now it’s monday morning and my head is a bit clearer. i’ve made a list of everything i need to accomplish before i leave argentina and it’s still very long. i’ve reassessed the cause of my sickness and i realize it wasn’t my body telling me to slow down, not a sign or an omen. it was a stupid virus, a bug. bad luck.
so i am off. it’s a beautiful day here in buenos aires, everything fresh from last night’s thunderstorm. a good day to start things moving again, lots of things to do, and we don’t have so much time. kind of an appropriate day to kick off the new unglued/motion theme. like it?
[later: the design has changed. hope you like the new one.]
with no energy to get out of bed, and nothing really to do while i’m lying here — no tv, the only book i have in english is Latin American Political Economy, and spanish is too much work — i have been left to think.
…
yeah, scary. i’ve remembered more dreams in the past two days than the past six months, i think, long, complex dramas. probably i figured out all kinds of things out about my life, only to forget the answers again in my fever-induced stupor.
of course, after the heavy questions of life and politics come the little questions that nag me every day. one that’s been particularly perplexing is how, after eight years of using the same bedspread, i still can’t remember which way the pattern goes so the blanket reaches all the way to my feet. and: how, then, in all my tossing and turning, do i turn this same blanket into a perfect oragami heat machine, precisely folded to prevent any escape of heat?
the hot topic this weekend, actually, has been why did i get sick. always looking for the cause, never content with chance or fate. the last time i was sick, two months ago or so, a girl tried to tell me it was psychological, something about my country and the war, a kind of penance. right.
this time i decided the sickness was my mind-body’s way of telling me to slow down. since march i’ve been going like mad. besides my job and my soap opera, i finished the design of an online travel magazine (take note, i have nothing to do with the content), an automated butterfly map/sighting site, a spanish vocabulary quiz page (for me), and the new unglued.
after each new project i finish i tell myself, ok, now i will have all this free time, i can relax a bit. but then something else comes up and i’m off again, sleeping five, six hours a night, working weekends, desperately focused… if i can just finish this one thing…
by sunday afternoon i had decided to give into the sickness, to accept it as a sign to simplify my life. maybe start going to church, take up yoga. walk the dogs every day. keep a journal. read the morning paper every day. drink herbal tea instead of coffee. write letters instead of email.
now it’s monday morning and my head is a bit clearer. i’ve made a list of everything i need to accomplish before i leave argentina and it’s still very long. i’ve reassessed the cause of my sickness and i realize it wasn’t my body telling me to slow down, not a sign or an omen. it was a stupid virus, a bug. bad luck.
so i am off. it’s a beautiful day here in buenos aires, everything fresh from last night’s thunderstorm. a good day to start things moving again, lots of things to do, and we don’t have so much time. kind of an appropriate day to kick off the new unglued/motion theme. like it?
[later: the design has changed. hope you like the new one.]
previously there was memories, rushing back: so much life in things
afterwards you have Home sweet home
I like the urban look.
And Max is right. Church keeps you quiet and makes you think, though the thought is much more a suspended kind of state than anything involving depth or insight. It's a kind of induced meditation, I suppose. The effect on me between the first and sixteenth years of my life was an intense and protracted boredom.
I wouldn't recommend Catholic church if you're looking for spiritual enlightenment, but it's a miracle worker for inducing boredom. If you're looking for ritual, how differently aged people behave within their families, and which member of a couple is the one interested in going to church (and conversely which one is being dragged along), then by all means, go.
Was JP at Bridgefest? I heard rumours about sightings on the G train. [submitted on 05 Jun 03]
creo que ya estoy más viejito (quizá no debo decir eso?) y por eso. Supongo que siempre yo vaya a sentir eso, aún más cuando estoy enfermo como ahora.
ryan, y max, lo que me pasa cuando voy a la iglesia no es igual que lo que pasa a los que creen (yo no creo en esos cosas. otras, si, pero los de la iglesia, no). pero cosas sí me pasa, cosas que viene de la musica y el ritmo de las voces, de la solidaridad, de la belleza. quizás no son cosas tan grandes, pero me ponen mejor, me dan un nueva perspectivo. creo que lo que pasa es distinto para cada persona. yo, dado que nunca fui cuando era chico, quizá recibo más de la experiencia ahora.
anoche intenté yoga, pero no me sale bien los positiones. no soy flexible por nada. [submitted on 10 Jun 03]
yo tambien intente yoga algunas veces, pero tambien soy de madera (con la flexibilidad). asi que sigo con el futbol. creo que me produce el mismo efecto que a vos ir a la iglesia. incluso cuando pierdo. [submitted on 11 Jun 03]