the beginning of the end of civilization

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Comments

  1. Angelico Nguyen, Esq., OP says

    Discrimination, pure and simple: Somebody doesn’t want us ‘orientals’ to have a nice barbecue on the beach.

  2. Angelico Nguyen, Esq., OP says

    Listen! you hear the grating roar
    Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
    At their return, up the high strand,
    Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
    With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
    The eternal note of sadness in.

    • And we are here as on a darkling plain
      Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight…

      aaahh! I have no idea what this strand of discussion is about. I’ve been absent from the blog too long. But I can say this: Angelico, come to Wisconsin this weekend, and have a cocktail with me! Oh, please do. We can discuss the turbid ebb and flow of human misery, and the brilliance of Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em.

      Your fan,
      Ellen

      • Angelico Nguyen, Esq., OP says

        Miss Finnigan!

        Thank goodness you haven’t wasted away from Vitamin K deficiency; welcome back! And rest assured that you’re not missing out on any in-joke here: A sad beach photo just deserves a sad beach poem.

        aaahh! you paint a pretty picture. I, too, look forward to swilling cocktails as we discuss the melancholy, long, withdrawing roar of M.C. Hammer’s career. And would you mind terribly if I picked your brain about your time at the commune? (‘Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Catholic Worker Movement?’…)

        But that will all have to wait: Some long-deferred family and work obligations have a prior claim on me, so I can’t attend the Gerasene Conference this year. Will you really be there? If so, it’s good to know the Korrektiv Kommentariat will be ably represented. Don’t forget the croquet mallet!

        Your fan,
        Angelico

        • My time at the commune? Angelico, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Seriously: heaven and hell, all wrapped up in one. I’m hoping to head back to celebrate their 30th anniversary this fall, so if you’ll be anywhere near Western Massachusetts in early October, care to join me? But if not, I’d be happy to tell you anything you’d like to know about the commune: “Children, gather around me, and let me tell you about what an awful idea is that of: Christian community. Stick with your family. Anything beyond that is just plain tragedy.” I suspect there is an entire book there. It changed my life. It changed my heart. It changed my mind. It perhaps saved my soul. It turned me back, you know? And then around and around and around until I was dizzy from turning. But I met Jesus there, which is a good thing. Dare I say?….Sometimes I think “The Church” comes between people and the J-man. Oh, look at me: lookin’ all Jesus freaky! And just plain silly. And hempy. All granola-y. Maybe I’m just a New Age spiritualist dressed up in Christian’s clothes. Huggin’ trees and just a, well, a pickin’ my nose.

          • Angelico Nguyen, Esq., OP says

            Oh yes, this definitely deserves further discussion. Thanks, Miss Finnigan. It’s a busy morning, but I may pick up the thread again here in the comments; if not, it should be on the agenda for any in-real-life meeting.

            The fact that you plan to attend the commune’s 30th anniversary seems significant. As does the fact that the place has survived that long.

            ‘Stick with your family. Anything beyond that is just plain tragedy.’

            Not very reassuring words for the House of Cadmus. Or Corleone!

            • And of course, Ye Olde Churchy Church would here note that all the baptized are adopted sons and daughters of God through their spiritual union with the Son, co-heirs to the promised inheritance of eternal life. And the refusal to simply stick with the tribe despite the manifest difficulty and even disaster of said refusal (“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Unwashed Heathen, I’d like just a moment of your time to tell you about a…hey, why are you poking me with sharp things?”) is the hallmark of charity – “And who is my neighbor?” Like the Granola Catholics say, Ellen, the Church is a family, with all the wonder and horror that entails…

              But yeah, I’m not the one who has had the experience of living in a Christian commune.

          • Jonathan Potter says

            The nose pickin’ cinches it. You’re one of us.

        • ‘Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Catholic Worker Movement?’…

          For the record, we will be at Geresene and my hubby and I ARE members of the Catholic Worker movement. We’re eating on styrofoam plates due to the craziness of life brought about by our newest addition and feel very guilty about it.

          …and given I never follow these threads, I’ll be the one looking very confused. (Not picking my nose, that would be the 2 yr old child of the IC)….

          • I heart Catholic Workers! I’m so excited to meet you.

            I met Dorothy Day’s granddaughter last year at the commune. A big moment. I asked her, “Have YOU ever lived in community?”

            She responded, “I grew up in a family with 12 children. Would you call that community?”

            I said, “Touche.”

  3. Thanks to both of you for various reasons.

    And anyone new to the blog please remember that The Bully is a friend of the Asian Man.

  4. Clearly the only thing to do is smoke pot with your cat on that beach towel.

  5. It’s okay to smoke pot, but not anything else.

    Provided it’s medical!

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