i went to see The Salton Sea last night at this really neat one-theater movie house near Hollywood and Vine. my escort was someone with a particulary large amount of first hand knowledge regarding the subject and was able to provide me with some extensive background info with which to compare the film to, along with some lovely company.

outside on the street were a lot of other people with a similiar depth of knowledge but less capable of sharing. while we were waiting a woman came and sat next to us on a bench and asked for change. she started in telling about where she had just come from and that she used to be a telemarketer and was actually quite pleasant but i could not think of any kind of response for her. i wasn't prepared to launch into any kind of conversation especially when the only ideas I could conjure up involved saying something to the effect that telemarketing seemed like enough to see anyone on their way to "skid row" which is where she said she came from. this would have been quite a faux-pas. we she got up to sit on another bench i felt insensitive and like my silence was being mistaken for fear. this is not the case, i just couldn't think of anything good to say back. also i was kind of on the spot and thought it was more important not to sound stupid than to be polite. in the past i have been more amiable, in san francisco my friend met some guy of similar status outside a bar we came out of and he ended coming over for pizza!

so i guess i am only a jerk 70% of the time. anyway, it was quite a thought-provoking evening, but sadly, because my brain power is kept under lock and key by something other than my will, these thoughts won't take any comprehensible form until about three weeks from now (so be expecting that!)

tonite the plan is to go see Minority Report with Dan, someone who has background knowledge on every practical topic known to the modern day, middle class American, anything you might go to such a site as aol.com to look up: which cell phones are good, the newest SUVs, where to go on vacation, John Grisham's latest work. That is why everyone loves him, I know to love him for other reasons. Dan knows EVERYTHING about that stuff, and quite a bit about prescription drug aquisition and abuse as well [(although we don't call it abuse, just non-conventional use.) for shame! i should not make light of such things. ] The irony lies in that Dan is a total freak, he is just plain "off." At least he has found the farce of consumer culture to hide behind. I mean this in the nicest possible way, I have always thought he did this for satirical purposes anyway.

22 July 2002 - 3:14 PM

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