July 8, 2014

July 8, 2014

For the last week, there have been odd things happening in my living room.  At first, it was a book I’m reading at the moment “The Principle of Hope” by Ernst Bloch, which I was sure I placed on the living room table, but found it in the next morning in the kitchen.  I just thought to myself that I more likely went to the kitchen and dropped it off there before going to sleep.   Then the next day I noticed that my chair, which usually faces the TV screen, was at a different angle, facing the front door.  Again, I thought that maybe I accidentally knocked against the chair, or perhaps I moved it to get around it.  But that was bizarre to me, because I rarely ever move my furniture around. I’m one of those people who like things to be placed in a certain position, and never ever change that position.  Then for sure I notice something very odd, in that I left my laptop on my dining room table, and when I woke up the computer was on the opposite side of that table.  I have a specific seat I like to sit on, facing the direction of my window, where I pretty much see the same things every day.  So how did my laptop move from one side of the table to the other?

Not only that I’m afraid, but not long ago I found a vinyl copy of “Ballet Méchanique” by George Antheil, and placed it on top of my turntable cover, to play it later.  Hours later I went to my turntable to play the record, and I found the cover on the top, but no vinyl inside.  It wasn’t till I open the record player lid and noticed that the record was on the turntable already - in fact it was side 2 of the record.   For sure, I didn’t open the album cover, and double-sure I didn’t place the record on the turntable itself.  Readers must keep in mind that I have been obsessing over my work lately, so I haven’t really paid that a great deal of attention to these mysterious ongoing situations around the house.

A couple of nights ago, I was awoken by a sound in the sound of the TV set in the living room.  When I got there I saw the image of “Peter Gunn” TV show, which I own the complete series on DVD, and was of course spooked.  I didn’t turn the set or DVD machine off, but checked the doors and windows around the house.  All normal, and I went back to the living room, and found the DVD packaging on the table, like where I would put it if I was watching it.  But the thing is I haven’t watched that specific DVD for a year now, and on top of that, my DVDs are on a wall shelf directly across the set and machine.  So how did that get there?

So yes, I notice how everything is changing in the front room.  A window would be open when I know for sure I didn’t open it myself, and again, objects on the table would be re-arranged or the furniture would be slightly changed.  I have two chairs and a couch surrounding the table, and both chairs were switched around.   I also have a blanket folded over a chair, mostly for visual sake than anything else, and what happened was that I fell asleep on the couch, and when I woke up, the blanket was on top of me.

So lately my life has been sort of like the book “Voyage Around My Room” by Xavier de Maistre, except in my room, the furniture and objects seem to have their own life.  Oddly enough I don’t think a spirit has entered my home, but more to the fact that the objects themselves have a soul or an identity.  It is not hostile to me personally, but like yours truly that has a definite taste, so does my living room furniture and the objects that live in that room.  When you touch a book or a used record, you can feel the presence of someone else or a life of that object as it radiates in one’s hand.  So, if one lives with objects, you must accept their temperament as well.

February 4, 2014

February 4, 2014

I got a message from Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook fame, that I should come up north to meet him to discuss the possibility of using me as a writer for a new Facebook concept called “Paper.” I immediately arranged a flight, and went to his campus like office.  What surprised me the most is that his office is small, and it seems he didn’t have a table to work on.  

When I walked in he was watching Ferand Léger’s film “Ballet Méchanique, ” on a giant screen TV which I found odd and slightly off-putting.   He got up to shake my hand, and told me that he has a hard time following straight narratives, so he prefers experimental or artistic films.   We took a place on his couch and we both watched the silent film together.   While the images were in front of me, he told me that he really admired my series of journals that I have been posting on Facebook.  He wanted to know if I would be interested in working with him on his new project “Paper.” Since I was basically unemployed, and going slowly broke, I said sure.   It was at that point he turned around to face me directly.  He told me that Facebook is basically a landscape where things can happen, but now with “Paper” he wants programming and written out narratives for the site. 

For instance, he was fascinated how people on Facebook were reacting to the Woody Allen case.  Most probably consider this to be an old case and who cares at this point and time.  Alas, this is wrong, because a typical citizen of Facebook is very much concerned with the world around them, but they need that ‘world’ to be defined, or package in a way for people to address that specific narrative.  Or if it doesn’t have a narrative, then it must have one attached to the piece.   Another example is the unfortunate death of Philip Seymour Hoffman.  Here’s a tragic incident where a very talented actor dies before his time, but alas, there is a narrative in the works here as well.  People are under a strong opinion that he should have done something besides being a junkie.   Even though the story is not finalized, individuals are already putting their own narrative to his death.  So many issues involved here.  The never-ending process to sobriety, which is odd enough, because the very word ‘sober’ has a meaning of being serious, sensible, and solemn.  Which is nothing wrong with that, but shouldn’t there be a much better term to express fun, adventure, and enlightenment without getting smashed?

Mark and I looked back at the screen.  It’s funny thinking back that both of us while talking we were mostly looking at the movie instead of each other.   In a nutshell, Mark asked me to go through the stories of the day, and re-write them in a more entertaining style or a narrative where there is a beginning, a middle, and the end.  Mark told me “Shit happens, but not on Facebook Tosh.”  

I told him I’ll take the job.  He said cool and then called his secretary in.  She entered the office and introduced herself to me, without waiting for Mark to make the actual introductions.  “My name is Joan Vollmer, and I will be assisting you while you work on this project.” I said goodbye to Mark, and then Joan led me to my office, which like Mark’s office didn’t have a work table.  What I did have was a giant screen TV, with a DVD package near it.  It was Marcel L’Herbier’s “I’Inhumaine, ” another silent film.  

Joan said that she has been with Facebook for 10 years, and before that she was married to a writer in Mexico.  When she left the office, I put on the L’Herbier film and wondered what my life is going to be like now.