Interlude

An interlude - 9/30/2001
I suspect the psychology of the OD is quickly catching up with me. Spent the whole afternoon skulking around different ODs and trying to read stuff quickly - must have spent up to 3 hours doing it ... and didn't get to write anything because the server was down.
There's an Underworld
Not an Underground that is dark and dangerous
Not an illegal smuggling of gossip -
But an Underworld in the sense that Don DeLilio uses it -
We know of the significance of events, of their place in history, or identities and men, only because of the traces left behind. The tremendous amount of debris, of "waste", of what is disposed = rubbish, constitues this underworld. Some objects are more valued - they become antiques, some less they become land-fill
But regardless, it's this Underworld that charts the movements of our lives.
"Is cyberspace a thing within the world or is it the other way around? Which contains the other, and how can you tell for sure?" UW, DD 826

Don Delilio - 10/1/2001
Who is an American writer who people (meaning general public - he's no John Grisham) don't read much unless you are
1. Into pop/American culture
2. A Lit major
He (in the several that I've read) makes excursions into the psyche of postmodern America through the examination of of the material culture. His characters are normal - usually middle aged men - who get caught in strange obsessions and anxieties about death - but in very hilarious and quirky ways. If you want, check him out at the Library at Orchard - no one borrows his stuff.
"White Noise" is a great book to try, though the pop culture (very 80s) references may be a challenge.