Ten Days Off of Here

Well, getting settled into school has taken time enough for me. I will have updates with many agreeable stories of true adventures. Stay tuned...

Too Much

Too much paperwork that is. I hate forms, I hate all the little details that go with getting into school. But I'm stuck with them I guess. I resorted to rereading a part of Being and Nothingness to take my mind off of it all.

I Am Not a Terrorist

I went to the US border on Thursday, and they agreed! Looks like I can go to school there. The process itself though was rather dull. The immigration office at the Queenston-Lewiston bridge was built in the early 1960s (I was so bored, I read the plaque). From what I can tell, they've done nothing to update it since. Even the vending machine had hideous wood panelling. There was no reading material other than a sad display of missing and abducted children. Most people were sitting on the standard-issue waiting room chairs, but I chose to stand through most of it. I guess working on my feet all day has left standing as my default posture. I don't think any of the other were getting student visas though, there was a confused group of German seniors and a young Korean family in the same state. There was a truck driver who the officials had decided was too sketchy to visit the US as well as others whose papers were in some kind of disorder. The whole place reminded me of the kind of setting that Kafka might use if he were writing The Trial today. Rather dull and bureaucratic, but yet a place that could take away my passport if it saw fit.

The Unforgettable Fire and Paul Celan

I'm sitting here listening to U2's 1984 effort, The Unforgettable Fire. I remember reading that Bono had been influenced by Paul Celan during the recording of this album. Having now read Paul Celan, I sort of get the Celan-vibe when hearing this album. It's sort of given me new ears to hear it. Maybe this is a project. Go and find an album you used to listen to a lot and figure what was influencing the artist at the time. Discover the influence (be it musical, visual, literary, or whatever), and listen to the same album again. Does it change the experience for you?