The world may be circling the drain, but there’s always time for bizarre banalities courtesy the ongoing performance artists of ‘Eugene, Oregon USA.’ Yessir, Eugenians are not being disingenuous, fully committing to the bit of suburban strangeness as though the whole world was a stage. For example, Joanie M. Starshine Kent was crowned the new SLUG queen, our own beloved Quacktavious honked his last hoot for UO, and a larcenous lamp was returned to its rightful owner.
No one seemed to know what it meant. What we did know was that a local driver created new parking on campus steps and a local pervert purloined joggers’ peace. Even resident ramblers like Bottle Twins, the Pirate Panhandler, and Frog (RIP) had a sense of decorum and ettiquette when it came to whimsical weirdness. Even local dark horses like Bigfoot Beverage knew they could never rationalize public indecency. Tolerance of nacesnt nudity only extends to people like the topless woman on horseback, not creeps on the South Amazon trail.
I’m still processing thoughts about people like Adam Curtis and Noam Chomsky. Listening to their maundering creates a compelling confusion – assuming everything you’re saying is true (and I’m still not convinced), what are regular people supposed to do about it? These persistent peculiarities help explain why I keep my world small.
As an individual person eschewing the Machiavellian manipulations, kindness is an act of guerrilla warfare to against wanton indifference and casual cruelty. I can’t fix the world, I can’t rage against the machine, but I can take my neighbor’s trash out and help keep the racoons out of the garbage can. Everybody wants to change the world, but nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes. You have to define what constitutes a sustainable self-sacrifice in a world of noxious narcissism.
