does art make up for murder? does one person standing on a green hill under a blue sky enjoying a beautiful sunny day make amends for one hateful comment? do all the evils and all the good, when tallied, equal some comparable quantity? is there any hope that when its all said and done, when the cows are back in the barn, the fat lady has sung, and pigs have flown, we all, collectively, can be justified? is it absurd to think it has to be? tonight i saw in the face of a mentally retarded man absolute terror and infinite courage. and at the same moment i witnessed utter unconcern for his plight. i sat and watched and felt all the wretched weight of all the wretched years and now i am writing this shite to all of you. and deleting it. and rewriting. and deleting. and rewriting. ah..hell. ill post it anyways.
anotherben said at 10:22 PM 03-11-2002: well..having opened myself up for ridicule..why not go all the way. the man was climbing the stairs to a seat in a darkened theater while the previews were playing. he couldnt see at all..and the person who had brought him to the movie was sitting down pretty high up..and kept saying "up here!" rather gruffly as if that would make him able to move faster. the guy was stricken..but forced himself to go step by step while groping for the chair arms along the aisle. i suppose it sounds silly..but the moment was entirely in the guys expression of horrified determination.
anotherben said at 9:29 AM 03-12-2002: thats a great movie. but no..actually it was the time machine. it was the only one starting close to the time that i arrived at the theater that did not have lots of 10 year olds lined up at the gates. the time machine was awful. i think there must have been some estrogen in my popcorn or something too. what a sappyass post. if it was penned more cleverly it could be considered buzzkill.
nathan [email] said at 7:17 PM 03-14-2002: I have an absurd story about retarded people and movie theaters. I spent a summer taking care of kids with mental disabilities of all kinds. I loved it, the autistic kids were unbelievably cool. It was a movie night, and there were alot of choices, but every single one of these kids wanted to see Forrest Gump. I tried hard to discourage them and talk up the other movies, but this was to no avail. Afterwards they were all totally stunned for hours. Then for the remainder of the program they all called each other Forrest Grump (sic) all day long as putdowns.
Shell said at 9:36 AM 03-12-2002: Estrogen in your popcorn? Because you contemplated the state of the world and the humanity on it? Because you opened up your introspection to your friends (and emotionaly voyeurs) at Killoggs?
anotherben said at 9:45 AM 03-12-2002: not really the thinking or the open introspection but the delivery that = sappyass. i did not mean to reflect negatively on estrogen in any way.
Mary said at 3:01 PM 03-12-2002: Personally I like my estrogen. Meet me at the corner of 15th and L NW in 50 years, you testosterone freaks, and let's compare arteries!
mary [email] said at 1:16 PM 03-13-2002: In 50 years, your biceps will be mush. Mush! And you will have a lot of hair coming out of your ears and nose. If you can figure out how to harness that as a weapon ...
