Wednesday, February 20, 2013

food pyramids

good friends, still trying to figure out what to arrange
in lieu of an actual readership:

"canoe the sangamon river?"
"indeed- canoe it with energy."
"its energy?"
"your energy."
"what about a combined form of energy?"
"you mean like 5 hour energy?"
"no, not a condensed form- a combined form."
"is there such an obvious difference?"
"you mean like organic vs. synthetic?"
"well, that's one possible conflict."
"canoe the sangamon river?  are you sure about that?"
"never been more sure about anything in my life."
"what about the ganges?"
"no, you'd be swallowed up by the ganges."
"not if I had the right guide."
"and where, pray, are you going to find "the right guide?"
"I know a guy from benares."
"great.  we all know a guy from benares."
"but this is a special guy."
"great.  we all know a special guy from benares."
"well, maybe I know mine a bit better.  maybe I actually trust him."
(long pause)
"he's canoed the ganges?"
"he's been doing it his whole life."
"he's canoed it with energy?"
"indeed- a combined and condensed form of energy."
"organic?  synthetic?"
"it depends on the particular outing."
"the ganges hasn't swallowed him whole yet?"
"well, I never said that, keng."
(pause)
"now what's that supposed to mean, calv?  you've gotta be clear about this!  our readership deserves and expects straight talk when it comes to delicate and potentially dangerous stuff like canoeing the ganges!" 
"you think the ganges is delicate?"
"no, I said canoeing the ganges is delicate."
"is there a difference?"
"massive difference."
"you think we should point this out to our readership?"
"it's totally obvious.  it doesn't need pointing out."
(pause)
"so where's this river guide now?  still in benares?"
"no, he lives in st. louis at present."
"st. louis? what in god's name is he doing in st. louis, missouri?"
"take a guess."
(pause)
"ok, then, he's probably leading tours on the mississippi."
"close, but no.  guess again."
"he's leading tours of the arch."
"even closer, but no- guess again."
"ok... he's visiting the arch almost every day by himself, contemplating the mystery."
"that's it, friend.  you nailed it."
"you've always had pretty weird friends."
"well, this guy takes the cake."
"what's his name, anyway?"
"micah."
"that doesn't sound like an indian name."
"it's not."
"but I thought you said he was from benares."
"he is- his parents wanted to mix things up a little bit."
"how old is he?"
"close to sixty."
"as in below sixty?"
"not sure.  somewhere around sixty, give or take."
"and he's still canoeing the ganges?"
"whenever he gets the chance, yes."
"so what then- you guys are gonna travel to india together?"
"maybe."
(pause)
"look, keng, it was your suggestion that I canoe the sangamon river, wasn't it?"
"yes."
"
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"well, I'm just taking it one little step further."
"that won't just puzzle the readership?"
"no, they'll jump right on board- trust me!"
"stewards one?"
"stewards all."
"creatures of which particular earth?"
"the shared earth."
"the gored earth."
"any identifiable earth."
"some people carry it around in their pockets."
"you mean an odd collection of stones?"
"no, handpicked along the shore of lake michigan."
"when, exactly?"
"sometime before the so-called middle ages."
"just a hairsbreadth of difference there."
"yeah, that's already been pointed out hundreds of times."
"ice and snow."
"lazy mist gathers in pools outside of my window."
"yeah, I've noticed that."

and then, another awareness mercifully dawns on them, quietly, something to do with basic foodstuffs situated unevenly within semi-concentric circles.

"a wave form?"
"or particle.  it can be both."
"or neither?"
"or neither."
"are we still invested?"
"yes, we are."
(an extremely long pause.) 
"can't retrace the old lines that allegedly embraced the lost mystical libraries, no matter how much their magazines hugged the unlettered shore of vast cities."
"like benares?"
"that's one option."
"we can retrace the old lines, keng!"
"I disagree."
"no, you just want me to stick close to home!"
"consider the readership, calvin!"
"I am!  that's why I'm going to india!"
(extremely long pause)
(in a extremely quiet voice) "so it's decided, then?"
"no.     (extremely long pause)     that's what we're here to discuss, keng."
"people already know about canoeing the ganges."
"yeah, but they also already know about canoeing the sangamon."
"so what- you're saying that it doesn't make a significant difference?"
"it depends."
"depends on what?"
"depends on everything."
"including the state of the readership?"
"that would be included in the category of everything, yes." 
(extremely long pause)
"how are your energy levels these days, by the way?"
"they're under control."
"NOW WHAT KIND OF A CONVOLUTED ANSWER IS THAT?!?"
"nothing convoluted about it, keng.  simply that they're under control."
"WHAT CONTROL?  WHOSE CONTROL?"
"keng, please, lower your voice.  calm down.  it's ok.  when I say "they're under control" I only mean...that..."
"what, calvin?  WHAT?"
"look, I'm not gonna be able to answer your question properly if you keep raising your voice."
"this energy business seems to be a delicate matter."
"like the ganges, maybe."
"and the sangamon."
"and the arch."
"and the readership."
"and us- our relationship.  this thing we're trying to see in terms of past, present, and future."
"only one of which has any discernible bearing."
"not sure I agree with that."  
"we could spend our whole lives talking about this."
"would that be time well spent?"
"not sure."
"well then I guess I'm just gonna waste my life taking stabs in the dark."
"be my guest."
"ok, I will, then."
(long pause)
"try these lines on for size-
I think they go something like this:

"teeming with hunger for scattered-crumb-style wisdom,
lloyd mistook his career for a calling, and then, one rainy evening, wandering alone by the pier, abandoned like shell fragments and costume jewelry handouts, he traced these lines in wet concrete:

"footprints left not in sand,
but tapering off into the water itself-
bowed under the soft roar 
of the ever-tightening inter-state."

a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's attention.
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's attention
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's attentio
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's attenti
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's attent
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's atten
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's atte
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's att
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's at
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's a
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's 
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment'
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment
a crescent moon calls out for a mere momen
a crescent moon calls out for a mere mome
a crescent moon calls out for a mere mom
a crescent moon calls out for a mere mo
a crescent moon calls out for a mere m
a crescent moon calls out for a mere 
a crescent moon calls out for a mer
a crescent moon calls out for a me
a crescent moon calls out for a m
a crescent moon calls out for a
a crescent moon calls out for
a crescent moon calls out fo
a crescent moon calls out f
a crescent moon calls out
a crescent moon calls ou
a crescent moon calls o
a crescent moon calls 
a crescent moon call
a crescent moon cal
a crescent moon ca
a crescent moon c
a crescent moon 
a crescent moo
a crescent mo
a crescent m
a crescent
a crescen
a cresce
a cresc
a cres
a cre
a cr
a c


"it doesn't make sense, cal."
"it won't attract the right audience."
"maybe if you could try writing about the crest of a wave."
"no, they've been thru all that before."
"so have I.  so have you."
"aren't we supposed to write about things we are remotely familiar with?"
"no, calv, we are not- it's our job to write about the bizarre."
"like the ganges?"
"the ganges is not bizarre in the least!"
"just when I thought my environmental studies degree was finally going to serve some tangible purpose!"
"finally safe at home from the knife blade of near endless trafficking, good friends, sitting down again, lamps switched off and con-versing in barely audible voices!"
"yeah, that sounds exactly like us."
"pretty much."
"you wanna waste your life with me?"
(long pause)
"isn't it already happening?"
"ok then- try these lines on for size:

"
"t
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"the crest of a w
"the crest of a wa
"the crest of a wav
"the crest of a wave
"the crest of a wave r
"the crest of a wave re
"the crest of a wave rea
"the crest of a wave reap
"the crest of a wave reapp
"the crest of a wave reappe
"the crest of a wave reappea
"the crest of a wave reappear
"the crest of a wave reappears 
"the crest of a wave reappears o
"the crest of a wave reappears ou
"the crest of a wave reappears out
"the crest of a wave reappears out o
"the crest of a wave reappears out of 
"the crest of a wave reappears out of n
"the crest of a wave reappears out of no
"the crest of a wave reappears out of now
"the crest of a wave reappears out of nowh
"the crest of a wave reappears out of nowhe
"the crest of a wave reappears out of nowher
"the crest of a wave reappears out of nowhere
"the crest of a wave reappears out of nowhere.
"the crest of a wave reappears out of nowhere."

"interesting, but I've read it before."
"probably hundreds of times."
"at the low end."
"what's this business about scattered-crumb-style wisdom?"
"something I picked up from alan watts."
"at mrs. piggly wiggly's farm?"
"yeah."
"you think that's gonna actually influence our readership?" 
"look, calvin!  lloyd mistook his entire career for a calling!  and then, one evening, wandering along the edge of the gravel pit, abandoned like tractor partshe came across these lines scrawled in mud at the base of the water tower: 

"music composed not via sound,
but tapering off into the ether itself-
bowed like coiled serpents 
under the soft roar 
of the violin's hollow body."

"wow- I like it!  I think I'm gonna put it up on my blog!"
"me too!"
"we can't just pretend to recreate the old lines that allegedly embossed the lost mythical libraries!"
"no matter how much their facebook pages hugged the unlettered shore of vast cities!"
"there weren't even cities in those days, keng!  no cities!!!"
"wow- you really wanna go that far back in time?"
"no, not really- but I'm not sure that we still have a choice." 
"music composed not via sound?"
"that's right- just fading off into the ether!"
"ether the into off fading just- right that's?"
"sound via not composed music?"
"choice a have still we that sure not I'm but- really not, no."
" time in back far that go wanna really you- wow!"
" cities no!!! keng, days those in cities even weren't there- you agree?"
"pretty much." 
"probably hundreds of times."
"at the low end."
"the low end?"
"the low end."
"the low end."
"the bare minimum, maybe?"    "any identifiable earth."     "you mentioned that some people carry it around in their backpacks?"     "you mean an old collection of books?"      "just a hairsbreadth of difference there."            "lazy mist gathers in pools outside of my inbox."                         "yeah, I've noticed that."           "so has my english professor."    "ha ha ha ha ha!"


and then, yet another strange insight mercifully dawns on them, quietly, something to do with basic geometry situated unevenly within organic diseases.

"teeming with hunger for scattered-crumb-style nutrition, celine mistook her education for a 300 ring circus and one morning, in her dorm room window, she traced these lines in the frost:

a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's attention.
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's attention
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's attentio
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's attenti
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's attent
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's atten
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's atte
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's att
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's at
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's a
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment's 
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment'
a crescent moon calls out for a mere moment
a crescent moon calls out for a mere momen
a crescent moon calls out for a mere mome
a crescent moon calls out for a mere mom
a crescent moon calls out for a mere mo
a crescent moon calls out for a mere m
a crescent moon calls out for a mere 
a crescent moon calls out for a mer
a crescent moon calls out for a me
a crescent moon calls out for a m
a crescent moon calls out for a
a crescent moon calls out for
a crescent moon calls out fo
a crescent moon calls out f
a crescent moon calls out
a crescent moon calls ou
a crescent moon calls o
a crescent moon calls 
a crescent moon call
a crescent moon cal
a crescent moon ca
a crescent moon c
a crescent moon 
a crescent moo
a crescent mo
a crescent m
a crescent
a crescen
a cresce
a cresc
a cres
a cre
a cr
a c