How Long to Understand Someone?

"Ten minutes, please. That's all we need to understand each other." Her voice was low and soft but otherwise nondescript.

"Understand each other?"

"Each each other's feelings."

That's how Haruki Murakami starts The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. He hooked me right there. I had to keep reading to find out who this strange female caller is and why she thinks ten minutes is enough to understand someone.

I'll let you know what I find out.

Soul Sucking

I stumbled across a fascinating poetess. She publishes under the name of Coco J. Ginger. Her blog is appropriately named Courting Madness. Here's a brief sample of some of her work:

How do I feel? I cannot tell you. My blood is electricity.
He sucked out my soul and wrote his brilliance upon it.
He blew it back, preventing breath, choking me—

She makes having your soul sucked out seem rather interesting. I've had my soul sucked out, though. It's called working at a stupid, dehumanizing job, and pretending you like it. There's nothing interesting about it.

Switch

Don't worry. If you get tired, we'll switch and I'll carry you.

Where is the Border?

Hoshino: But how can you speak human language?

Cat: I can't.

Hoshino: I don't get it. How are we able to carry on a conversation like this? A human and a cat?

Cat: We're on the border of this world, speaking a common language. That's all.

-Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Madness

All forms of madness, bizarre habits, awkwardness in society, general clumsiness, are justified in the person who creates good art."
-Roman Payne, Rooftop Soliloquy

I think that's true to a large extent. Bukowski was quite the misogynist. In one of his stories he writes about hitting his lover and breaking her false teeth. He then tries to fix her dentures with glue.

And who is Roman Payne? He's a modern-day Hemingway or Kerouac. Take a look at a his photo. Doesn't his hair remind you of Kerouac? Roman traveled around the US for a few years writing, sold some of his work, and then decided he was moving to France. He's been living and writing in France since 1999.

Kafka on the Shore

Kafka, in everybody's life there's a point of no return. And in very a very few cases, a point where you can't go forward anymore. And when we reach that point, all we can do is quietly accept the fact. That's how we survive.
-Haruki Murakami

Not only am I unable to go forward anymore, I seem to be going backwards!

Talking With God

I talked with god tonight. It made me very happy. In the old days this was called praying. In modern terminology, it's known as communing with the universe. The really trippy part is when god replies. You have to keep that to yourself or you could end up in a mental institution. It's called hearing voices. The medical term is "auditory delusions."

So what did god say to me? Angels don't really exist. It's a myth. But, there are some people who are so kind and caring, that they might as well be angels.