Recently it was the birthday of Albert Camus. By all rights I should dislike him to some degree. Or, more correctly, I should dislike the people who bestowed the Nobel Prize upon him. He won his in 1957, the same year Nikos Kazantzakis was nominated for the award. And the story goes that Camus won by merely 1 vote and Camus suggested in his acceptence speech that NK should have won. I would like to see the transcript of that speech to confirm what I had heard. Being a big NK guy you would think I might be upset with Camus, but I'm not. I read Camus before I read NK. Before I had even heard of NK. I read "The Myth of Sisyphus" in high school and The Plague in college. Camus is brilliant. I can't stand Satre but I love Camus. There is something nobel in Camus. There is something beautiful in the absurd.
It's apropos that I was at Borders yesterday w/ Molly and in the Lit section we stumbled upon Camus. I dug out a couple of his books, one to give to Molly to borrow and one for me to read. But the reason it is apropos is because it was his birthday and they mentioned him on Jack & Bobby Wednesday night. It's like that sometimes. Things are in the air. Within one week I heard two references to Kierkegaard in two different TV shows - Everwood and Joan of Arcadia. I'm a TV nut and I love this minute. I'm also fascinated by the literary references we occassionaly get in TV shows. I heard the recent episode of Lost was loaded w/ them but I haven't gotten around to watching it yet. I'm been busy with comptuer stuff. Which brings me back to the absurd.
I got my new laptop, and man do I love it! It is amazing. And just as I got it, my desktop started to act up. It was having major problems shutting down. Not good at all. Not good. I tried AV and scan disk but still nothing worked. Well... I think I got it figured out now. Today I copied files and transferred them to my laptop - backup. I also transfered all my mp3s so I finally can play good music on my laptop. During the process I reinstalled software on my desktop and it seems to be in good working order. But for a while there I thought for sure my desktop was jealous of my laptop's newfound admiration and adoration. Absurd to think a laptop could be jealous. To be clear - this is not what Camus meant by absurd, but it works!
Searching for Bobby Fischer is on right now. Great movie. Must see! It reminds me I need to watch and/or tape Joan and JAG tonight. There was talk about going to BWW after bowling. But not sure if that'll happen. Still waiting on a phone call. I did get a call from Mom today saying they got my Norwegian sweater. Later I got a call from my aunt about a surprise party for my cousin - tomorrow. I'll probably go for some food and watch some of the NU-OU game. But I gotta work this weekend. I forgot yesterday was a holiday, so no mail. Good thing I checked today. I got my invite to Amanda's wedding. Very nice. Thematic for a Dec 31 wedding. I doubt I'll be able to make it. Darn work! :) I went Christmas shopping today - and was quite successful. I'm nearly done already. Impressive and sad, huh?
Sara, my sister, called this afternoon to get my advice. She might be changing jobs. I know Mom won't be thrilled by it. We'll see what happens. Only time will tell I guess.
I dug out a box of photos while scrounging around in the garage for computer software. Haven't really looked at them yet. And I'm not sure why I pulled them out. But... well, what can you do? It was fun yesterday, hanging w/ Molly. It's nice to have a friend in town to do things w/. Sure, it's fun hanging out with the BS crowd, but I'm more of a one-on-one person. Darn, I'm never going to find someone, will I? I managed not to buy anything at Best Buy and Borders. well, at least w/ regard to Best Buy, I walked in and out w/out buying anything the first time. When I went to visit the other store - looking for Christmas presents, I did buy something.
Laundry was not easy to do today. Hadn't done laundry in several months. Nice thing about being at home. But it aslo makes one a little complacent I guess. Man, do I miss being out on my own sometimes. And it's been fun bacheloring it here, but it feels odd to be doing that in this house. And as my aunt reminded me today, living in DC, I was used to having people around all the time.
I think I've said enough for right now. I should get something to eat, soon. I had a nice sandwich from Subway, someplace I hadn't been to in a while. I just hope Molly and Brian and the gang haven't forgotten me.
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Not sure I know of Colin Wilson. I know a Wilson who did an analysis of NK's works but probably not the same person. But I have heard of Nietzsche. In grad school I took a semester long independent study on Nietzsche and a French philosopher named Henri Bergson. Bergson won the Nobel in Literature for his philosophical works. And he is still a huge influence today. You can't understand NK and TS Eliot w/out reading at least a little Bergson. Plus there is a contemporary philosopher name Deleuze - worth checking out - who is a Bergsonian who writes about Nietzshce. The brilliance of Nietzsche is his dismantling of "idols" or as a "destroyer of ideas." Camus and Nietzsche don't always cover the same topic, but in a way they are the same thing. You need to read Kierkegaard and Nietzsche and Camus, and even Satre, if you want to know anything about Existentialism. Okay... enough teachering for the day. I've got a surprise party to go to!
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