WHY?

once in a while i check in on sorabji.me to see what i’m doing with the futilities of my life. i had fun with some receipts stories today, and came up with a tag line that i think i like: Behind Every Story There Is a Receipt. i need some direciton in this endeavor, perhaps — though that reminds me of a time someone did try to give me some editorial direction with regard to the old receipts site. i suppose i should not register such dismay at his advice, for he was after an editor at Time Inc. and thus, i assume capable of appropriate guidance. but it irked me a bit that he presumed to be in a position where his advice made a dick of difference, or that i gave a shit. i don’t remmeber the advice, either, though it was reasonable and congenial of him to offer it at the time, and in the context of the moment.

he did find the project hilarious. at the time i knew not what to make of that, but i guess funny is better than boring. and his laughter was not chortles or guffaws, but that uneasy chuckle of failed apprehension, crossed signals, dry interpretations.

i met a woman at a party, it might have been around the same time as the encounter with the above-mentioned editor… the woman at the party simply wanted to know “WHY?” but she asked not to imply that i was an oaf or culture clod but with an air of expectantcy, exasperation and baffled contemplation.

i don’t remember what i said in reply but we had a good and lively conversation in which i may have, out of desperation or anxiety, mentioned Duchamp.

a similar encounter occurred some years later, when i showed some of my photos at a restaurant/bar near here. a woman saw a picture of a mop and asked, in the same tone of voice as the above-mentioned receipts inquisitor, “WHY?” why a mop? why hang a picture of a map on a wall? she asked in good humor, too, which is, as i say, better than being boring, or being ignored.

borgnored.

don’t you borgnore me.

…..

i also did some work on etudemagazine.us, which is a satellite site of my other Etude site. the first Etude site is all about content and cover images, but this .US site will be visual items, like the old advertisements, photos and illustrations, and full pages from random issues. also selected cover images, or slices from them. i have in mind a progressively surreal zooming-in and zooming-out collage of arbitrary objects of interest.

…..

the oldreceipts site needs tending to next, i think.

i woke up today remindin gmyself how awesome is the Internet. endless opportunity.

going to socialize now.right now.