Patrick

unscripted

Editor’s Note: First posted this on tWF back in early 2005, this article predated my eventual reading of Ayn Rand’s complete novels and a few of her other writings. While I’m not a strict Objectivist, I still appreciate her ideas. And though the Kensico Cemetary statue in the photo below does not accompany Rand’s grave, I like it so much I think I’ll keep it anyway (if photographer Lee Sandstead doesn’t mind).

I first met John Galt on a bumper sticker last December. A little Volkswagen silently asked, “Who is John Galt?” and for some reason I felt like someone had asked this before. Like it was some eternal question that had been in my subconscious mind for many years, finally springing to the surface thanks to a cute little German car. In any case, a quick Google search revealed the literary source of this question — Ayn Rand’s 1100-page masterpiece, Atlas Shrugged. Next time I was at Barnes & Noble, I picked up the paperback for $9.

And it’s finally cooled off, sort of. Yes, I enjoy this t-shirt weather and dread the impending frigidity as much as anyone who spent his formative years in Southern California and Florida (and who now prefers to winter in Hawaii) does, but I’d also prefer a gradual descent into coldness rather than the precipitous drop I’m bracing for. And by “bracing for” I mean “thinking I should have shopped for winter clothing already.”

There are other reasons to look forward to fall, namely:

• The Sandler Center for the Performing Arts, which opens next weekend with Itzhak Perlman (although I’m holding out for Tony Bennett in December). Now Hampton Roads is one step closer to … not being a cultural black hole?
• National Novel Writing Month, or, as seems incongruously short for an art tending to prolixity, NaNoWriMo! But while some will attempt to write a paltry 50,000 words in a month’s time, I’ll be reinvigorating my reading with my yearly re-read of Atlas Shrugged (565,223 words), an attempt to finish Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle (nearly 800,000 words) and a restart of In Search of Lost Time (1.5 million words). Also up for consideration are The Lord of the Rings (~470,000 words), Infinite Jest (479,198 words) and War and Peace (~560,000 words). Maybe I’ll save those for next year.

While looking up all those word counts I forgot what else I’m looking forward to. Hay rides? Pumpkin carving?

I did install Leopard this weekend. It’s at least a welcome respite from the old and cranky install of Tiger I was running. (OS X installs seem to degrade now that Macs have Intel inside. Oh how I miss the PowerPC!) The features are largely commensurate with the prerelease hype, and in any case Leopard beats anything Microsoft’s put out recently.

I guess it would have been difficult to surpass the earlier iPhone frenzy, but today’s offerings from Apple seem pretty bland. The iPhone Touch? An iPhone sans phone. The iPod Classic? Well, it does have 16 times the capacity of my first iPod (pictured at left). Sure, the old iPod had a low-resolution black-and-white screen and a battery that only lasted for a few hours, but until very recently it capably handled all of my portable music needs. And then I somehow misplaced it! I still have my trusty iPod Shuffle, and my shiny new iPhone, but I will always remember my first Apple product fondly.

Things have been especially busy, and though I feel obligated to describe in greater detail the metaphysical developments of the last several months, I must wait until I have enough time to sit down and sift through my thoughts, to avoid needless circumlocution.

I’m catching up on reading. Reading is good!

I have codified my life goals. You can hold me to these.

• Graduate from a respectable law school
• Teach
• Write a book
• Record an album of original music
• Shoot a feature-length motion picture
• Run a marathon
• Hike the Appalachian Trail
• Learn Japanese
• Live in London
• Age gracefully

Another Katie-prompted challenge:

This exercise in futility brought to you by the letter N, as in no particular order.

Nostalgia is a powerful force, and memories consume a decent amount of my mental activity.

Neal Stephenson is a writer whose works I particularly enjoy, especially Cryptonomicon and The Diamond Age.

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System shaped my formative years; Legend of Zelda is still one of my favourite games.

Speaking of pop culture, Nickelodeon was another source of time-wastage, with shows like Pete & Pete, Salute Your Shorts and Clarissa Explains It All preëmpting homework many evenings in middle school.

The Naro Expanded Cinema is one of the more interesting film venues in Norfolk. Actually, it may be the only interesting film venue in Norfolk.

Likewise the Norva for music.

Nobuo Uematsu, whose compositions make Final Fantasy games that much better.

Napoleon Dynamite. Either you love this move, or you hate it, or you don’t feel strongly either way. I fit the first category.

New, like New York City or Dvořák’s New World Symphony or The Shins’ “New Slang.” Or new toys or new clothes, even.

My iPod Nano, for like all things Apple, it rocks.

To the driver who caused the incident that brought traffic to a complete stop on Interstate 64 at approximately 9:45 PM,

Enclosed is a bill for delays and impositions caused to the plaintiff by your inattentive driving:

0.75 hours x $5.15 = $3.86

Ah, if only …

How improbable is it for there to have been two stalled cars and one collision on Little Creek on my drive home Friday? Norfolk has easily the worst drivers of any place I’ve driven.

I graduated, again. Rather I went to the proper ceremony for my graduation last summer. I miss school. No one ever thinks they’ll say that, but it happens. I got over high school, so I guess in a few years college will become a distant and irrelevant memory. I wish it wouldn’t.

To the Doctors of Philosophy candidates, John T. Casteen III said: “I welcome you to the ancient and universal company of scholars.” I want to someday get my PhD solely to have that said to me.

This summer I want to (in no particular order) go to Busch Gardens a few times, shoot a movie, record a few songs, go for some long runs, read good books, laugh, dream and resist aging in general. Keep in mind I will only have weekends in which to accomplish these.

I’m going to start a video journal. This weekend I hope to post clips from grad weekend. The photos are already up.

My susceptibility to marketing is most clearly exemplified by the soap I purchase: Green Tea and Cucumber. Yes, I like cucumbers (on salad or in tzatziki) and green tea (preferably warm), but under no circumstances would I apply them topically, simultaneously or otherwise.

Tea is becoming a health fad, and I hate to admit that my predilection for steeped Camellia sinensis leaf did not precede this fad by an appreciable amount of time. It’s hard to stay ahead of trends when you’re isolated from normal society for weeks at a time. Which brings me to being in a Starbucks in Atlantic Beach, Florida. A blond girl in her twenties is trying to pronounce prestidigitation while her greying male companion conspicuously hits on her. She is from New York; her elocution is rapid but clear, and loud enough to be heard across the coffee shop but not so loud as to annoy, just to distract.

In any case, eavesdropping is my Starbucks pastime. Caitie and I recently amused ourselves with appraisals of various customers’ employment status and if they were sleeping (or in repose, as Alex says in Everything Is Illuminated). And if you read this, Caitie, I’m still waiting for that Easter basket.

Busy, busy, busy.

• The Ides of March passed without incident
• St Patrick’s Day passed with incident, of the good sort
• V for Vendetta was fantastic, on several levels. I will definitely need to see this again, preferably in theatre.
• As of 1:26 this afternoon it is officially spring

Things are looking up, or at least getting interesting. And I need to get in shape.