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What follow are the posthumous writings of Eponymous Quatsch, a young man, stuck somewhere between madness and enlightenment, who died alone, familyless and friendless, by suicide, while living in a homeless shelter near Boston, MA. I only knew him in the last months of his life, and was probably the closest thing he had to a friend.
The writings are culled from a long supposedly cohesive philosophical tome he completed shortly before his death, titled A Survey of America Within Myself (or The Investigation), and comprised of three main sections. The first section, An Investigation Into Social Class, is a rough exploratory sketch, ending mid-sentence. The second, Exile From Nowhere, is split up further into three sub-sections: A Reckoning, An Interlude, and The Limitations. The first of these questions how ‘the visionary’— the sincere artist or thinker— might hope to ‘pursue their vision’ within the particular constraints of contemporary American society. The second is perhaps the strangest of all the writings, focusing on a fictional tribe who experience existence in an eternal present. The third, The Limitations, is by far the longest, and contains the most polished and realized pieces, culminating in a tour-de-force essay titled Relativism, the Absolute, Self-Realization, and Happiness in America (or Closer to the Path). The last section is a collection of thoughts and aphorisms compiled throughout the writing process.
Some of the writings are too rough, erratic, one-sided, and fragmentary for publication. Others, however unbalanced, are poignant in their uncanny reflections of contemporary society. A few come as close to describing Awareness as any I’ve read. He entrusted the manuscript to me several days before his death; I will be publishing portions at my discretion. Please make of them what you will.
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deleting pages from my dissertation causes me acute physical pain
Shawn [a nurse]
I can manage that.
Michelle
propofol, or a little dilaudid?
Jason
That’s terrible. I feel for you. Those cretins don’t understand that those pages are essential to the purpose (now I think I just may be projecting)…. Maybe, afterwards, you can put out a “Dissertation: Director’s Cut,” including all the deleted pages— and an appendix of zany bloopers.
Michelle
Pages and pages of well-researched yet unnecessary historical context for a minor point: HILARIOUS BLOOPER.
ii.
Jason
”My body thinks I’m a bear. I think I’m a bear. You think I’m a bear. So why am I not a bear?!”
–Sasha
Katya
why would she not be bear?
Jason
I don’t know. You’d have to ask her. I think she’s a bear.
iii.
Jason
The Scorpions canceled their Minsk show
Matthew
I refuse to believe this.
Jason
I know, I know. It’s almost— unbelievable.
Barry
A new Day the Music Died
Jason
Soy tan sexy que mi amor
Barry
This is true.
Jason
soy mucho para Milán, mucho para Milán, New York y Japón
Kat
Hey, don’t you guys rag on The Scorpions! I love them!
”Russians are capable of bringing the notion of ‘jutkact’ (kitsch/ gaudiness/ tackiness) to a whole
other level. The level you never thought was possible.” –Sasha
Steven
woah.
Jason
indeed
Matthew
I think I sprained my tongue trying to say “jutkact”
Jason
It’s pronounced ‘zhoot-kuhst’… anyway, you sprain your tongue every month doing something or other
Margot
I’ve been searching for the name of this ever since my first trip to Israel…
Jason
That’s what a Russian would call it… ‘POSH-luhst’ would be translated as ‘kitsch,’ and ‘JHOOT-kuhst’ as the kind of absurd kitsch-gaudiness-tackiness seen in the video… Unfortunately, it’s difficult to approximate the right pronunciation…
Margot
My Russian/Ukranian colleague Dima who sits next to me says you’re wrong, and that jutkact means ‘liquid’. Bentsman are you trying to pull one on us?
Jason
He’s thinking of ‘ZHEET-kast’— which means liquid. ‘ZHEET-kaya’ means liquidy… ‘ZHOOT-kast’ (noun) comes from ‘ZHOOT-kaya’ (adj)— which means basically what I said: extreme kitsch/ tackiness/ gaudiness. Have him check a good Russian dictionary if he doesn’t believe it. (Again, the confusion here is trying to transliterate the Russian sounds in English letters.)
Barry
I’m still waiting to see evidence of a Russian capacity for kitsch/gaudy/tacky exceeding the American.
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pet peeve: The creepily subservient, alienating, and unhelpful ways in which large companies (banks, utilities, credit card, tech companies, etc) require their customer service people to speak. They sound like automatons, w/o intuitive conversational sense or rapport, forced to ask inane questions and make inane statements no one ever responds to affirmatively. At the very end of the conversation, after every issue has (or, more often, has not) been addressed, always: “Is there anything else I can help you with today?” – ‘No, clearly not’ – “Okay, sir. Thank you for your time today, sir. Motorcola and the Motorcola family has been serving the community for years and is proud of your continued patronage.” – Would anyone speak like this in person? – As Jerry Seinfeld would say: “Who are these people?”
Ben
I figured it out: you’re Andy Rooney and Larry David’s love child.
Jason
You just figured it out today? It’s common knowledge.
Larry and Andy were deeply in love. It was the height of the roaring sixties. Leicester Sqaure. The MODS. The Beatles had just returned from Sri Lanka. It was love at fourth sight. But it wasn’t meant to be. Not the right time; not their time. Strangers in the night… I knew I would get flak for that one
Jason
I just misspelled “square”
Michelle
there’s something missing from this story… andy kaufman as gestational carrier maybe
Jason
I’ve heard strange rumors about Andy Kaufman. Strange forebodings, and whispers in the night. But I’ve never myself seen the man.
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i will pay you 1 million dollars to finish my dissertation for me
Autumn
At this rate, I might just have the time! Oh wait. I shouldn’t say that. A bunch of people might kill me. Nevermind. You can keep your 1 million dollars.
Jason
I’ll do it for one month’s rent
Michelle
autumn, if you are under contract to finish my dissertation i will protect you. and a month’s rent is a serious discount on 1 million dollars. makes me question the quality of your product jason.
Shawn
jason, how much is your rent?
Jason
two million dollars
Teresa [Michelle’s mother]
I’ll do it for free…..but it may not get you your PHD!
Jason
There’s the Capitalist system for you. Don’t charge overmuch, give someone a good deal, and they automatically question the quality of your services… Fine, I’ll do it for 1 million five hundred thousand (firm)
Teresa
Hey watch it there mister! I said I would do it for free and you are turning it into a bidding war……bring it on….bring it on!
Eva
you can do it you can do it!
Teresa
Spoken like a true friend!
Jason
For 1,500,000, I will get you the PhD. No problem. I’ll also throw in an MA in Computer Science, and a Bachelor’s in underwater basket weaving (a skill currently highly in demand in Denmark).
Teresa
me thinks you win! but I don’t like it!
Teresa
I think I could use some of that basket weaving….we’ll talk some time
Michelle
Product bundling, savvy marketing move. I don’t really need a BA in basket weaving, yet the offer is hard to resist.
Jason
Everyone always goes for the basket weaving. Who doesn’t love a handmade basket infused with the timelessness of the ocean?… I will be displaying some of my personal baskets tonight at 9 pm on the Home Shopping Network.
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The Orgastic Future, a profound work of poetic nonfiction about the interconnectedness and depths of consumerism, plastic pollution, climate change, plague, runaway ego, and other threats facing the planet.
“A 21st century HOWL” —A.S., New Yorker & Vanity Fair “Visionary… Must read”—Mercurius Magazine “A visionary work… Something out of its own time” —M.S., Therapist & Writer “An urgent read for every person living on the planet” —I.M., Global Project Manager “Very interesting and idiosyncratic” —L.M., Renowned Travel Writer & Ecologist “A poetic companion piece to Elizabeth Kolbert’s The Sixth Extinction” —J.H., Documentarian
A unique balance of the literary and informative essay, it appeals to anyone who loves classic and 20th century literature or philosophy, or is concerned about the environment and state of the world.
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