The Moviegoer

I'm reading "The Moviegoer" by Walker Percy. I had never heard of the book, nor of Percy. I was at the U of H bookstore looking at the materials for some classes I was considering taking when I saw the book, obviously misplaced under "Chinese Studies". I don't know what drew me to it, but here we are.

I'm not nearly done reading the book, but from what I've read, it is about Binx Bolling, an almost- thirty -year -old stock broker from New Orleans. Binx finds it easiest to relate to the world by drawing analogies between what he experiences in real life, and what he sees in movies.

The protagonist is a veteran, a Catholic, and a fraternity man adrift in life. I think I've exceeded the limit of calling things serendipitous, but it seems insufficient to call my finding this book "fortunate".

Here's my favorite passage, so far:

"I no longer pretend to understand the world." She is shaking her head yet still smiling her sweet menacing smile. "The world I knew has come crashing down around my ears. The things we hold dear are reviled and spat upon." She nods towards Prytania Street. "It's an interesting age you will live in- though I can't say I'm sorry to miss it. But it should be quite a sight, the going under of the evening land. Thats us all right. It is very late."

For her too the fabric is dissolving, but for her even the dissolving makes sense. She understands the chaos to come. It seems so plain when I see it through her eyes. My duty in life is simple. I go to medical school. I live a long useful life serving my fellowman. What's wrong with this? All I have to do is remember it.

"- you have too good a mind to throw away. I don't quite know what we're doing on this significant cinder spinning away in a dark corner of the universe. That is a secret which the high gods have not confided in me. Yet one thing I believe, and I believe it with every fiber of my being; a man must live by his lights and do what little he can and do it as best he can. In this world goodness is destined to be defeated. That is the victory. To do anything less is to be less than a man."

Seneca Says Hold On

Last week, I celebrated one of the best birthday weeks I can remember. Tuesday, I met up with an old friend who is in his medical residency in Ohio. We talked about his engagement, old times and the changes we face in our late twenties. We also talked about his stalled bollywood project. That is an inspiring tale on its own but, for another time.

Wednesday, I went to the Taste of Texas with some friends and family. I did my best impression of myself at seventeen when I tried to eat a thirty-two ounce steak.

It took me the next two lunches to knock that one out.

Thursday, Dana took me to the Grove at Discovery Green. We ordered some dishes we had only seen on Top Chef. The duck confit and skate wing with preserved lemons were awesome. I can feel better now when I berate the Top Chef contestants with a bowl of Easy Mac on my lap.

Friday was the most fun. I was apprehensive to meet up with some friends at Beaver's Icehouse because I haven't really seen anyone since I left South Texas. I thought my friends would be disappointed and that I was going to take some sharp criticism. As usual, I didn't give them enough credit.

It seems my friends and I are navigating through the same mid-twenties wilderness. Many of us are finding that our careers were not enough like the way we envisioned them. Some of us aren't as willing to make some of the sacrifices we thought we could make. Like our happiness.

These times don't make it easier to see beyond money. Every morning I watch a news anchor reporting on the hottest jobs or the most stable job markets. Yesterday I wondered if I was well enough enumerated to be a software engineer (no way in hell) and this morning I was convinced that I needed to go to court reporting school. When I was eight, I wanted to be Indiana Jones. Can you wear an Indy hat in court. No, no you can't.

I don't think anyone at this age should feel bad if they haven't found what they've wanted to do with their lives. The adage is true, if you can't find what you like, then find what you don't like. The important thing here is to keep moving and to no be paralyzed if you can't see the horizon.

"The greatest loss of time is delay and expectation, which depend upon the future. We let go the present, which we have in our power, and look forward to that which depends upon chance, and so relinquish a certainty for an uncertainty."
-Seneca

Some career resources:

10 Winners in the Recession - USA Today

Best Small Businesses to Start in 2009

Violence in Sports

Not Again, and not THIS guy

Normally, I brush off the drama surrounding professional athletes because it becomes redundant.

Steroids in baseball is tiresome. I don't care whose jersey is crumpled up next to Madonna's bed. Another DUI? Another ungrateful athlete.

This story is another tick in a timeline that is growing too long.

Last night, Carl Landry was shot in the leg after an apparent car accident. This is another unfortunate incident in a string of violence in professional sports. Landry is the second Houston athlete attacked at or near his home in the last two years.

Houston's professional sports teams have always had one thing in common: they value the character of their players. Landry and Dunta Robinson, mentioned in the second link, fit the mold of upstanding Houston athletes.

These guys don't illegally tote guns around or ignore league drug policies. They aren't surrounded by constant allegations of impropriety and they're not pariahs in the locker room. The only attention these players bring to themselves is the appreciation of their coaches and the admiration of their fans. These guys didn't deserve what happened to them.

Violence and the pro athlete

I've railed against the astronomical salaries and the trite things about which pro athletes complain. The inequity of someone making millions of dollars to play a sport and the modest salaries of our teachers, police officers and other public servants grows more disparate with every draft and free agency.

We can battle the numbers another time. Right now, the violence has to stop. I think professional players associations and the NBA, NFL and MLB security consultants need to address this issue directly, openly and immediately. Violence in sports is too broad to address as a whole, but the leagues need to start somewhere.

I don't favor coddling professional athletes, I think a lot of them get too much special treatment throughout their careers as it is. But in this case, I'm tired of the violence. I don't want to explain to my kids that their favorite player was shot, or bound and robbed, or was stabbed in the head by his girlfriend at a time when kids should enjoy seeing these guys as larger than life.


We can't escape if they can't

You know, the Houston Texans sent a copy of every game of the 2004 season to my Marine unit in Iraq. Watching those games let us feel like we weren't in a war zone for a little while. Sports should be that kind of escape for fans here as well and it should not be adulterated by attacks on or by professional athletes.

This subject doesn't rank among the likes of the economic crisis, the environment or the continuing war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe that's why we get these syncopated updates about pro athletes as victims of violence. Regardless about the moral weight of the issue, someone needs to be a loud, responsible voice.


Hard to spot the roots

I don't know if this violence is a result of the culture of professional sports, if these athletes made poor choices which resulted in dire effects, or if the victims succumbed to societal forces beyond their contemplation. It's time for some examination of self, league policy and the relationship of pro sports to their fans.

I don't have the answers. This isn't an academic evaluation of the individual and society. I'm just a voice saying we need look at whats going on here.

Whether it's Carl or Plaxico, a series of poor choices or bad guys seeing the stars as easy victims, these things shouldn't happen.

Get better Carl.

Re Re Re-Introduction

I turn 27 this month. This is less intimidating than 25 for some reason. I think it is because I've had enough time to stare down 30, and 30 and I have come to accept each other, begrudgingly.

I left law school last month because I didn't like the way that I saw myself after law school. Me during law school wasn't a model of contentment, either.

There is a little regret, mostly because I left something unfinished. I'm studying for the GRE and looking at some Marketing/ Communication oriented degrees and I feel like I'm looking in the right area.

It's just like looking in the pantry, you know you're looking on the right shelf but you cant find what you want. I bet it's right in front of me like so much granola.

Dana!!!! Where's the....... rest of my life? You see it anywhere?

You know, my fantasy has always been to make movies. I don't know if I have the stones to go that far out on a limb. Plus, the rumor on the street is that a steady pay check is a nice thing to keep close. What kind of movies would I make, I wonder? Comedy? Tragedy? Tromedy? Cragedy? I'd wreck in France, I know it.

This is such a weird time in my life. I have so many things that I've wanted for so long and I find myself taking a huge step back. I'm moved by what I hope is foresight. I think I have the good sense to make corrections now so I don't have to make larger corrections in the future.

This feels familiar, though. I tend to go to blogging or journaling when the treads get bare. It feels natural but it comes too infrequently. Maybe it's for the best. If I wrote any more than I do I'd be a committed writer and who the hell wants that? Bleh.

What I do know is that I'm thankful for a generous and patient family. I'm glad I have a forgiving, tough and beautiful girlfriend. I have friends who inspire me and youth on my side.

Well, I have family a great girl and friends anyway.

Now, gotta run- I have to do some laundry and study for the GRE.

Don't forget your umbrella.