tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post113932687612170183..comments2024-02-20T03:18:43.590-05:00Comments on Magnificent Octopus: Bored and stupidIsabella Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10735198478395875257noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-1139621834241713172006-02-10T20:37:00.000-05:002006-02-10T20:37:00.000-05:00Also, I meant to say: boredom makes you feel stupi...Also, I meant to say: boredom makes you feel stupid. It's been amply documented in my own life, and I'm sure it's true for other people as well. The brain goes all torpid and soft. The way out (for me) is usually to do something difficult. It will feel horrible at first, but persist.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-1139589906005722272006-02-10T11:45:00.000-05:002006-02-10T11:45:00.000-05:00Hmmm. I loved Infinite Jest. I think it has that q...Hmmm. I loved Infinite Jest. I think it has that quality-- ether you love it or you hate it. It's full of excess and exuberance and a headlong quality that often makes you wonder what the hell is going on, but I enjoyed the ride. I heard David Foster Wallace in an interview once, and wanted to be his best friend, at least at that moment. He seemed a bit like all the nerds I hung out with in high school, only probably smarter. They all swung between gigantic ego and quivering self disgust.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5767816.post-1139541891960833342006-02-09T22:24:00.000-05:002006-02-09T22:24:00.000-05:00Isabella -- it is always lovely...so lovely...to f...Isabella -- it is always lovely...so lovely...to find that someone is feeling exactly as I am and has articulated it in a way that I simply could not have. Bored. Check. Stupid. Check. I think it is something in the air.<BR/><BR/>It's funny you pulled out that quote from DFW's commencement speech...it is the very portion of the speech that hit home hard for me and it illustrates the EXACT irony of my entire insecure experience being around him. All my writing about seeing him and reading him centered around my feeling a fraud. And why? Clearly I put too much importance on the intellect. It doesn't make me feel altogether comfortable vis-a-vis DFW, but it does take the pressure off, and as you point out, gives perspective. <BR/><BR/>Now, how to not forget that? :-)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com