[AGL] alienation and sense of impending doom while living inXanadu

[michelemason]

Well! Mike! Thanks for leaving me out! I reared 3 sons, 2 xtra sons, 1 
adopted out son found me to our joy. I would love to do Paris with 
Gilbert and you and Frances as well—alas—not forget Maryann.  mm

On Oct 6, 2006, at 4:37 AM, Maryann Price PriMARY Productions wrote:

> Hey Gilbert!
> If and when I come to France again, can I get in touch w/you?  Tary 
> and I truly enjoyed your tour with us back in 1997.
> Maryann Price, Tary's widow
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "gilbert shelton" <shelton at noos.fr>
> To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s" 
> <austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>
> Sent: Friday, September 29, 2006 10:58 AM
> Subject: Re: [AGL] alienation and sense of impending doom while living 
> inXanadu
>
>
> Hi Mike,
>
> Don't despair.  I would describe my own attitude in Paris as angry
> despair punctuated by periods of enjoyable times, such as when my old
> friends come to visit and I can go touristing with them.  Out in the
> country where I spend most of my time I get the feeling that the
> neighbors actually like me, even if it's obvious that I would rather be
> left alone.  It's not Xanadu of course, but it really is 73° often.
> Hard to discern if my personal life is "keeping up" with what is
> available.  Tell Madelon I'm sorry I didn't get over to Orleans to 
> visit
> while she was there.  That sounded like an interesting project but it's
> some distance from here.
>
> Gilbert
>
>
> Michael Eisenstadt wrote:
>
>> according to literature, the average man/woman lives a life
>> of silent dispair.
>>
>> many in real life opiate themselves with their living descendants,
>> many (most?) of us here at Austin ghetto are childless. about
>> half and half married and living alone. Connie is in Houston,
>> Karen (childless) is in Austin, so is Fontaine. Ewie in Hawaii,
>> Byron (childless) in Indonesia, Gilbert (childless) in France,
>> Jon Ford in Palo Alto, Wayne (childless) in semi-rural Virginia,
>> Gerry near Silver Springs, NM
>>
>> in flights of fancy we long for Xanadu. Xanadu is out in the
>> country, friendly locals, easy grocery shopping, and the
>> weather. Oh dear! the weather in Xanadu is 73 Fahrenheit
>> all the time. a great place to be when dealing with our
>> poisonal devils.
>>
>> it is very dangerous to live in Xanadu if your poisonal life
>> is not keeping up with what is available out there.
>>
>> not easy to live in NYC or Paris without a better than
>> average despair coefficient. imagine the alienation of
>> being alone in such a place.
>>
>> still and all one could be living in the ninth arrondissement
>> surrounded by minorities and dog shit but go down the
>> street and stand on a blvd and look towards the west
>> and see the architecture receding into the haze and feel
>> oneself lifted up by its majesty out of one's poisonal funk
>> for a moment into pure transcendance of self .
>>
>> that can also be managed in the country with a natural
>> landscape which will lift you up likewise. trouble with
>> the country lifting, it soon reduces itself to the inanity
>> of rural life, to use Marx's phrase and you're back in
>> your poisonal funk maybe even worse than in the city.
>>
>> Mike (childless)
>
>
>