23, March 2009

“In historical events great men — so-called — are but labels serving to give a name to the event, and like labels they have the least possible connection with the event itself. Every action of theirs, that seems to them an act of their own free will, is in an historical sense not free at all, but in bondage to the whole course of previous history, and predestined from all eternity.”

War and Peace Bk. IX, ch. 1

I have nothing to say. My life is slowing down, the days are beginning to stretch out, and I can finally sleep a bit longer.

“Concierto Para Quinteto”

Buenos Aires is calling my name.

Discovered Astor Piazzolla tonight, es ajeno!

Feb. 27, 2009

i usually like to start my post with a quote from the book i am currently reading, as you can see from previous posts, so here is one of my favorites..

When asked about his nationality, Che responded with: ” I am Cuban, Argentine, Bolivian, Peruvian, Ecuadorian, etc… You understand.”

Besides overpopulation the next big issue on my list is nationalism. i think its because i’ve grown up seeing or reading about racism among people in the very same ethnic/culture groups (whatever you want to call it), in Spain there is always an argument over who is more “cultured”.. in Latin America its who is more “european” or completely free from spanish blood.. it exists in every imaginable society.

After reading more of Che’s biography I found that we share a lot in common - for instance we both have a similar taste in literature & an immeasurable curiosity. I can only say so since I am still in his pre-revolutionary days, before he recognized himself as a Marxist and even predating his involvement in the Guatemala.

I find his travels around Chile (Chuquicamata mine and Valparaiso), Argentina (CORDOBA!, Buenos Aires, Rosario), Bolivia (La Paz), Peru (Lima), and Venezuela - extremely interesting. During that epoch, and arguably until this day, society was structured along the lines of ethnicity or racial identity (Indian natives and creoles/mestizos). Unless you were a sleaze or increadibly gifted in your trade, there was no moving up in society. Im sure Reminds me of efforts to diminish afro-brazilians in Brazil by mixing them up to create a race that was pardo (or simply in the middle).

I am writing up a draft of my 2009 reading list, its probably the best thing I can do for myself right now. 2008 was a good year but I have no real records on what books I started or read; although i didn’t decide this on new years, my resolution is to make a list of books that i MUST read. Suggestions are suggested (LOL), other than that I am beginning to go back to writing in journals. I am not the only one who does this (Che did too - he actually had over 7 journals). I basically write and research random subjects (for example the journal I have right in front of me contains mini-biographies on various authors [marx, sartre, hugo, marquez, tolstoy], leaders [evita peron, salvador allende, francisco franco, jacobo arbenz] and various other topics (mostly politics/history). Maybe i should get a journal to write about my days, what are those called?.. diaries! oh yes, you know my birthday is coming up ;-]

i miss russian history but i will never find a book better than Nicholas and Alexandra. :(

Poop

”..Not suprisingly, in this rollicking home replete with children, itinerant guests, and conversation, Ernesto found it difficult to read or study undisturbed, and he acquired the habit of reading for hours on end in the bathroom, a habit he kept for the rest of his life” - Che: A Revolutionary Life

I find it weird that I came upon this passage while I was on the toilet.

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During the past 3 weeks I have changed my future
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2009 Reading List

My goal…

1. Caesar: Life of a Colossus - Goldsworthy
2. The New Russians - Smith
3. Notes From the Underground - Dostoyevsky
4. The Death of Ivan Ilych - Tolstoy
5. The Kingdom of God is Within You - Tolstoy
6. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Marquez
7. Les Miserables (New Translation) - Hugo
8. Homage to Catalonia - Orwell
9. A Hero of Our Time - Lermontov
10. Eugene Onegin - Pushkin
11. Fathers and Sons - Turgenev
12. The Master and Margarita - Bulgakov
13. La Comedie Humaine - De Balzac

Found Serenity..

and peace after hearing Russian folk tales all day, confusing Colombian remedies, and having my teeth pulled out with metal pliers. i sort of hold my breath and breath through my nose, its very odd and every time i swallow my saliva i taste blood. I can’t help it, sort of gives food an interesting flavor too.

I went to ojai with my mama after and found out the woman she works for used to be Pancho Gonzalez’s wife (the greatest tennis EVER). My moms showed me an entire cabinet of magazine covers she was in, Life Magazine mostly. She was mostly well known for her husband but by the looks of her photographs she stood out on her own.

I sat on her couch with her cats, read books in front of her grand piano, and for the first time listened.

i thought i could only find that type of serenity far away from California or outside of the U.S. but it exists.. around trees, people, grass.. away from cities and modern society

today was a good day

More…

After returning to Salta, Argentina and reappearing in a hospital he had once visited.. the staff asked him what he had seen on his journey -

“In truth, what do I see? At least I am not nourished in the same ways as the tourists, and I find it strange to find, on the toursit brochures of Jujuy, for example, the Altar of the Fatherland, the cathedral where the national ensign was blessed, the jewel of the pulpit and the miraculous little virgin of Río Blanco and Pompeii.. No, one doesn’t come to know a country or find an interpretation of life in this way. That is a luxurious facade, while its [true] soul is reflected in the sick of the hospitals, the detainees in the police stations or the anxious passersby one gets to know,..”-Che: A Revolutionary Life

Its not enough to be liberated for two weeks, maybe three, out of the year. to finally break free from the rhythm of that tremendous noise which Che describes as the “hateful antithesis of peace.” That same gut feeling is maturing within myself, now is the time to decide - I just hope I don’t get disillussion like he did.