OF A GOLDEN AGE

well, it demonstrates my class-related confusion that I can’t remember if we read Thomas Carlyle in our class or not — maybe in the “anticipations” section of the American Transcendentalists anthology? — but I just saw a quote from him in the latest issue of real simple:

“no man lives without jostling and being jostled; in all ways he has to elbow himself through the world, giving and receiving offense.”

this is topical because I came home about an hour ago from a loud, crowded, but ultimately well-behaved and unrowdy party at 810 college.

I’m pretty sure Carlyle is right about jostling. more interesting to me, though, is that the quote is on a page with the title “we can work it out,” and the first line of the article is “it can be a jungle out there” — really, now, aren’t there some original statements we can make? rather than taking a hackneyed song title and an even more hackneyed figure of speech?

then again, my big feature today was called “The United States of Tom McBride: Take the Money and Run.” oh Caroline, you hypocrite, keep it to yourself.

earlier, a beloved professor stopped me while I was walking home from work. he said he’d read my Roger Waters review and laughed.

“this happens to me five or six times a year,” he said.

he hears “another brick in the wall” when he’s listening to the radio in the morning or early afternoon.

“who plays that song when teachers are in their cars?” he asked. good question! we tried to decide which parts of that song have vocals by which member of pink floyd but gave up.

“it’s very British schoolmarmy,” I said. “that leads me to believe it’s probably Roger Waters.”

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