Sunday, January 7, 2007
Depardieu
Am I crazy, or is there some substantial degree of resemblance between my buddy Dan and a frazzled, older version of French actor Gerard Depardieu?
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
On Los Angeles
I regret that I have not been able to post for most of my trip. I was incredibly busy in LA, so busy that I was engaged in activities all day and often did not go to sleep until 3am or 4am (quite late for an old fogy like myself), and I lacked access to a computer on the bus and in Las Vegas. About 2 weeks have passed since I last posted, and I've traveled by bus from Florida to LA, LA to Las Vegas, and Las Vegas to St. Louis. I have so many stories to tell and so many reflections to share, certainly too many for a single sitting and perhaps too many for half a dozen.
I'm currently sitting in a poorly lit office in a drab section of St. Louis. This has, on the whole, been an invigorating and exciting trip, and--though I've been stressed out occasionally--today is the first time I've felt a bit down since I boarded my flight out of JFK Airport.
My time in Los Angeles was phenomenal. Joe was a superb host and shares my norms of hospitality, or perhaps embodies them to a degree to which I can only aspire. My visit to LA had many highlights. I rode a bike for the first time in about seven years, in the most spectacular setting in which I've ever done so. In Santa Monica there was a very flat and long bike path, conducive to novice bikers like myself, that stretched for miles along the beach and reached a point where the beach was bordered by mountains on one side and (of course) the sea on the other. Joe and I were able to gain access for a day to his girlfriend's aunt's house on Malibu Beach. Joe's girlfriend's aunt was a well-known actress in the 1940s and 1950s, and her now-deceased husband was a prominent producer. The house looked like something straight out of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. I've never been in a house that was simultaneously so luxurious and tastefully put together. The house was right on the beach, and the side of the house facing the beach consisted of a huge glass window. The bedroom was designed to consist of a balcony overlooking the main living space of the house, so that both floors faced the huge glass window. The house was densely packed with books on art history, and there was a hot tub in the basement. The place was absolutely stunning, so much so that I walked around fearing that I was going to damage something. We spent much of the day and the evening drinking wine and ale, eating cheese, bathing in the hot tub, and watching the sun lower itself toward the beach and eventually submerge itself in the waves. Joe and I also had the opportunity to eat shabbat dinner at the house of a relatively young orthodox rabbi. While I am not at all religious myself, and I indeed consider myself an atheist, it was an intriguing cultural experience to see how a person nearly of my generation lives a life centered around Jewish law and tradition.
Although we engaged in a range of interesting and enjoyable activities in LA, the highlight of my visit was observing the enormous personal growth and development that Joe has undergone since we befriended each other seven years ago at Oxford. Joe was always a great guy, sympathetic, giving, keenly aware of his personal faults, and possessing a robust understanding of the personalities of others. When we were at Oxford, Joe lacked the requisite self-confidence and maturity to fully utilize these traits to the benefit of himself and others. Over the last seven years, Joe has developed that confidence and maturity to the point that his personal strengths not only emanate from him but also rub off on those in his vicinity. It is a sign that someone is a good person when those around him are immediately and unambiguously aware of the strength of his character. It is a sign that someone is a special person when those around him are not only aware of that person's merits but also feel better about themselves as a result of being around that person. In the past, Joe seemed to admire me (in some respects) and sometimes looked to me for advice or emotional support. After my experience in LA, I can say humbly that that situation is reversed, and there is much I observed in Joe's character that I wish to emulate. It is utterly refreshing to be around someone who is so unshakably confident in his ability to meet his own needs that he almost takes this for granted and focuses on understanding and giving to those around him. Joe's dad, a Holocaust survivor who came to America as an orphan and earned a PhD in economics and who recently died, was the same way. I remember that when I first met Joe's dad as an undergraduate junior, he made me feel like my ideas and perspectives were important to him and he took them very seriously, despite the vast disparity in our levels of education. Despite the brevity of our encounters, interacting with Joe's dad gave my own self-confidence a substantial boost, in a time when my life was otherwise in shambles. It honors his memory that Joe has internalized his dad's most salient positive personality trait. I hope I too can emulate this trait and nourish the egos of my students and friends in the same fashion as mine has been nourished by being around Joe's dad and, now, Joe. I also was impressed with the rigor with which Joe had followed my cues regarding what he might do to enhance his intellect. Surprisingly, he independently worked his way through Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and seemed to possess a basic understanding of its arguments, something I could not attain without studying this book in a classroom setting. If everyone took those around him or herself so seriously, the world would be a much better place, since people would feel a deeper sense of self respect and importance and would not need to disparage those around them to feel better about themselves. Of course, Joe is still a spoiled brat, is obsessed with superficial aspects of his appearance, lacks a deep understanding of the socio-economic conditions of the underclasses, and thought that we could leave chopped vegetables on his kitchen's counter for 3 days until the maid arrived to clean them up. But none of this does much to diminish the admiration I felt for him, for the first time, during my recent visit.
More later....
I'm currently sitting in a poorly lit office in a drab section of St. Louis. This has, on the whole, been an invigorating and exciting trip, and--though I've been stressed out occasionally--today is the first time I've felt a bit down since I boarded my flight out of JFK Airport.
My time in Los Angeles was phenomenal. Joe was a superb host and shares my norms of hospitality, or perhaps embodies them to a degree to which I can only aspire. My visit to LA had many highlights. I rode a bike for the first time in about seven years, in the most spectacular setting in which I've ever done so. In Santa Monica there was a very flat and long bike path, conducive to novice bikers like myself, that stretched for miles along the beach and reached a point where the beach was bordered by mountains on one side and (of course) the sea on the other. Joe and I were able to gain access for a day to his girlfriend's aunt's house on Malibu Beach. Joe's girlfriend's aunt was a well-known actress in the 1940s and 1950s, and her now-deceased husband was a prominent producer. The house looked like something straight out of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. I've never been in a house that was simultaneously so luxurious and tastefully put together. The house was right on the beach, and the side of the house facing the beach consisted of a huge glass window. The bedroom was designed to consist of a balcony overlooking the main living space of the house, so that both floors faced the huge glass window. The house was densely packed with books on art history, and there was a hot tub in the basement. The place was absolutely stunning, so much so that I walked around fearing that I was going to damage something. We spent much of the day and the evening drinking wine and ale, eating cheese, bathing in the hot tub, and watching the sun lower itself toward the beach and eventually submerge itself in the waves. Joe and I also had the opportunity to eat shabbat dinner at the house of a relatively young orthodox rabbi. While I am not at all religious myself, and I indeed consider myself an atheist, it was an intriguing cultural experience to see how a person nearly of my generation lives a life centered around Jewish law and tradition.
Although we engaged in a range of interesting and enjoyable activities in LA, the highlight of my visit was observing the enormous personal growth and development that Joe has undergone since we befriended each other seven years ago at Oxford. Joe was always a great guy, sympathetic, giving, keenly aware of his personal faults, and possessing a robust understanding of the personalities of others. When we were at Oxford, Joe lacked the requisite self-confidence and maturity to fully utilize these traits to the benefit of himself and others. Over the last seven years, Joe has developed that confidence and maturity to the point that his personal strengths not only emanate from him but also rub off on those in his vicinity. It is a sign that someone is a good person when those around him are immediately and unambiguously aware of the strength of his character. It is a sign that someone is a special person when those around him are not only aware of that person's merits but also feel better about themselves as a result of being around that person. In the past, Joe seemed to admire me (in some respects) and sometimes looked to me for advice or emotional support. After my experience in LA, I can say humbly that that situation is reversed, and there is much I observed in Joe's character that I wish to emulate. It is utterly refreshing to be around someone who is so unshakably confident in his ability to meet his own needs that he almost takes this for granted and focuses on understanding and giving to those around him. Joe's dad, a Holocaust survivor who came to America as an orphan and earned a PhD in economics and who recently died, was the same way. I remember that when I first met Joe's dad as an undergraduate junior, he made me feel like my ideas and perspectives were important to him and he took them very seriously, despite the vast disparity in our levels of education. Despite the brevity of our encounters, interacting with Joe's dad gave my own self-confidence a substantial boost, in a time when my life was otherwise in shambles. It honors his memory that Joe has internalized his dad's most salient positive personality trait. I hope I too can emulate this trait and nourish the egos of my students and friends in the same fashion as mine has been nourished by being around Joe's dad and, now, Joe. I also was impressed with the rigor with which Joe had followed my cues regarding what he might do to enhance his intellect. Surprisingly, he independently worked his way through Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and seemed to possess a basic understanding of its arguments, something I could not attain without studying this book in a classroom setting. If everyone took those around him or herself so seriously, the world would be a much better place, since people would feel a deeper sense of self respect and importance and would not need to disparage those around them to feel better about themselves. Of course, Joe is still a spoiled brat, is obsessed with superficial aspects of his appearance, lacks a deep understanding of the socio-economic conditions of the underclasses, and thought that we could leave chopped vegetables on his kitchen's counter for 3 days until the maid arrived to clean them up. But none of this does much to diminish the admiration I felt for him, for the first time, during my recent visit.
More later....
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