Feb 16
it's 1:30am and i am connecting the dots
seen from Russia
seen from Malaysia
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from Morocco
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Thailand
seen from Russia
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Kuwait
seen from T1
it's 1:30am and i am connecting the dots
Many of my recent heroes, I realize, have fit the archetype of a man or woman suspended.
Temporarily separated from the wider body of humanity, either alone or in a small group while they complete their hazardous mission. Suspension is a liminal state in both time and space.
These suspended people live under conditions very different from our ordinary lives, often challenging ones. Yet they witness unique aspects of our world that many of us never will.
They are suspended, but in the modern world they are also connected to mundane society by radio, phone, and Internet. We can follow their adventures and sometimes communicate with them ourselves. While suspended, they are connected to the wider human race by a thousand invisible, intangible strings.
Do we listen so closely to what these suspended people have to say because they are in a liminal state? Not just because it is unusual and dangerous and interesting, but because we regard the liminal as especially important and powerful? If what you say while suspended holds special power, if you have an audience, how will you use that platform?
These suspended people are our heroes for the courage and character they demonstrate, the work they do, and these messages they impart to us from that liminal state.
Unlike a superhero, a suspended adventurer is definitionally a hero from a distance— they are not flying in to save anyone. All that they do, they do far away from us, and they only have their liminal “power” when they are suspended and apart. (In the case of the astronauts’ “flight” in microgravity, we might say this is literal.) When they return, with their feet on the ground again, and they can talk to us face-to-face, they are once more ordinary people, just as lost in the news and the noise as we. Their only power is in what they bring back and what they inspire.
“Life isn’t fair. It’s just fairer than death, that’s all.”
The Princess Bride by William Goldman // Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), dir. Hayao Miyazaki // Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie // Casablanca (1942), dir. Michael Curtiz // The Magnificent Seven (1960), dir. John Sturges // Lawrence of Arabia screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson // “Words Can Hurt” (2014 commercial) // The Princess Bride
sappho translated by anne carson
“the good guy,” kristen roupenian / the christians, lucas hnath / angels in america, tony kushner / “doll parts,” hole
“[MY BODY IS AN AMERICAN]” by p.e. garcia // American Squares by Leah Frances // “Every State Line” by Ani DiFranco // On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong // Rich Hill (2014) dir. Tracy Droz Tagos and Andrew Droz Palermo // “Going to a Town” by Rufus Wainwright (cover) // The Great Gatsby (2013) dir. Baz Luhrmann // “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman
Los Campesinos!, Light Leaves, Dark Sees pt. II // Aeschylus' Cassandra, Agamemnon, ed. Mazon, transl. by me, 1277-1278 // Euripides' Cassandra, Trojan Women, 448-450, ed. Parmentier, transl. by me
Mary Oliver, Flare // me // Karen Salmansohn // 888, Critical Mistakes // The EXES, It's Not You, It's Me // Adonis, I Imagine A Poet
a tale of moving on, in quotes