Falling and Laughing

K., Erik, 1977– Falling and laughing Chicago: 2007. p. : ill. (some col.); imaginary dimensions. Coarse language sometimes used. Non-fiction, except for bits fabricated by author. SUMMARY: Music-, dog-, word-besotted Chicago man discovers he enjoys talking back to the internet. Fun times ensue. SEE ALSO: SUBJECTS OCCUPATION: Lapsed librarian, current designer, aspiring flâconteur (rare minotaur-like creature that is half flâneur, half raconteur).

SUBJECTS Falling and laughing 1. Thoughts--their shape. 2. Thoughts--ones had while walking dog. 3. Thoughts--ones that made me laugh. 4. Thoughts--the kind I’ve got. 5. Spleen--its venting. 6. Japery--assorted. 7. Words. 8. Music. 9. Books. 10. Obsessions--varied. 11. Animals--facts. 12. Animals--made-up things.  13. Dogs--beloved halfling Rottweiler. 14. Birds-- the bowerbird. 15. Birds--the great bustard. 16. Illinois--Chicago--residents--lives and customs. 17. Happiness--its pursuit.

Close Drawer

High Windowsby Philip Larkin
When I see a couple of kids  And guess he’s fucking her and she’s    Taking pills or wearing a diaphragm,    I know this is paradise
Everyone old has dreamed of all their lives— Bonds and gestures pushed to one sideLike an outdated combine harvester,And everyone young going down the long slide
To happiness, endlessly. I wonder if   Anyone looked at me, forty years back,    And thought, That’ll be the life; No God any more, or sweating in the dark
About hell and that, or having to hideWhat you think of the priest. HeAnd his lot will all go down the long slide   Like free bloody birds. And immediately

Rather than words comes the thought of high windows:  The sun-comprehending glass,And beyond it, the deep blue air, that showsNothing, and is nowhere, and is endless.

High Windows
by Philip Larkin

When I see a couple of kids
And guess he’s fucking her and she’s   
Taking pills or wearing a diaphragm,   
I know this is paradise

Everyone old has dreamed of all their lives—
Bonds and gestures pushed to one side
Like an outdated combine harvester,
And everyone young going down the long slide

To happiness, endlessly. I wonder if  
Anyone looked at me, forty years back,   
And thought, That’ll be the life; 
No God any more, or sweating in the dark

About hell and that, or having to hide
What you think of the priest. He

And his lot will all go down the long slide   

Like free bloody birds.
And immediately

Rather than words comes the thought of high windows: 
The sun-comprehending glass,
And beyond it, the deep blue air, that shows
Nothing, and is nowhere, and is endless.

  1. fallingandlaughing posted this
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