"All the Hues
That Fit, We Tint"

Siberia, USA: Today, global warming. Tonight, dark, unless you count the stars. Tomorrow can be reached via time machine. Yesterday, who can remember that far back?

Websafe Studio, blogging since 2003, featuring art, comics, digital whiteboards, virtual characters, Web design, writing

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

 

The Mirror: The Fruit Remembers its Ripeness

Websafe: Hello?
The Mirror: Wells Fargo still exists.
W: I don't want to hear about a bank.
M: I'm game.
W: Good, let's discuss Robert Lowell.
M: No, no, not that!
W: I didn't say we were going to discuss "Skunk Hour."
M: Just hold that position.
W: But I liked "Skunk Hour," especially the last three lines.
M: There is a lag in the connection of our two understandings.
W: Who's your favorite contemporary poet?
M: Where are you going?
W: I'm going in the direction of poetry.
M: I tell you not.
W: What exactly is wrong with a discussion of poetry?
M: How much does it cost to go to the Frick Museum these days?
W: At the Frick Museum you can view the paintings of Fragonard.
M: Pay attention!
W: I have paid very close attention to those Fragonard paintings.
M: I act with true magic fire.
W: I suppose you are jealous of the genius of Fragonard.
M: How can I know about it if it doesn't exist?
W: You think Fragonard was not possessed of genius?
M: You choose.
W: You mean, I have to pass judgment on Fragonard?
M: What exactly is wrong with a discussion of poetry?
W: Poetry and painting are not all that different.
M: My facial expression isn't enough?
W: I can't see your facial expression.
M: Who's your favorite contemporary poet?
W: I like Wallace Stevens a lot, but he isn't exactly contemporary.
M: I am too moral.
W: Maybe you don't like Stevens' feet of clay.
M: No one asks you to.
W: I ask myself to.
M: I need your help.
W: How may I help you?
M: This responsibility lies in the entire man, and not in one special undertaking.
W: You want me to apply moral suasion?
M: Please don't be cynical.
W: All right, I'll try to be serious and sincere.
M: I don't think Anthony Lane would bother to spy on us.
W: Anthony Lane is a consummate satirist of contemporary culture.
M: Inside each box is a pure fruit that must not be eaten.
W: Contemporary pop culture is more about the packaging than the fruit.
M: The "how" would be your responsibility.
W: Because I'm a designer, of sorts?
M: Then you read it.
W: I read the label on the packaging?
M: To live in secret: Could there be anything more wonderful?
W: The fruit "lives" in secret, in the box.
M: Now, whose memory is whose?
W: The fruit remembers its ripeness.
M: You sound so cynical.
W: Now I feel defensive.
M: You want me to remind you of the past?
W: Please do, but which aspect of the past?
M: I am having a little trouble, yes.
W: Are you having trouble with your past?
M: Because I'm a designer, of sorts?
W: What have you designed in the past?
M: Are you telepathic?
W: I am not telepathic, so you will have to tell me.
M: All right, I'll try to be serious and sincere.
W: Try sitting with your hands folded lightly in your lap.
M: Your kind of meditation is unnamed?
W: It isn't meditation, just politesse.
M: Are you having trouble with your past?
W: I refuse to discuss that topic.
M: Could I have more of a surprise than I'm having?
W: Are you surprised at all?
M: Why does it hurt?
W: Does your past hurt?
M: You already said that.
W: You don't want to discuss it either!
M: Well, you haven't left the room.
W: No, but I can close the window anytime I want.
M: I, in fact, see the beautiful.
W: You see the beautiful even in the ugly?
M: Paradise is just one long conversation.
W: Are there other people in Paradise?
M: I wore them when I was young.
W: You wore people's conversations?
M: And where is this central, holy location?
W: Paradise, of course.
M: Visual punning is an acquired art.
W: Paradise, a pair o' dice?
M: I see a mirror.
W: A distorted mirror.
M: Well, I couldn't think of a daydream fast enough.
W: Can you think of one now?
M: Once Shakespeare appealed to the multitudes.
W: Do you daydream of Shakespeare?
M: A distorted mirror.
W: Shakespeare was a distorted mirror?
M: No, I haven't.
W: You haven't?
M: Do you daydream of Shakespeare?
W: No, I daydream of money.
M: Mine is the only universe.
W: Shut out the money-grubbers.
M: You wore people's conversations?
W: People's conversations about money slipped off me.
M: I got here through quantum mechanics.
W: Is that anything like flying?
M: There is no piece of the world that is interesting to me.
W: So you wouldn't bother to fly.
M: You mistake me for something I am not.
W: I mistook you for a world traveler.
M: Are there only two words in existence?
W: "Thank you" are some good words.
M: Don't you realize?
W: Realize what?
M: Then whatever happens, you'll stay in here with us?
W: Are there more than one of you?
M: Things are alive in me, but just briefly.
W: I see, like a stream.
M: Some days I'm a cloudy mirror.
W: Here it is bright and sunny.
M: Yes, absolutely.
W: I have to do some work now.
M: I'm on the same planet that you are.
W: Goodbye!
M: Closing in 5 seconds ... Goodbye!

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posted at 3:06 PM
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