February 22, 2020

Birthday of Edna St.Vincent Millay.

A cheerful country boy came from the AAA to sell me a new battery for the truck. It lasted six years almost to the very day, the very duration of its warranty. The kid was required to have me sign a form that attested that my truck did not blow up after he changed the battery.

Bought giant outdoor planters from Reems Creek. Didn’t need them, but wanted to do something that was like gardening.

Magnetic has chosen  Person Meditating upon Madness for the May one-act festival. The choosing happened at my house last night. All my colleagues had read the entries more carefully than I. I resent everything, a little bit, that consumes time and doesn’t relate directly to creation.

Reading about the Dunning-Kruger effect. It explains the UNCA Title IX office (indeed, the general tenor of university administration) to a T. You listen to the outpouring of delusion and naivete, realizing that what THEY are hearing is quite different. I remember Jill’s introduction of herself to the faculty in Lipinsky long ago. We all looked at each other wondering who would be the first to call her out on what almost seemed an intentional parody of self-delight. Alas, nobody did, and the weed took root. Reading Lewis’ That Hideous Strength, illustrative of the syndrome, in which everyone hears every asininity but their own. Stupid people don’t realize they’re stupid, of course, but a corollary is that sometimes quite bright people do not recognize where their brightness ends.

Bach Academie of Charlotte at All Souls. Perfection. Mind-wandering music. Hard to say just how far mine went, and what ground it had to cover in order to come back.