RUDIMENTS, pt. 883
(something I'd like to see)
The thing about what I decided
to do (previous chapter, about
the writing format) was to press
hard at it; but it wasn't easy, nor
meant to be so. Dredging up such
'memories,' let's call it, is the
easy part. What to do with them
after that is what's the difficult
part. There's nothing I dislike
more than having a simple 'label'
slapped down on what I'm doing.
The word 'Nostalgia' being the
worst of them. I've been criticized
by criticizers - one guy in particular,
from the west coast, where so
much is 'happening,' and things
are much better, for continually
writing on about a dull life, a life
that amounted to nothing, and one
in which nothing happened. I
guess. Not that any great shakes
come out of his salt shaker either.
But, anyway, point is, what matters
is the blend. To be told something
written was 'charming' means a
lot more to me than nostalgic or
meaningful ever would. Charming
means it got through. The other
stuff is just science.
-
In 1972, I think it was, the New York
Knicks were the champions of whatever
competition basketball has to be the
champion of. Playoffs and finals and
all that. I don't know anything about
it, except that I was astounded, in
Ithaca, NY, atop the cloistered hills
of Cornell University - where just
off campus was a small collection of
'the radicals.' Where I hung out - there
were a few bookstores, some oddball
eating places, hippie stores, black
militant stores and coops (the University
was just then recovering from an almost
lethal turmoil and shutdown from a few
years before, and things were still boiling).
Anyway, amidst all that, when I saw
the staunch and ordinary parochialism
of all the people, all of a sudden, in
their cheers and hollering for a winning
basketball team - even if it was from
NY - I could almost not believe
it - and frankly it diminished my
respect for 'cause' and for their 'militancy.'
I saw them as people seeking the same
stupid comfort levels as the most
ordinary burgher. To me it was
all as much as being about steadfast
and stuck to your task and goal;
the idea of radicalism and 'cause'
as I saw it meant that you disdained
the bourgeois plight of sports and
industry, together. They were both
useless parts of the dead carcass
of the capitalistic world.
-
The hills of Ithaca were cool, and
I always liked them - many rocky
breakouts, waterfalls, sudden
precipices and cliffs of a short
nature - but rocky falls nonetheless,
that could kill. In fact, the university
itself, then and now, had a big
problem with suicides. When I say
big, I probably mean like 6 or 7
a year, but that's a lot when you're
held responsible for everything.
It's probably even worse now -
the huge influx of Asian academic
hounds who reach a complete
and miserable dead end just by
getting a bad or low grade -
'humiliation' is deadly for them -
causes some to jump. Assorted
love affairs and betrayals, and
debt, probably also cause others
to do the same. Add it up; you
wouldn't want to have to answer
for it. Going there now, what
you see is some really serious
steel mesh netting, on the campus
and along the approaches, secured
over and down all the gorges, and
bridges, and jumps, and drops.
They sure make it difficult now.
What's weird about it is that one
can still jump, but end up just
landing like a busted lump stuck
on the netting somewhere some
distance down. I guess that's
considered better. I can see the
job listing now - 'Wanted:
Body picker, for retrieval off
University netting. Live or dead.
-
Thorstein Veblen - one of my
favorite characters - arrived to
the Main Gates of Cornell one day,
long ago, and so determined was
he, for entry, that he barged in to
the Registrar's office and simply
said, 'Hello. My name is Thorstein
Veblen, and I want to go to your
University.' And he did - famed
now, among other things, for his
well-founded theory of 'Conspicuous
Consumption.' It's in essence the
idea (economics, and social theory)
of people wishing to be seen doing
or having something. That takes
precedence over the usefulness
or real need of the object in
question. As if 'my neighbor
just got a new Buick. I will
get a new Cadillac.' Being
shown attaining that status
becomes all-important - and
it's perceived by Veblen as one
of the flawed engine-burners of
the capitalist system. World
without end, Amen.
-
Cornell University, and what
drove Veblen to it, was one of
the 'Land Grant Universities'
of Lincoln's Civil War era
program of agricultural and
agronomy colleges; places of
study y for the hoped-for
burgeoning American empire
of growth and new demand.
That's how they began anyway;
if course, over time, many
other disciplines and courses
of study entered in - Cornell
itself being a fine example of
one that prospered. The main
gates to the University grounds,
last I saw a few short years ago,
still had the plaques and the
storyboards attesting to the
premises by which the
University was founded. I'm
not even sure people any longer
even know the word 'agronomy,'
or what it is or once was. I know
I was ignorant of it upon arriving.
As it turned out, in about 1972
the two newest campus buildings
were the Johnson Art Museum,
AND the Agronomy Building.
That latter building was set off,
by itself, on a waterway, and a
rocky gorge, a bend in the road;
near to a lake with rentable
canoes - affording a great view
of the building. Weird thing was,
and still is, I guess, that the
architectural design of the
building incorporates rust - for
color and texture. The building
was designed to rust. I suppose
it's a certain form/idea of bare
metal - which may be OK for
now, and was for 1972 also.
But, and it's a big but, what
happens, say, 200 years from
now, with all that 'Rust Never
Sleeps' stuff going on, seems
a question. Maybe it'll just
become the headquarters of
the 'Crumble Brothers
Demolition Company.'
Which is something I'd
like to see.
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