I would pay lots of money to have coffee delivered to me right now.

I just finished reading Laura Mark's letters from Beirut and found them incredibly interesting. 1.) Because I am an American, impacted by the American media and Bush's decisions, and 2.) Because I grew up in a fundamental Christian household, and therefore was raised in an Israeli-supported atmosphere, and 3.) Because I don't know as much about this conflict as I should. Marks is an intelligent and insightful writer, and her opinion is very respectable and scholarly.It was amazing and tragic to read her first-hand accounts of unjustified destruction, and it's embarrassing to acknowledge that my country supports it. My country attempts to justify the unjustified with political propaganda and hidden agendas. I sit here unshaken and ignorant, and merely accept what's going on out of the mere fact that I'm not motivated enough to learn what's going on and develop a sense of urgency. I can't wait to hear her talk, as I hope her speech is as fascinating as her writign.

I took the time to read the Convulsive Fables as well, but I will need to read it again. It was a bit abstract, and the fact that I don't have any coffee right now is preventing me from a lot of complex thinking matters.

Thoughts on D'est: Beautiful imagery, a little too long, but eloquent. The term used in one of the follow-up questions, "a documentary bordering on fiction," is a perfect summary of my feelings after the film. In discussion, we talked about how the shooting techniques used to film the people created this desire to want to learn more. For example, what's that person's story? How did they get to be doing what they're doing in the minute that we're observing their life? How much was staged? Or did Akerman say, "Show me something you do every day." I kept wanting to create stories behind the people, and I believe the shooting techniques that insinuating this desire were the portion of fiction that is accurate, as opposed to shots being staged. The film had a certain rawness, transparency, that makes it hard for me to believe the assertion of defined, directed acting.