As you may know by now, each Monday I, blindfolded, pick a book off the shelf and open a page and plant a finger somewhere. The I read what the finger has landed on. There are no accidents. Here I go.
I pick up The Presence of the Actor by Joseph Chaikin. In it, there is this quote from Norman O. Brown:
“Open your eyes and look around you. Madness is in the saddle… resisiting madness can be the maddest way of being mad. “
Great Zamboni sees the mad mad world today. I once watched the Boston Marathon, I remember madly muscled men in wheel chairs speeding by me in thunderous packs. I remember skinny runners from deep dark Africa. I remember the gray day and the spectators packed up against the brick buildings. Even right after the explosions, before it was clear what happened…some runners continued to run, they had to be told to stop.
Our urge to just keep our heads down and keep going- that urge to wear blinders is both worth praise, and also scary. The world is becoming predictable in its madness. Is there some method to it we’re not getting?
great zamboni 