Wednesday, April 18, 2007
People Did Not Like It Here
I guess just about everyone has said his good-by now to Kurt Vonnegut. He looked and acted the part of a crazy uncle but the man could write. I like these closing lines from his poem called “Requiem”:
When the last living thing
has died on account of us,
how poetical it would be
if Earth could say,
in a voice floating up
perhaps
from the floor
of the Grand Canyon,
“It is done.”
People did not like it here.
One who obviously did not like it here was the sick fuck who killed 32 people in Virginia. My thoughts go out to the families of the students who thought their sons and daughters were enjoying a spring day on a sleepy Virginia campus only to get the most horrific call a parent could ever imagine. Or worse, to turn on the television and see it happening in real time. Brings back memories of Columbine. I will never understand why a suicidal maniac can’t just turn the gun on himself and spare the innocents. Even Vonnegut suffered depression and attempted suicide. But I’ll bet he never, even in his darkest moments, considered taking a classroom of strangers with him. It’s not only the loss of young life that’s tragic, but the potential for future accomplishment each represented. We’ve all been robbed of that. It makes me furious.
PS From the sublime... any of you in the Denver area, stop by the Book Mall, 32 Broadway, Denver, on Sunday April 22 at 3 p.m. for a dose of fantasy and fun. The triple threat event features Mario, Richelle Mead and moi. Hope you can make it! ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 4:39 AM
When the last living thing
has died on account of us,
how poetical it would be
if Earth could say,
in a voice floating up
perhaps
from the floor
of the Grand Canyon,
“It is done.”
People did not like it here.
One who obviously did not like it here was the sick fuck who killed 32 people in Virginia. My thoughts go out to the families of the students who thought their sons and daughters were enjoying a spring day on a sleepy Virginia campus only to get the most horrific call a parent could ever imagine. Or worse, to turn on the television and see it happening in real time. Brings back memories of Columbine. I will never understand why a suicidal maniac can’t just turn the gun on himself and spare the innocents. Even Vonnegut suffered depression and attempted suicide. But I’ll bet he never, even in his darkest moments, considered taking a classroom of strangers with him. It’s not only the loss of young life that’s tragic, but the potential for future accomplishment each represented. We’ve all been robbed of that. It makes me furious.
PS From the sublime... any of you in the Denver area, stop by the Book Mall, 32 Broadway, Denver, on Sunday April 22 at 3 p.m. for a dose of fantasy and fun. The triple threat event features Mario, Richelle Mead and moi. Hope you can make it! ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 4:39 AM
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Jeanne I am with you at wondering why someone like this just doesn't blow out their brains instead of taking so many innocent people with them.
His actions are incomprehensible, especially when you look at the presence of mind he had to send the tape to NBC. He was in it for a last blast of glory. He defined himself with this one act.
On a similar sad note, look at the Duke players who were accused of rape. One of them commented in a recent interview that on the day he died, his obit would say, "Duke Lacross player accused of rape . . ."
He said that was how he would be remembered no matter what he did with the rest of his life.
Quite a burden for someone who is only 18 and who was innocent.
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His actions are incomprehensible, especially when you look at the presence of mind he had to send the tape to NBC. He was in it for a last blast of glory. He defined himself with this one act.
On a similar sad note, look at the Duke players who were accused of rape. One of them commented in a recent interview that on the day he died, his obit would say, "Duke Lacross player accused of rape . . ."
He said that was how he would be remembered no matter what he did with the rest of his life.
Quite a burden for someone who is only 18 and who was innocent.
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