Pareidolia, How to Protest for Palestine, Etiquette for Being Rescued
Pareidolia, How to Protest for Palestine, Etiquette for Being Rescued
An accumulation
Pareidolia
A face is a surface worth dwelling on. Here, from my window, nature presents a very pretty scene, like a Crayola masterpiece: There is the "cornflower blue" of the sky, and the "high ivory" clouds that drift in hip abstract shapes; there are the bricks of the apartment building, "fox-red" and warm, arranged in a charming grid; there are the trees, those memory palaces, those open-roof temples, and their leaves, "shockingly green", like a scandalous secret disclosed; and there is the "lilac" of a tree's early May flowers, a species unknown – it reminds me of the shade of eyeshadow only a woman named Gem could wear outside the house. Today, the face of nature moves my face to smile. We correspond. Only the colors exist for which we have names; names exist to recall a face. A name is a surface worth dwelling on.
A face is a promise of mystery. What colors does the lack of light reveal? The electric lamp pulls the sun into the room; the books are arranged on the shelf; the clock on the wall continues its mission; the map of the world pinned next to it has a face of muted yellows, greens, and blues; a question might form, what territories are not yet charted; the face of your loved one, in death, contorted and still. A name is a surface worth dwelling on.
A face is a phase; a face is a sentence. Remember to move it or it may become locked into place. Let it be light and then dark. Let it be shown and hidden. Let it express itself as a sickle or shield; let it be a mask of despair or unbearable joy. Let it be creased like a sheet of paper. Let it change over time into a book. Let it be FaceBook. A name is a phase; a name is a sentence.
A face is identity. It may be recognized immediately, disguised, or somewhere in between – an uncanny memory. A face may have whiskers or eyes that defy consensual reality – a face like poetry. In contrast, a face may be mainstream, the kind of face that looks good on a product, or glossed on the cover of a magazine. The face may be that of industry. The face may be on the coin of a country; the face may be placed behind bars, and thus become that of an animal. A face may grant you access, or it may deny you much. A face is a key, a face is a socket; a face is a bowling ball, a face is the place where your delusions meet the truth. A name is identity.
A face is input and output; it is an algorithm. It is a code. Throw your face off a bridge! Bungee cord, woo! Put your face on a truck! Let it experience the limits of face. Put honey in your face while the Holy Word accompanies it. Let the face focus on a computer screen, on that which is not really there, but simply the face of electricity and data. Like the hydra, one body may have so many faces. Have you seen the Sphinx? A face is a reconstruction. A name is a code; a reconstruction.
How to Protest for Palestine: A Program
Love your neighbor. Live in a shack in the woods. Sell all your possessions and give the money to poor people. Quit your job; be the poor person to whom much will be given. Be not a provider. Burn down the banks; burn down the universities. Burn down the cities. Burn down the borders. Burn down your megaphones. Plant a garden. Teach children how to love beauty and their neighbor. Honor your father and mother. If your neighbor burns down your house, love him harder. Turn your other cheek: Tell him to burn down your dog and your garage as well. Tell him to burn down your memories. Get a new feeling. Free yourself. Travel the world. Burn down your reputation. Burn down your body. Burn down your voice because you chanted so long. Live in a shack in the woods; live on an island. Invite your friends. Start a farm. Celebrate. Have faith if you starve, have faith if you die. Have faith if you live again. Empathize: Starve. Burn the farm to the ground. Burn your friends to the ground. Find somewhere else. Find someone else. Find a new feeling. Love your neighbor. Build a church to worship love and roses. Build a church to worship Guns & Roses. Love truth and beauty and service to the poor. Be empty. Be not afraid. Be nothing. Go away. Go to the office and go home and pay your taxes. Wash both your hands. Eat food that makes your body feel better. Eat no food for 48 hours. Go to the doctor. Go back to work. Vote with your wallet. Burn down your wallet. Worship your television. Burn down your television. Give all that was given to you back to the giver. Humor your father and mother. Murder nobody. Plant a new garden; plant a new orchard. Watch it transform with the seasons. Decay is natural; do not fear it. Study the book of nature. Think about bedbugs. Burn nature to the ground. Turn the other cheek. Think about dodos. Love your neighbor.
Etiquette for Being Rescued
Be cute. If you are not cute, stay home, and if you have no home, hide in the sewers. Nibble on pieces of lettuce. Flutter. StruggleAdopt the persona of fluff.
Be obedient. But don't overdo it; nobody likes a boot-lick. Go first, if asked, or last. It depends on who's asking. Like a windmill, exert no control over your circumstances.
Master a craft. You may master witchcraft, spacecraft, Kraft craft, KRAFTWERK, raft craft, or Minecraft.
Steal. Go into an office; find the files. Put the files in your briefcase. Pretend to be the person to whom the files belong. Go the press.
Go alone. To rescue one thing is already quite a tax; if you take your friends or family, you are asking for failure.
Get big. The logic here is simple – big things cannot fail, or else they would cease to be big, and big things are crucial pillars for holding up the sky.
Be small. But only if you are obedient and cute. Small and loud or nervous are losing combinations.
Relax. It will all be over soon.
Scream. The squeak wheel gets the grease!
Dance like nobody's watching. This will show you are a moron, and thus can be molded into someone who is very obedient. There is always somebody watching.
Promote yourself. You are the product. You. You must be so enticing as to fly off the shelves. If nobody pays you, if nobody pays you attention, if nobody attends – give up.
Be grateful. You came into this world naked, shrieking, covered in filth, blind, trembling, outraged, helpless, weird-looking, small but not cute, spongy-boned, more rabbit than human, more like a skinned rabbit than human, attached to your mother who is exhausted and drenched in pain. Now you are something. Be grateful.