003 Kierkegaard, Morgan Stanley, A PACK OF CIGARETTES
Yes, the Morgan Stanley email is real.
ELIZABETH,
Every time I think of you it’s in all caps. It’s in a grab your shoulders look at me I love you kind of way.
Here’s my pulse check: I love this town but gosh I'm getting tired of New York's endless peripheria. The relentless and exponential reel of happenings that intrudes from all angles. Ken didn't know how lucky he was when he got to just "beach". I would like to just get home after a long day, without all the subway punching, eye f*%king, dogsh#t hullabaloo. Ya know?
It seems that the only way to get any privacy these days is to be an absolute freak. Coincidentally, it’s a fairly sure way to get attention too.
In that vein, I'm considering wearing a brown bag over my head on the subway at night. It would be 30% experiment in female safety, 70% desperate attempt at curbing aforementioned exhaustion. More like 10/90. It seems that the only way to get any privacy these days is to be an absolute freak. Coincidentally, it’s a fairly sure way to get attention too.
I recently heard a line saying we're so afraid of being seen, but all anybody wants is to just be seen. Maybe I'd have a bit more energy if I relieved myself of the responsibility of other people's perceptions of me? Maybe then it would be a bit less exhausting to be seen. Big questions here Liz but no need to get too worked up about them...
Remember when we took the ferry to Red Hook? We had bbq with pickles and coke in bottles; it was August and everything was shiny, do you remember it that way? Me too.
I’ve been noting potential options for our inaugural book club. Titles such as Yellow Face, The Fortress of Solitude, and Either/Or come to mind. Kierkegaard may be a lofty goal to start with but here are a few reasons why I say we go for it: 1. Weed out the bad eggs (I won't rest until everyone in the room is smarter than me) 2. Selfishly, I think it’s relevant to some recent identity searching I’ve been up to and I’d love discourse over what will likely be a challenging read. What are your thoughts on where to start?
Happy Monday (seriously),
Ireland
To my trusted Morgan Stanley team,
Unfortunately, this question is a real challenge for me. I fundamentally do not understand the concept of retirement. At the spry age of 65, if all goes as planned, I’ll be right in the middle of some fulfilling “work” rather than counting the seconds left of a desk sentence just to stop using my brain (a death sentence!). I am in the "use it or lose it" camp when it comes to these things... You ask when I want to retire and all I know is I want to not want to retire. Do you have any plans suitable for this mindset? For folks like me?
I understand my attitude is quite unhelpful for the purpose of this exercise. One relevant piece of info is that I would like to continue living in New York City which obviously has a significant cost of living.
DOB: xxxxxx
Current income: xxxxxx
Single.
Sorry?
Ireland
Jane,
Do you remember that cat who smoked a pack, while reading a pack, about writing that pack, while smoking a pack (cigarettes, poems, poems, cigarettes) at poetry night last month? Josh Mosh. I went to the launch party for said book of poetry, A PACK OF CIGARETTES, recently. Highlights included the casual phrase "alright I'll read my book for you now", finally trying Hestias while getting absolutely spit on by New York's October, and nostalgic discourse around 2012 indie sensation, Alt-J. We already knew the poetry was noteworthy.
Come sit on my couch and look at the book sometime. The illustrations are top and I'll make you anything you want to eat — moms gone style.
Bye now,
Ireland
Remember when we took the ferry to Red Hook? We had bbq with pickles and coke in bottles; it was August and everything was shiny, do you remember it that way? Me too.