Andrew Fildes wrote:
> I lived in London in the late sixties. I don't think the word
> commitment had been invented at that point, or at least it had been
> forgotten for a while. A loose network of intimate relationships was
> the norm in my circles. It sounds Utopian these days.
Dylan Moran (born 1971 to my 1970) does a line about sexual mores
through different generations in one of his stand-up routines. It goes,
"When it came to my generation it was, "DON'T F**K ANYONE OR YOU'LL DIE!"".
Your "Utopian", yes, I can maybe see that (in a Brave New World way?)
and so I recall from a different time that at age 23, in Sydney, and two
years into a "commitment" (now 18), the close proximity of sex and death
wasn't always for me just about an incurable disease informed loudly in
copywrit symbolism, and I remember that time as being one in which I
didn't have the will to off myself, even though I self-indulgently
tortured myself with the inclination. Then again, perhaps "a loose
network of intimate relationships" is not compatible with my apparent
neurotic introversion, which might prefer "anonymous" to "intimate" if
ever it was unconstrained by my singular, emotional dependency.
No, I was not fond of 23, nor much of my twenties beyond it (though my
twenties before were quite wonderful), and I was certainly not fond of
the awkward pain and claustrophobia of the teenage years. My thirties
have been eventful, with a string of the inevitable tragedies of age and
disease amongst family, and a sea change, informing the decade's
otherwise generally comfortable mediocrity. I still hold hope for my
slow-coming 40's, though sometimes I think contentment is barely even
trying to fight the battle against cynicism, meloncholy and a desire for
hermitage, though it at least seems to have curmudgeony by the neck and
is dragging its thus-enforced silence down with it.
Yes, now, come to think about it, I believe Watanabe was quite right -
12 was quite enough for me, but I'll concede a special and significant
highlight for me at 21 too.
> Some fond memories indeed and very uncomplicated but I wouldn't have
> the stamina for it now, never mind the opportunity. But damn, I miss
> it sometimes. And a darker view from a melancholic moment while
> revisiting...
> http://www.pbase.com/afildes/london_again
I'm aware of some few of your writings outside of this list, but I still
remain surprised by them. Thanks.
Cheers,
Marc
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