I remember / je me souviens

I remember / je me souviens

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For those limbic bursts of nostalgia, invented by Proust, miniaturized by Nicholson Baker, and freeze-dried by Joe Brainard in his I remember and by Georges Perec in his Je me souviens.

But there are no fractions, the world is an integer
Like us, and like us it can neither stand wholly apart nor disappear.
When one is young it seems like a very strange and safe place,
But now that I have changed it feels merely odd, cold
And full of interest.
--John Ashbery, "A Wave"

Sometimes I sense that to put real confidence in my memory I have to get to the end of all rememberings. That seems to say that I forego remembering. And now that strikes me as an accurate description of what it is to have confidence in one's memory.
--Stanley Cavell, The Claim of Reason

Friday, September 18, 2009

I remember passing a guy walking down 89th street with a monkey on a long leash. The monkey scampered up a No Parking sign, and also onto the guy's shoulder. It was surprising and interesting, but not after all that surprising and interesting. My parents noticed it the same way: one of those little events sure to add some diversion to your walk.

posted by William 1:43 PM
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