Experience-"'Yertle the Turtle,' No Longer the Authority on Turtle Stacking"

http://patricksexpandingexperiences.blogspot.com/2011/02/assignment-gluttony-week-6-mental.html

Experince experienced, will be posted tomorrow evening.

Experience-"Glutton for Punishment"

            Catholic Mass.  What can I say about Catholic Mass?  Well, it’s pretty overindulgent all on its own, for starters.  I’ve experienced a number of religious ceremonies (Southern Baptist, Wiccan, Jewish, Episcopalian, and a few others), none of them are quite as rigid and overly indulgent (again, in my opinion) as the Catholic tradition.  It honestly wouldn’t have bothered me half as much if the congregation seemed to at all be involved, or passionate about the spectacle.  Instead they simply mouthed along, saying the right words at the right time without any feeling, just waiting to get through it, to take communion, and then get the fuck out.  At least the Priest seemed legitimately to feel the spirit of his sermon.  It also seemed to borrow heavily from other religions.

            There’s the most obvious, which is the Jewish tradition (of which I’m pretty familiar) in which there are many sacred items presented in a very similar way as the catholic tradition, right down to the presentation of the Torah (or Bible, in the case of the Catholic Church) to the congregation, paraded about and treated as though its physical embodiment is itself holy.  This is pretty common amongst most religious ceremonies, sacred texts.  But the way in which it was presented struck me as startlingly similar.  Then there were all the pagan rites, which was probably the most interesting aspect for me.  Watching a bunch of people practice magic without (for the most part) even fully realizing what’s what they’re doing.  I’m going off a bit on a tangent here, and a slightly incoherent one at that, so I’ll wrap this bit up.

            One of the things I loved the most about most religious services was the community, the way the congregation gathered together in support of one another (even if it was just to support one another in continuing to be closed minded bigots).  The Catholic service, or perhaps just THIS Catholic service, however did not encourage that.  There was a single moment in the sermon in which we were supposed to turn and greet the people next to us, but it wasn’t from the heart.  We were given a script, “Peace be with you.”  We weren’t even forced to try and fake something of our own creation.

            At the very least, the actual sermon was beautiful, as was the setting.  It will never be a religion I understand, or consider myself part of, but I did appreciate the experience.

Experience-"Something clever about Butterflies"

            Spending two hours, on two different days, in five separate locations each day where there will be about fifty-plus people isn’t as easy as it sounds.  Or at least not for me.  For starters, I tend to avoid crowds.  They make me feel claustrophobic and panic-attack-y, so I had to put in a bit of extra effort to think about where I should even go to fulfill this one.  Some places were easy, like the Grocery store or Work, places I pretty much have to go anyway, other places were required in separate assignments (Church, for instance), and others didn’t pan out the way I thought (like the oyster experience, maybe five people in the whole establishment).

            One of the more productive outings actually didn’t even happen in a space with fifty or more people, but just on a regular run down to the small grocery shop down the road.  I got to talking with the cashier girl, Hailey, and we hit it off, more than the polite conversations I’ve had with her (and her boyfriend) in the past.  We exchanged information (facebook, specifically, and I know how much Brad LOVES facebook), and made tentative plans to hang out at Trivia night at one of the local bars.  She didn’t show, possibly because she forgot, personal reasons, or something, or possibly because I didn’t know going in that the bar was a ‘members’ bar only, and she literally COULDN’T get in.  Either way, it was nice to talk to a somewhat new person, and make plans.

            Going to Church didn’t work out as well as I’d thought it would, sadly.  At least not for this assignment.  There were plenty of people, but Catholic church isn’t really like the church I’ve been to in the past.  It’s much more regimented, and far less social.  People seemed to be there to get in, get their penance, and get the hell out.  Not exactly conducive to chatting.  But oh well.

            Mostly this one just lead to me being more comfortable talking and socializing with strangers in other settings, like today in my new class, I actually talked with the girl next to me quite a bit, and we even hit the lunch room together.  A relationship I might actually pursue, at the very least for the duration of the class.  It feels good to be able to converse with total strangers again.  I haven’t’ felt this free to just talk with people since I was very, very young.  I really hope it’s a sign of things to come, and I’m going to do my damndest to ensure that it is.

Experience-"Cause in a musical, nothing dreadful ever happens."

            I’ll be honest.  I didn’t get through these in one sitting.  I managed to make it through ‘Dancer in the Dark’ and ‘Requiem for a Dream’ with only a 20-30 minute break between, but I was NOT able to watch the next one until a couple days later.  Partly because we had company come over, and were busy entertaining (or at least trying to entertain), but mostly because ‘Requiem’ was so upsetting I was too emotionally shaken up to continue on.  I’d never heard of ‘Gods and Monsters’ before, had no idea what it was about, and didn’t trust Brad at this point enough not to have picked something even more terrible (though beautiful and brilliant) than ‘Requiem.’  After talking with Brad, however, I was able to sit down and give ‘Gods’ a go.

            ‘Dancer’ is probably most upsetting less for its story (though it is a genuinely tragic tale) than for the disjointed, discordance produced by the film’s juxtaposition of a deeply emotional indie-tragedy, and the lighthearted buoyancy of bubbly Bjork-pop musical numbers. I cried considerably during the musical number after the film’s first death, as the main character tries to deal with what’s going on, and then even more during the incarceration, where music and rhythm are completely absent, leaving the protagonist without any coping mechanism, and the audience without any escape from the bleak reality of her situation.  By the films closing number, literally a counting of steps to the gallows I was mostly numb, though trembling slightly with anxiety for the scene to come.  And finally, weeping openly once more at the last song—a purely vocal performance, without any of the elaborate musical number trappings.

            ‘Requiem’ was a film I’d only heard of in passing, and never in great detail.  Mostly what I’d heard was that it was difficult to follow, and severely difficult to digest.  I found both to be untrue; it was a very straight forward film quite easy to follow.  The only indigestion it gave was from the unflinching reality of drug addiction, celebrity worship, and stigmatism of psychosis so omnipresent in our post-modern culture.  I don’t remember crying at this one, but it did leave me feeling empty, hollow in a most upsetting way.

            Oddly enough, of all the films—each of which I felt with some personal attachment—‘Gods’ was the one that affected me the most.  I just wept through the last 5-10 minutes of the film uncontrollably.  I don’t know if it’s the subject (an aging gay man, hoping for one last shadow of love and affection), the fact the protagonist also happens to be a director (a profession I’m keenly interested in persuing), or just the riveting performance.  For whatever reason, this film left the deepest impact.  Yet unlike the other two films, ‘Gods’ left me feeling optimistic rather than hollow and alone.

Experience-"The Time has Come, the Walrus Said..."

            Gross.  So gross.  Hate you Brad, oh my god so gross!  This…even before going into it, just…so gross.  Even the thought of it was just beyond disgusting, and the actuality of it somehow managed to be worse.  The roommate and I decided to make a day of it, hitting the comic shop up in the afternoon (aside:  Got you something, Brad), then heading over to a local grill—which by the way, one of the most beautiful dining rooms I’ve ever seen in a place so reasonably priced and centrally located—where we knew they served the “delicacies,” followed by drinks and a movie at a local Cinema/Bar where we drank beer, ate onion rings, and watched one of the most amazingly terrible pieces of cinematic abortions to be green-lit, ‘Burlesque.’  Seriously, the film may have actually been harder to sit through than the 10 damn oysters.

            Anyway, we get there and the place is empty—to be fair, we got there five minutes after it opened—and take our seat at one of the tables in the ‘sports bar’ styled area.  It was a little cutesy/kitsch for my taste, but the view of the main dining room was so gorgeous I didn’t care.  Roomie and I both agreed this was a place we’d have to come back to later with our meat-eating friends (only two vegetarian friendly options on the menu, none vegan, and both were starters/salads), and we could just order deserts and liquor.  And this is where all the pleasantness of the experience stops.

            The waitress comes up, very friendly and sweet, to see if we know what we want, we don’t, but I’ve already noticed the specials board.  We came on the perfect night, apparently, as Wednesday was their oyster special, ½ of an order of 6 or 12.  I inform her I’ll need a few minutes but know I’d like an order of 12 oysters, raw.  She brings them out, and I have to just stare at them for a good 2-3 minutes before I can muster up the courage to actually try one of the slimy little bastards.  Using the little fork, I pull one off its half-shell, and pop it in my mouth.  I didn’t instantly start gagging, but the texture, flavor, sight, sound, and smell of it all made my stomach start flipping.  Add to that the fact I haven’t had animal-based protein in almost a year, and my stomach was not a happy camper.  I only managed to get through the other 9 with ample use of the horseradish, red sauce, and crackers, and an order of double Jameson neat from the bar.

            The whole experience was unpleasant and somewhat embarrassing.  I can only imagine what the other patrons/staff thought as I grimaced my way through 10 of the little buggers.  But I did it—something Brad admits he hasn’t even done.  Now, may I never again suffer through such a gastronomic torture.

Assignment - Gluttony - Week 6 - Virtual

Objective - Explore the inability to partake in moderation
Duration - 2 hours (7 days to complete)
Assignment - Find a chat room online that is specifically for Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, or a similar organization, and participate in a discussion about the inability to partake in moderation and the outcomes of such behavior.

Assignment - Gluttony - Week 6 - Vicarious

Objective - Explore the need for physical gluttony
Duration - 2 hours (7 days to complete)
Assignment - Talk to someone who is morbidly obese about their inability to control their eating habits. Then, talk to someone in the health care industry about the same. Discuss the differences in these viewpoints.

Assignment - Gluttony - Week 6 - Social

Objective - Social butterfly
Duration - 4 hours (7 days to complete)
Assignment - Spend 2 hours on 2 different occasions divided among 3 separate locations (the time does not have to be divided equally among each location) where there are at least 30 or more people gathered. Strike up a conversation with at least 3 strangers at each location. Attempt to get contact information to talk, email, hangout, or otherwise interact with those people at a future time.

Assignment - Gluttony - Week 6 - Spiritual

Objective - Over-indulgence
Duration - 5 hours (7 days to complete)
Assignment - Attend a religious ceremony for at least five different religions.

Assignment - Gluttony - Week 6 - Physical

Objective - The eating of delicacies
Duration - 1 hour (7 days to complete)
Assignment - Consume 10 raw oysters during a meal with others at a public place.

Assignment - Gluttony - Week 6 - Mental

Objective - Consumption to the point of waste
Duration - 4 hours (7 days to complete)
Assignment - Read "A Briefer History of Time" by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Miodinow. Explain some of the concepts (without referring to the book).

Assignment - Gluttony - Week 6 - Emotional

Objective - Catharsis
Duration - 6 hours (7 days to complete)
Assignment - Watch three films in one sitting; "Dancer in the Dark", "Requiem for a Dream", and "Gods and Monsters". Discuss how these made you feel.