Peter Schmidt delicately asked us to comment on whether any aspects of yesterday's events resonated with anything from the book, Moby-Dick, that we are reading for the class. This was the first time I had heard of a professor attempting to conflate the topic of a class with the topic on everyone's minds (although Tom Whitman did suggest that his music theory students perform music for one another as a means towards expression and solace.) I was somewhat skeptical about not so much the taste of this approach but rather the possibilities for discussion, but it quickly became apparent that there are in fact quite a number of relevant parallels. To begin with, the eerie relevance of a comic device Ishmael uses to suggest the insignificance of his story: a supposed newspaper headline "Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States" "Whaling Voyage by One Ishmael" "Bloody Battle in Afghanistan." We developed an astonishingly accurate allegorical reading of the novel such that the terrorists=Moby; America=Ahab (and the WTC his leg); (or Bush=Ahab and America=the Pequod.) This is appropriate especially in terms blindly and fanatically seeking vengeance against the unknown, inscrutable enemy for a slight that represents a weakness in what is usually thought of as a bastion of strength. I was rather shocked by some of the sentiments expressed by classmates who were personally feeling intense anger, particularly Perry, who said "I feel somehow profane saying this, but . . . I just want to beat the shit out of somebody" (not to mention that it actually is profane.) Personally, I had not yet been a part of a more formal discussion of the attacks, so this was a particularly interesting opportunity to hear some of the sentiments I had been feeling expressed more eloquently, but it was also a meaningful and useful exercise in trying to understand the events, and a vivid demonstration of just how relevant literature can be.

The rest of the class was similarly thought-provoking. I had heard that Schmidt was a poor discussion leader, but on the contrary I thought this was among the better discussions I've had in Swarthmore classes. There is an overwhelming amount of intellect and intelligence in that group of students, and rather than letting it become a stifling and unpleasant atmosphere of bloated egotry, Schmidt's has a warm and encouraging style that makes discussion productive, stimulating, and enjoyable. I didn't speak a whole lot, partly because other people said many of the points I wanted to make, and partly because I was somewhat hesitant to disrupt the flow of the discussion with often disparate comments. I'll try to be better about that in the future. I just posted to our listserve discussion group about some of the points I didn't get a chance to make in class.

After the class Ben and I laid down in the shade outside Willets for a while, and SuWu handed him a party invitation ("we hate everybody, but you we only dislike.") I want to figure out ways to approach all those people that "I want to get to know better." There's a long list, but the part of "cool upperclassmen for whom I may or may not be cool enough" includes her, and the residents of 2S: Rae, a beguiling dresser, who's in M&P; Jessica, always cheerful (to me at least) from whom I borrowed a history book last night; and Renee, who insists that we shouldn't take her rebuffs personally. I'm just beginning to feel some distance from campus in general, in that there aren't many people apart from my flatmates that I feel I would call on when I need someone to talk to, and just that we're removed from a lot of goings-on. There are definitely benefits as well. Ester popped by and brought up Nostradamus: "The third big war will begin when the big city is burning." Oh my. Well, the rest of the prophecy doesn't fit very well.

U keep on giving me the hold up. U know I wish U'd make Ur mind up.