The Little Things

posted 7 Apr 2003, 12PM | 13 Comments

it's one of those nights when i remember that i'm still in love with the internet, all the people to meet, all the beauty, horror and absurdity to consume. love hides in the sad, warm little things you didn't expect.

the space between objects can be overwhelming sometimes. the physical, negative airspace between trees and cars, walls and the baubles on my desk. rooms are so large, their contents so sharp and distinct, edges that never, ever touch. if you look closely, you can climb in between every pencil, inside every mug, slide between a pile of mail and the pair of sunglasses on the counter.

carpets are so deep and wide and never-ending.

whenever i sit in a parked car with someone, and look over at them (as we talk or argue or laugh or make eyes) i simply can't believe how fucking far away they sit. two and a half feet, less than my long arm's reach, but if the space between small objects looks great the distance across words–between minds, faces and lips–can be unfathomable.

it used to bother me, more, that i am separate from other individuals. it turns out that love and frindship both needs space to reach across, even in the same room.


There are 13 Comments

1

7 Apr 03 at 01:43PM ryan said:

oops. i'll have to post a local version of that file. clever tripod wont allow remote linking.

2

7 Apr 03 at 08:30PM ryan said:

i fixed it, yo

3

8 Apr 03 at 01:39PM katia said:

There's a movie called Mindwalk (or something similar) that talks about the incredibly huge distance between electrons and the atom they surround. The movie explains it better, but I still barely have my mind around that idea. I thought about it for days afterwards.. still do apparently...

4

8 Apr 03 at 02:02PM ryan said:

sounds cool, kat... aren't electrons around 1/1890 the size of a proton, as i remember? it has been a while since chem class. that movie sounds good, yo. i'll look for it on netflix.

5

8 Apr 03 at 09:49PM Adam said:

I'm not sure why, but this reminded me of 'Donnie Darko'. Although you might have put it much better.

6

9 Apr 03 at 10:01AM Erin said:

Here's a really great film about space and distances....

Hey wow my film minor wasn't a waste of time after all! Someone should call my parents and let them know. haha.
Fantastic episode Ryan - the wheels in me noggin' are a'creakin'.

7

9 Apr 03 at 11:39AM ryan said:

i think i've seen that film, on 321 Contact or something. Or at least, i have memories of something like it.

8

9 Apr 03 at 03:21PM dan said:

They actually used to have it at the science musuem in boston, so you probably saw it there, ryan. Scale of distance is always a headfuck, especially when it involves those you care for, or when it involves astrophysics and infinity. But it goes without saying, the irrlevance of all things to the point of perception.
I have been myself thinking a lot lately of distances and those I care for. As I am so far away from so many and I wonder the worth of the distance. I try though to let them know and have faith that there is in fact more between us than we percieve.

9

9 Apr 03 at 05:13PM mwg said:

i miss long horizons.

10

9 Apr 03 at 05:14PM ryan said:

I just finished reading an interesting book by Stephen Baxter. When reading your post it reminded me of a humorous attempt by a primitive human to escape a 5 dimensional box. He tied himself to a cow and tried to find a way through it.

11

10 Apr 03 at 12:39PM dave said:

i saw that movie both times I took astronomy in college. maybe my second favorite school-movie only to Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land.

You think the space between the two seats in a car is distant now? You should try cruising around in a 1987 VW Cabriolet with the top down, and try to communicate to the shotgun passenger...i'm currently working on an intricate system of hand gestures, not unlike the ones that Navy Seals use.

12

11 Apr 03 at 10:50AM katia said:

One time I was doing a headstand in my room (don't ask why) and realized that my head was occupying a certain part of space it never usually was in. Like I was experiencing the same world I was always in, in a completely different way, just b/c I was 'looking' at it from a different perspective; just b/c I was inhabiting that same space in a different manner.
hmmmm. Maybe it was just all the blood rushing to my brain, this made more sense at the time...

13

13 Apr 03 at 08:40PM linny said:

to understand how significant spacial distance really is, i recommend THE POETICS OF SPACE by Bachelard... it is dreamy & boundary-shattering.

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