Coffee, debauchery, perspective

The extraordinary images of Heinrich Kley

A good cup of coffee, the L.A. Times waiting for me on Kindle, and the morning begins. And I find one headline after another that documents the brutality, debauchery and scandal of our day. It's good to put things in perspective at this point, lest one go crazy.

From Medea to The Iliad one doesn't have to read far into classical literature to learn that in "the good old days" the human species was as violent and cruel as it is today. No wonder CJ, my protagonist in the new novel, drops out and divorces himself from the culture, at least as much as possible. As he notes, you have to wear blinders to survive in this world.

Midterms to read today, and I look forward to it. Sure beats watching the news.