Beheading the heads

"Authority over others is indivisible from the right of those others to have you climb the scaffold and do away with you, one day in the not too distant future...What authority would a leader have without the aura of this destiny around him, if you couldn't read it in his eyes, his sense of his end, for every second of his mandate? Civil insitutinos depend on this dual aspect of authority; no civilization has ever used any other system,"
-Beheading the Heads, Italo Calvino (from Numbers in the Dark)

I like Calvino's short stories, this one especially. It was an unfinished novel beginning that was to revolve around a society who killed their leaders at regular intervals, instead of waiting until they needed to be killed. It was interesting, the idea that it would refrain the the merely power hungry from seeking power.

Babysitting last night was fun. I love kids. They're hilarious and their dog is so cute. We played video games and foosball, and I'll admit that I lost and I was trying. The parents came home earlier than expected so we talked about the possiblitiy of me working for them this summer. I had a lovely phone conversation with Jendavis and got to watch Silence of the Lambs, which is pretty awesome. I really want to go see Matchpoint, Transamerica, and Mrs.Henderson presents. Maybe this week I'll make time to go.

Jen and I were talking about how we'd like a break but when we get time off, after about a day or so we get so anxious that we crave something to do. I guess that's why I'm bringing a bunch of books on spring break...I won't be able to just chill out. I guess a week of being idle by a pool would get boring after awhile though. I don't think people today really know how to relax. It seems sad that most households need two incomes to function. I think someone told me that maybe the Renaissance or maybe earlier...maybe later...but anyways at some point in time where there was a middle class, the average person did about four hours of work. Between families and jobs, there seems little time for anyone to really connect. Sure there are more methods to communicate but I think it promotes a wider not deeper experience. I think there's a lack of depth in most people, leading to unfulfilling relationships with lovers, friends, family, literature, music, etc. America seems unfulfilled. Desperately unhappy and not really knowing why.

Agenda: running, shower, paper on the Lais of Marie de France, Michelangelo reading, hopefully readig some more Calvino.