On the Possiblity of Being Missy And/Or A Gentleman of Leisure

10/23/2006 7:55 AM – 8:23 AM

Having neglected the task for so long, restate the premises of the experiment: 1) to wake up in the morning and write is emotionally and intellectually satisfying, 2) the purpose of writing is enjoyment, 3) this me who writes desires something.

What is this something? Money. What is money? Money is an abstract symbol of value. Who determines value? I do. Do I value more sleeping longer or writing? Yes, depending on the wind. But, more generally, writing. Why? Because no one pays you to sleep. Unless you’re Missy. Are you Missy? Not that I am generally aware of. I’m pretty sure someone would tell me. Probably Woods.

Having verified to the best of your current ability that you are not Missy and, therefore, not likely to be paid to sleep, where are you now situated? At a desk, in my room, in Buffalo, on an overcast day, having woken up late once again. Why do you write? I write 1) on the off chance that my writing will improve enough that someone will give me money to do it, 2) for the chicks, 3) it’s personally more enjoyable that most other things. Let’s go back to 1, what is money? Money is the opportunity to exist free of the dictates of other people. And yet writing for money is to pander to the dictates of other people. Yes, but if I had money, I could write as badly as Kant and still have a grand old time of it. Perhaps someday in the distant future, some poor sap of a PHIL 101 student would be forced to waste a few precious hours of his or her life slogging through the crap that I wrote because I was a gentleman of leisure and no longer bound by the dictates of other people and, in doing so, would wise up and realize that they should be shooting for something like an MBA or a rich husband. Or, perhaps, they might realize that they are, in fact, Missy and that any second now the alarm clock is going to go off and someone is going to come in and hand them a fat wad of cash and send them home to Woods, so they should just stop worrying and commence with trying to fly and/or score with themself.