Friday, December 3, 2010

A Tie-In Quote of the Damn Day: Kurt Vonnegut

Bill Gates says, ''Wait till you can see what your computer can become.'' But it’s you who should be doing the becoming, not the damn fool computer.

I automatically thought of this quote of Vonnegut's when I read the Foster Wallace quote below. As far as I am concerned, both men possessed two of the finest, most-humane minds that I've ever had the pleasure to encounter. This, despite the fact, that Mr. Bret Easton Ellis so seems to devalue and abhor their "Mid-Western faux-sentimentality."

Fuck you, Mr. Easton Ellis.

12 comments:

Mj Rains said...

Two absolute fantastic quotes. I know you're a big fan of Vonnegut as am I. And yes, Kurt, wherever you are, I am determined to work on becoming.

As far as B.E.E. is concerned...he's supposed to be writing the film on Theresa Duncan right? Enough said.

Jeannie said...

Amen.

Love you sister.

Have a great weekend

Big Mark 243 said...

I have read 'Less Than Zero', 'Rules of Attraction' and 'American Psycho' and came away with the thought that ol' Bret has some issues! He resents that people can find themselves in a less complicated life and enjoying themselves so thoroughly without chasing after the Joneses.

He is prolly a miserable, unlikeable human being. I agree wholeheartedly with my simple, stilted Midwestern self!

Sarcastic Bastard said...

Jenn,
Yes, and I am very sorry he will be the writing the script. I'm sure that Theresa and Jeremy will come off as totally superficial, good-looking, one-dimensional individuals.

Sarcastic Bastard said...

Jeannie,
My sentimental Mid-Western self says I love you, too!

Big Mark,
Yes, I found American Psycho shallow and disturbing. It was the only book I ever actually considered burning. I couldn't bring myself to do it, however. It goes against everything I believe in as an American, albeit a falsely sentimental one. I threw it in the trash instead.

Syd said...

I thought the South had all the faux sentimentality! Shucks.

song 2 the siren said...

Bret Easton Ellis writes books for people who don't actually read books but want to project certain images by having certain books in their bookshelves that maybe project the image of nihilism and dangerous sex and drugs without actually having to have the dangerous sex and do the drugs and actually understand the meaning of nihilism. You know that.

Mentioning him in the same paragraph as Vonnegut is like comparing apples to oranges. Ellis writes at about a sophmore high school level about things that excite high schoolers and Vonnegut manages to believably warp the space-time continuum.

Ms. Moon said...

I haven't read any of B.E.E's stuff. I do not feel compelled. And let me say this- every time you post that picture of St. Vonnegut, I love it more.

Sarcastic Bastard said...

Humming in the night skull,
Welcome, and thank you for your comment. Very well said. Please come back and join us often.

Best,

SB

My Dear Ms. Moon,
Kurt Vonnegut, like his (and my) idol, Mark Twain, has one of my favorite American faces. I also like Walt Whitman's sweet face a lot.

Christina @ Fashion's Most Wanted said...

Dearest SB, I love Kurt Vonnegut. It's a great picture. I've never been a fan of Microsoft as I can't bear (and can't operate) PC's. I'm strictly an Apple Mac girl. Hope all's good with you, it's freezing here! Love you xx

Sarcastic Bastard said...

Christina,
I do too--love Vonnegut. He is an American treasure.

I would be a Mac girl if it were compatible with our software here at work, believe me. Also, I am too damn poor to afford one.

Love you lots!

Parabolic Muse said...

you know what? Wallace and Vonnegut shit bigger than Ellis. So he can just go be compost, somewhere.

I happen to like that Gates is such a staunch Democrat. He know how he got where he is, and he supports getting other people there, too. It's up to us how we use the damn things.

I use mine to keep the dog off the coffee table.