Friday, January 15, 2016

The Sad Bastard Divorce Chronicles of David Brooks


Chapter 31: Life Goes On At The Bachelor Arms Apartments ("Our beds are the Murphiest!").  From the New York Times: 
Across the street from my apartment building in Washington there’s a gigantic supermarket and a CVS. Above the supermarket there had been a large empty space with floor-to-ceiling windows. The space was recently taken by a ballet school, so now when I step outside in the evenings I see dozens of dancers framed against the windows, doing their exercises — gracefully and often in unison.

It can be arrestingly beautiful. The unexpected beauty exposes the limitations of the normal, banal streetscape I take for granted every day. But it also reminds me of a worldview, which was more common in eras more romantic than our own.
...
By arousing the senses, beauty arouses thought and spirit. A person who has appreciated physical grace may have a finer sense of how to move with graciousness through the tribulations of life...

Today the word eros refers to sex, but to the Greeks...

Others describe eros as a more spiritual or religious longing...
And this is the point at which the coed Mr. Brooks was macking on backed sloooowly out of the room.

You know what?  I'm done.  I really don't need to know any more.

Except I'm pretty sure the story ends like this...


17 comments:

karen said...

Just perfect.

Wendy said...

By arousing the senses, beauty arouses thought and spirit. A person who has appreciated physical grace may have a finer sense of how to move with graciousness through the tribulations of life...

Yeah, tell that to all the anorexic and bulimic ballet dancers, or the ones hooked on cocaine.

What a fucking idiot.

Yastreblyansky said...

Hahahahaha.

trgahan said...

Given the average age range of dancers in a strip mall ballet studio, someone in law enforcement should probably have a look at Brook’s hard drive and search history.

Chan Kobun said...

"I sleep in a big bed with my wife."

D. said...

Has anyone pointed Mr. Brooks at match.com yet?

(God, the smell. The smell!)

Professor Fate said...

Reading this I think there is a Ballet School that will springing money for drapes pretty soon.

Lawrence said...

The streets are pretty banal where I live. I would expect less so in D.C. Does the CVS have a decent salad bar? Readers want these details.

Unknown said...

@traghan I think Brooks' malaise stems from the fact he has no hard drive worth investigating.

Unknown said...

Now if only Brooks would get canned by the NYT (like Kirk from the cracker factory) and tried to launch a singing career. Then you could finally work the Demo Tape footage into a post. ("Can I borrow a feeling...bwhahahahahaahaha...that's your picture on the frontbahahaha")

But as we're well aware, BoBo appears to have a job for life at the Times. Oh well.

Anonymous said...

My mother-in-law (who I loved) died recently and I've been settling her estate. This is the best laugh I've had in awhile and for that I thank you!

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

OT, but I dunno if I can wait until you have a PL announcement....

Congrats on the new gig to BG.

Also, Pontypool is an awesome zombie movie, done for a buck-twenty five and seriously more intense and suspenseful than every Halloween movie put together. It's on Netflix...

Unknown said...

It's not just that he lies. It's not just that he writes self-exculpatory essays to excuse his shameful past. It's that he is a very, very, very, very, very bad writer.

bluicebank said...

"Eyeing little girls with bad intent."

I mean WTF? Why would a older man write a column about watching, from his window, ... no, you're right, Drift, enough said.

Robt said...

Perhaps Ted Cruz could elaborate his "NY values" for Duck dynasty primary voter points (Duck coupons even) if he would point out Conservative Brooks writing in the NY Times while living in D.C..
Let us see you spin out of that Trump!!!!!

If only Brooks would put his highly conservative brilliance to investigate and scribble a column on the similarities of great Conservative values of mark Foley, Denny Hastert and himself.
How Conservatism provides the virtues of repression. Until the cork pops off from pressure and lets the inner Genie out of the republican image.

SouthSideGT said...

Hi Drifty

To me the money shot is this:

"It’s that we accidentally abandoned a worldview that showed how art can be used to cultivate the fullest inner life."

We didn't "accidentally" abandon art. The GOP has always as a matter of policy cutback the arts at all levels of our education system. No accident about it at all.

-GT

New_Damage said...

If only Brooks were better at drawing cornstarch. Could've saved his marriage.