I had a wonderful preparing for my Philosophy and Film presentation with Bill a few nights ago. We were working with the movie I <3 Huckabees, so we watched it with our friends in the common room of their suite and then sat around with Richard Hell discussing parallels between the existentialist writings of Camus and Sartre that we had also been assigned. There was also a hilarious and inappropriate conversation inspired by the theme of everything being connected.

Kat: I really don't want to hear anything about Bill's cock.
Bill: But don't you see? Through the connectivity of all living beings, it's your cock as well!
Kat: *looks traumatized*

(after continuing in this vein about the universality of Bill)

Richard Hell: Bill's penis is so epic and all encompassing that it even measures up to my epic failures as a human being. We should publish a book about this, which will consist of getting Miriam to write down every single instance of my failures with her creepy memory along with twenty pages of pictures of Bill's Xeroxed penis.
Me: My god, that thing would be bigger than Infinite Jest!
Bill and Richard Hell: *crack up*
Me: By which I mean, both a full account of your failures AND Bill's penis are larger than Infinite Jest.
Everyone: *howls*

And lo, it was established that Bill's penis is the destroyer of the universe, and we also discussed some of the finer points of Camus and Sartre. I was glad to receive the benefit of Richard Hell's background, since I'd never studied them before. I used to be a bit prejudiced against existentialism, but I've developed a liking for it after that night of talking.

Before I started class, I ran into Josh Jaisinkar and he gave me the most amazing verbal punch in the face ever.

Josh: *starts to incline his head and then stops* No, I'm too lazy to check you out right now. I'm sure your ass is adequate!
Me: *bursts out laughing* Oh my God, that's my dream! I've always wanted to be adequate!
Josh: Well you're there! You've made it baby!
Me: I can taste the victory. Oh, sweet, sweet adequacy.

The presentation in class didn't go over nearly as well. I'd resolved my interpretation in my head, but it was difficult to express that in the class, because I'd come to certain understandings but I couldn't recreate my paths to understanding. Still, we initially had some good discussion and debate about different interpretations. This was derailed by this kid named Andy who rejected the concept of freedom in the most inane way. It's a decent point to make that some people's choices are limited by circumstance, but he went to the extreme of arguing that some circumstances take away freedom of choice entirely.

Camilla: So if someone is raised by horribly racist parents and then they end up going out and curb-stomping someone, aren't they still guilty and haven't they still made a choice?
Andy: Legally, yes. Morally, yes. But metaphysically, I would argue that they aren't.
(stunned silence)

I eventually had to cut discussion of the text short because it was going off on too many tangents and wasn't producing any useful conclusions. After discussing some of the finer points of the movie, Bill and I took the class outside and walked down to the Point where we tried to initiate a conversation about the Buddhist themes in the movie, especially those culminating in an appreciation of nature. I read a poem by Oscar Wilde called We Are Made One With What We Touch And See. I didn't generate much of a response by it, since alas, I do not have Kate Norlock's ability to enthrall a group of students, but it was still fun. And eventually I raised the point that, "Sometimes you just need to immerse yourself in an natural setting in order to remind yourself that petty human drama is not the end all and be all of human existence and meaning. Sometimes you need to be shocked into that state of appreciation," and with that I suddenly lunged at Bill and pushed him into the swamp. YangYi jumped in with us and we started energetically wrestling and slinging mud at each other. It ended more quickly than I'd intended, because I ended up shoving mud in Bill's face and accidentally forcing him to swallow some of it, but it was amazing. I'm so glad that I got to frolic with Bill and YangYi like that. I turned to the class and called out, "This is me connecting with my environment and with Bill at the same time. All you dry, clean people over there, you don't know what you're missing out on!"
Bill bowed slightly and asked, "Any questions?"

Greatest way to end a presentation and the semester ever.

Bill and I climbed out of the swamp and scrubbed off the mud in the river before heading back to our homes, sopping wet and deeply amused. The most epic moment arose when we were rehashing some of the questions that had come up during the discussion and he started hacking and exclaimed, "I just coughed up a twig!" I tried to apologize but he thanked me for the experience. Amazing.

I will be taking a road trip to see Marc Beard in a few hours! I can't wait!

Signing out now.