When I was a young creature, only 12ish-14ish-or-so-aproximately, I was a master of The Absurd. I was steeped in the art of The Absurd. I was reading and writing 'vast amounts of' absurd fiction. I used to think that nobody can top my imagination, it's undoubtedly my greatest asset, period.
Immediately after becoming 16ish-or-so-aproximately though, I had this sudden revelation: The Absurd is stupid. Cheap, random, irrelevant, fake, empty, mostly meaningless, fraudulent, a lie, an insult to an intelligent brain. And me, as a creator of meaningless stuff.. I'm a hack, my imagination is not focused on anything useful. When I first saw Monty Python for instance, I thought I understood exactly where it came from, and that it was stupid. I didn't understand why the big deal, why would anyone think it was great. It's just absurd.
Many years later.. I became old. Older than 30 years old! I had vast amounts of time for thinking various thoughts about what happens to my imagination as I grow old. I feed it, inform it every day, with stuff.. Yet in the process of living my mundane, boring, shitty life, I feel like I stopped relying on, or using my imagination as much as I used to. As painful as it is, I must admit that dreaming and imagining isn't as core, as important to me now, as it used to be. Maybe it's because there is so much more to consume nowadays, and I became a consumer, more than a creator. So it happened that I woke up one day and thought: My imagination is dead! o__O
And then I was browsing YouTube or something and I watched this silly Monty Python episode and loved it!! What happened?? Maybe.. in the absence of a vigorous, alive imagination, The Absurd all of a sudden seemed vigorous, and started to appeal to me once again, simply as fire-starter for creativity. Maybe.. my imagination has never been freer and richer, yet I've always needed a crutch, something to lean on, something to start with. And my memories of having this boundless imagination are just myth.
If The Absurd is stupid, maybe the question that begs to be answered is: is it stupid enough? I think The Absurd is at times really intelligent and meaningful, at times just random and annoying. It's also wild imagination at play, which now I think is ENORMOUSLY important, inspiring, fun, funny, and actually.. useful!
That's all.
Well.. to conclude.
How do you upset a cat?
You use it as vacuum cleaner. Insure good contact with the ground for maximum suction.
How do you teach a cat to read?
You put hot peppers in the omelette and rub it in its face. Next time it will read the recipe.
How do you confuse a cat?
After it learned to read, you buy it books on screenwriting!