Motto des Tages

Jammere nicht, arbeite.

nach dem Bilde wessen?

And Gibreel the archangel specified the manner in which a man should be buried, and how his property sould be divided, so that Salman the Persian got to wondering what manner of God this was that sounded so much like a businessman. This was when he had the idea that destroyed his faith, because he recalled that of course Mahound himself had been a businessman, and a damned successful one at that, a person to whom organization and rules came naturally, so how excessively convenient it was that he should have come up with such a very businesslike archangel, who handed down the management decisions of that highly corporate, if non-corporeal, God.

Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses (London: Vintage, 1998 [1988]), 365.

Getting Religion

Mirza Saeed Akhtar put his palms against a wall of his wife's bedroom and pressed his forehead against the plaster. After a long pause he said: 'If it is a question of performing umra then for God's sake let's go to town and catch a plane. We can be in Mecca within a couple of days.'
Mishal answered, 'We are commanded to walk.'
Saeed lost control fo himself. 'Mishal? Mishal?' he shrieked. 'Commanded? Archangels? Mishu? Gibreel? God with a long beard and angels with wings?' [...] He began to cry, and fell on to his knees, with his forehead still pressed against the wall. His dying wife came up and embraced him from behind. 'Go with the pilgrimage, then,' he said dully. 'But at least take the Mercedes station wagon. It's got air-conditioning and you can take the icebox full of Cokes.'

Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses (London: Vintage, 1998 [1988]), 239.

Eltern und Kunst: Eine Möglichkeit

By the time of his graduation he had acquired a British passport, so he was able to inform his father in a brief note that he intended to settle down in London and look for work as an actor. Changez Chamchawala's reply came by express mail. 'Might as well be a confounded gigolo. It's my belief some devil has got into you and turned your wits. You who have been given so much: do you not feel you owe anything to anyone? To your country? To the memory of your dear mother? To your own mind? Will you spend your life jiggling and preening under bright lights, kissing blonde women under the gaze of strangers who have paid to watch your shame? You are no son of mine, but a ghoul, a hoosh, a demon from hell. An Actor! Answer me this: what am I to tell my friends?'

And beneath a signature, the pathetic, petulant postscript, 'Now that you have your own bad djinni, do not think you will inherit the magic lamp.'

Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses (London: Vintage, 1998 [1988]), 47-48.

Notizen: Bonn-Berlin und zurück

Am Potsdamer Platz begegnet mir eine Gruppe Hauptschüler auf Abschlussfahrt. Auf ihren T-Shirts steht:
Abschluss 07
Game Over

Liebe Außendienstmitarbeiter,
Kunstfasern und Schweiß machen üblen Geruch. Bitte tragt ab jetzt nur noch Baumwollhemden, dann bleibt ihr länger frisch.
Euer Mitfahrer Rainer

Letzte Nacht habe ich geträumt, der Hund meiner Eltern hätte einen Bruder. Er sieht genauso aus, ist nur etwas kleiner. Unser Hund nimmt den Kopf seines Bruders in den Mund. Es sieht wie Zärtlichkeit aus, er greift aber zu. Es knirscht. Man lacht und ermahnt ihn: Lass den Unsinn. Dann macht er es wieder. Es knackt. Lass den Unsinn, unser Hund bekommt einen Klaps. Der andere Hund legt die Schnautze auf den Boden als wollte er schlafen. Er verdreht die Augen und stirbt.
Es flippt niemand aus, nicht einmal die Tante, der der Hund gehört. Der Traum ist aus.

Am Bundesplatz in Berlin hängen diese Plakate:



Jean Paul Gaultier Fleur du Mâle hält wenige Stunden. Dolce & Gabbana vierundzwanzig. Das schließt einmal duschen mit ein. Das Flüchtige passt zu Fleur du Mâle in gewisser Weise. Bei Dolce wäre es ein No.

Altweibersommer

is one of the best words in German.

Es ist der beste Altweibersommer meines Lebens. Von Juni bis September war es kalt. Da musste ich erst lernen und dann arbeiten. Jetzt scheint die Sonne und ich habe Zeit einfach zu lesen und zu schauen.