Now We’re Talking

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Pages To Go: 894

Footnotes: 36 of 388

I like where this is going. Strange happenings are happening with the medical attaché and everyone else who enters the room where he has put a cartridge on loop. We keep getting hints that this is a sci-fi/modern fantasy story, and I’m here for it.

What I’m not here for is new characters. I’m not even going to name who showed up in this episode. Does it matter? Will we see him again? Will our latest diversion prove important to the rest of the narrative? If and when it does, then I’ll take note.

I lived in China as an expat for 14 years. This is a long time to habitate a foreign country, especially if you aren’t married to a local or intending to live there permanently. I’d estimate a typical stay was between six months to three years, with anything beyond that considered at least semi-permanent.

By about halfway through, when most (but not all) of my original friends had long ago left, I began to lose interest in knowing anyone who wasn’t intending to be there long term. Every season, people came and went, and I no longer wanted to spend (read: waste) time conversing with people who would be gone in a few months.

A typical question when meeting someone new in an expat community is “How long are you here for?” I got to the point where if someone told me a period of time that was less than a year, I immediately interrupted, said, “It’s not worth it,” and just walked away.

True story.

That’s now how I’m approaching every new character in Infinite Jest. Talk to me when you decide to extend your stay.

Vocab Word: Pisscatchers Leather shoes with a raised stitched upper edge allowing the shoes to catch any ‘accidental spillages’ that may occur during a drunken visit to the toilet.

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