Day 28: Infinite Jest in 20/20
1. The page numbers don’t serve any purpose. I just put them there so that someone hoping to pretend that he/she had read the book after playing the game would know to mention its length. “Wow, page 561 was really tough!” etc.
2. That is not a “cute little bunny.” It is a huge, deformed, two-headed rabbit, and you wouldn’t speak so lightly of it if the blood dripping from its fangs was yours.
3. I had more fun drawing the squares and laying-out the board than relating it to the book. I think that’s pretty obvious, yes?
4. Yes, that’s my floor. Sock skating used to be taken very seriously around here, complete with real injuries! My sister once required several stitches after taking a turn too fast and sliding head-first into the base of the stairs.
In the spirit of the AA and NA meetings throughout Infinite Jest, I’d like to share something important and potentially life-changing that I learned about myself today during the five hours I spent reading:
While thinking back to the unusual “vision test”* I received while in Kyrgyzstan has been a source of great amusement to me, I was shocked to discover that the IJ-reading-experience suddenly became much easier and more pleasant when I finally gave the reading glasses a try for actual reading rather than goofy picture taking (see Day 2) this afternoon. The words are now jumping right out of the book and into my eyes, rather than crawling across the page and blurring before disappearing…behind…my…closed eyelids. Zzz.
I only wish that I ‘d made this earth-shattering discovery before page 800.
Just imagine what THESE might do to enhance the experience.
*Give an eye exam the Kyrgyz-way:
Old Russian Lady: (thrusting a magazine in front of my face) “Read this!”
Me: “Oh, I can’t read Turkish.”
ORL: “Can you see the letters?”
Me: “Yes”
ORL: (gives me a pair of glasses) “Can you see them better now?”
Me: “Well yes, but…”
ORL: “Here is your prescription!”
I’m still not sure that I NEED reading glasses, but making those big words a little bigger doesn’t seem to hurt.
Day 20 - Good Enough To Eat Off Of
After much contemplation and internal debate, I am opting to make the Infinite Jest placemat. My reasoning? (1) Seeing as this was your mom’s idea and we have already entertained your sister’s request, I think we should go ahead and play to all the women in the Azzolini household; (2) No one in my family will want to play the Infinite Jest board game; and (3) I foresee many many sources of inspiration, including:
Note the self referential attitude of this mat. It invites the (r)eater to partake in its own creation.
I feel like this mat itself could be The Official Infinite Jest place mat if only IJ had something to do with cats. All sorts of complementary things going on here.
Not exactly sure if this is really a placemat (It traces back to the work of one Moenen Erbuer, which is one amazing name), but it would definitely distract me and make me uncomfortable while eating, which is exactly how IJ makes me feel while reading it.
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What influences are you drawing from for the board game? I’m really excited to play it by the way. If you could somehow get one of our three (or four) talanted fans to make it into an online game, I think the entire DFW blogosphere would thank you.
