week. Did not
write hardly at all.
Before retiring, I read some comic books and my Jerry Rubin book
We Are Everywhere. Also verified that Eldridge Cleaver quote I had
been wondering about. He’s the one who coined the slogan "If you’re
not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem." Cleaver’s a
genius, in my opinion.
Soul On Ice I fucking love.
Today I get back to work on my book in earnest.
Woke up this morning about 9:00. Stayed in bed, thinking about
Polly. Wondering why I still want her after all the shit that’s
happened. I’m glad I moved here for a vast number of reasons, not
the least of which is to show how easy it is to pick up and go. When
we are young we can do anything.
If I could, I would forget about Polly and find another woman to
love. But it’s not like I haven’t tried. Checked out numerous
potential replacements while I lived in Portland.
Sorry to say, the scene was incredibly dismal. By and large, the
educated unmarried women in my bracket fall into two categories –
the desperate and the ultra-desperate. Rooming with Chesley was a
gigantic eye-opener. He’s conducting an all out search for the perfect
wife. His usual gung-ho approach. It’s pathetic and I have pointed
this out to him many times. Still, he persists. He says that by
constantly hunting he’s sure to find someone. I am more reticent by
far.
I told him that by going about it the way he is going about it he is
sure to find someone lousy. More than once I said why not just
31
concentrate on your career and let the romance thing take care of
itself?
Chesley replied that such a strategy was not "pro-active" enough to
suit him. Apparently, I am the only one who can see that his efforts
are doomed to miserable failure.
Meanwhile, living with him, I was also continually exposed to an
endless parade of marriage-minded, baby-craving women. He
dragged all sorts of them through our house at 3024 SE 25th Street.
Goddamn, what a fucking mob! We hosted two major house parties
and a variety of smaller affairs. Chesley made contacts, answered
personal ads, signed up for dating services, and went on dates (blind
and otherwise) by the score. He joined the Y, the tennis club, and
even started going to temple again. The boy left no stone unturned.
Chesley’s dates invariably had single female friends, best
girlfriends, unattached work friends, and sundry available women of
all stripes lurking around As Chesley’s roommate, I was constantly
sized for my dating and/or marriage potential. The goddamn fucking
phone rang day and night.
Women, women, women! Do they not realize how painfully
obvious they are? Eeoowww! Our place was like the Pendleton
fucking Round Up. If just one of those dames had shown a touch of
class, I might have been intrigued.
Alas, none did.
In truth, I grew very tired of fending off their crude advances.
Seemingly none were interested in books, politics, art, or issues in
general. They only had one thing on their minds: Marriage. After a
while I started derisively calling his dates "Nesters."
Chesley said it was a terrible expression and then started to use it
himself.
"Got me a date with a Nester tonight," Chesley would say. "She
has very big bazooms."
Later: I’ve delved into the new Chapter 23 quite deeply. I really
want to finish it up today so I can keep moving along.
Finally, I have time to write. My service as Chesley’s social
secretary is herewith terminated. I kinda feel bad about leaving him
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in the lurch. Ever since Karen Hall dumped him two years ago, he’s
shown abysmal judgment about women.
I mean horribly bad. He seemed to like having me around to
bounce opinions off of. I’ve gone out of my way not to be critical, but
left to his own devices, I’m afraid Chesley’s likely to commit a huge
blunder. For some unfathomable reason he is mainly attracted to this
sick-minded slattern type of chick who only wants to marry him
David Stuckler Sanjay Basu
Aiden James, Patrick Burdine