Update at Keesler AFB

I'm all settled into my room. I'm at the newest squadron, the newest building. Keesler is a very nice base. It's a base that houses the Navy and the Marines too. It's got a theater, three chow halls, lots of mini-malls, a newly built B/X (a mall), a commissary, a library (!), lots of gyms. There are always activities you can join, so there's no reason to be bored. You can join up with the Humane Society and hang out with animals. On the bulletin board, you can see what your options are. I went to the library. It's not that big; it's bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside. The philosophy section takes up a meager four shelves: buy hey! - that's more than Books A' Million!

I checked out a couple books edited by Harold Bloom, that fat, arrogant literary critic that thinks he's smarter than everyone. He did do one thing I admire: he literally did an analysis of every major thinker in the Western Canon. Thank God he only wrote the editor's preface, where he can't help but ramble on about his 'anxiety of influence', his pet-theory he applies - uncritically - to everyone! I think he planned his whole theory out, because I want to say he only put forward the 'anxiety of influence' theory because he is projecting: he wants to influence the next generation of literary hopefuls and he himself feels the anxiety to do so because of all the geniuses that came before him. On that basis, I want to discount everything he says. But it doesn't discount it; it supports it. He is doing exactly what he said literary figures do. I just have a sneaking suspicion his whole theory is a projection of a private and disgusting, narcissistic neurosis that he is suffering from.

My room is basically a hotel room. It's got a fridge, a microwave, a few dressers, a whole closet to keep valuables in, armed with a lock and key; there's a desk, a very comfortable bed, and a private shower and toilet. Something funny happened to me. I was in a rush to take a leak, and when I slammed the door, the light-cover came off and landed right on my head and into the toilet! Anyway, the hot water lasts forever and the water pressure is awesome. Laundry is a breeze; you have to buy the detergent, but after that, it's just a matter of closing the lid, and the wash starts by itself: the same with the drier.

The food is the best part. There are three lines: a healthy line, a sandwich line, and a fast-food line. The sandwich line has any sandwich you can think of; the healthy line has all the food where you know you're going to get full, but it's a good kind of full, and you know you're getting all the nutrients you need; the fast-food line has hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, and you usually leave having that sick-kind-of-full. There's also great deserts: cookies, cheese cake, chocolate cake, vanilla and chocolate pudding, with whip cream on top. There's no rush to eat and there's always a an open table.

Sorry, nothing really on culture; just giving an update on my experience. I did see the Sorcerer's Apprentice, a waste of a couple hours I'll never get back. I couldn't take Nicholas Cage seriously; he looked like a manly version of the female lead in The Departed: I forget her name. It also had the cartoonish, Disney violence that doesn't do anything for me. The only other movie playing yesterday was Predators. I kind of want to see that; the trailer looked pretty wild. I'll have to wait until next Friday to see Inception, which I heard was spectacular.

For now, all I have to do is 'details', doing chores around the base until off-duty hours, 1630, a.k.a. 4:30 PM. My classes don't start for a while. Lots of down time. Hopefully my next blog will have some culture in it.