nothing you do matters

- so he was standing in front of it, you know? and i was taking a picture of him and some people came by and they like saw what we were doing and they took a picture of us...
- ya, and theres like a video of the whole thing.

is something really wrong?

or is everything amazing?

one side of the phone call placed between timothy j. van patten, professor emeritus of peace and simulation studies at the gallatin school for individualized study at new york university and his old friend sinclair stevens, adjunct professor of literature at ohio state university beginning at minute three:

-
- it really is wonderful that you have such a fine remembrance of our hometown.  i, on the other hand, am glad to have moved away from that homogeneous hitler hick-land.
-
- of course my response is a symptom of my positionality, how could it not be?
-
- and you are somehow objective?
-
- the midwest is getting to you, stevens.
-
- what the fuck does my mother have to do with...
-
- i'm not still mad at my mom for christs sake...
-
- of course i wish they had raised me with some anthropological openness but i've found that here.
-
- right because you are just oozing with open-mindedness.
-
- you taught teju cole this semester? and what you're a martyr?
-
- i don't even think zadie smith counts.
-
- i guess if obama counts she counts, too, but i don't think obama counts...
-
- if he's black than i must be mohammed.

(pause)

-
- i'm not coming home.
-
- i don't want to see her.
-
- really stevens, its the cars! its all the driving!  its being boxed in!
-
- i'm boxed in the city but its different, its expansive.
-
- we have trees here buddy.
-
- tons of fuckin nature.
-
- listen, i might lose you, i'm about to get in an elevator.

heat          

goes       

 on      

beat   

goes 

on

until it doesnt