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Home News by Category General Updates Some Thoughts for You

Some Thoughts for You

Edit: Judith Ann Maniatis - Tribute

After almost 10 weeks in hospital my mother passed away last night. There may be fewer updates to the site for the next little while. I just don't know.

I do know I want to leave these two passages from Infinite Jest right here for a bit:


"That boring activities become, perversely, much less boring if you concentrate intently on them. That if enough people in a silent room are drinking coffee it is possible to make out the sound of steam coming off the coffee. That sometimes human beings have to just sit in one place and, like, hurt. That you will become way less concerned with what other people think of you when you realize how seldom they do. That there is such a thing as raw, unalloyed, agendaless kindness.

[...]

That the people to be most frightened of are the people who are most frightened. That it takes great personal courage to let yourself appear weak. That you don't have to hit somebody even if you really really want to. That no single, individual moment is in and of itself unendurable."

 

 

Infinite Jest, by David Foster Wallace pages 203 and 204.

Goodbye, Mum. I love you.

13th of October 2012.

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Last Updated on Wednesday, 17 October 2012 10:20  

Comments 

 
#1 Josh Wilkinson 2012-10-14 02:37
My condolences to you and your family. A terrible hard thing, losing a parent, and I wish you all comfort and support.
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#2 Mark Douglas 2012-10-14 04:10
So sorry for your loss, Nick.
Peace to you and yours in this time.
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#3 David Lang 2012-10-14 15:30
You've read closely, and you've lived closely (too schmaltzy?). What Wallace wanted was a true reckoning of things amid all the artificial that modern technological life has given us (ha ha). It is a real gift to hear and to feel that people get it, and that people are willing to share their getting-ness, perhaps that's all we have....
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#4 Rob Short 2012-10-15 01:30
Be well, Mr. Maniatis.

Thank you for all that you do.
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#5 Tom Ruprecht 2012-10-15 04:55
So sorry, Nick. You're in our thoughts. It gets easier.
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#6 Stephen Frnech 2012-10-15 04:56
Peace, and condolences.
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#7 Nancy Jackson 2012-10-15 05:20
You have done so much for us DFW fans & readers. Thank you for that -- and please accept my sincere condolences. Our lives are all truly interconnected.
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#8 Your Distant Friend 2012-10-15 08:24
Losing the presence of one who unconditionally loves you and prayed for you rattles you to the core. I know.

Yet--and as sappy as it seems, it is also true: your mother lives on through you, in ways you'd probably not thought about a lot until she became ill, or afterward (if you're like most offspring). Of course, the great kindness you've shown all of us by your work and dedication to DFW's output reveals and shares something of your mother with we distant souls: had she been someone else, so would you, and we perhaps would never have benefited from your insights, from Dave's, and--albeit at a distance--from hers, through you. Her and your kindnesses are deeply appreciated; our sympathy and hopes for your comfort are all we can send--but they are genuine.
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#9 miette 2012-10-16 10:40
Sending all kinds of peace, love, and general healing juju to you and your family.
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#10 Jesse 2012-10-17 14:45
I'm so sorry, Nick. We've never met, but this site has meant so much to me over the years. My heartfelt condolences.
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