Placeholder. ערב שבת.
Lamb jalfrezi with GA DA at حویلی बंजारा, Second Ave. (3704–05). (See cyan clothbound A6+ Clairefontaine notebook.) I sat too far from and thus didn’t get to speak much to the three attendees I was meeting (or in one case, not meeting) for the first time. Instead, I sat next to M. who couldn’t say that the side of the Allies was preferable to their opponents in WWII because (a) the US had had slavery at one point (even though it had long been abolished by the time of the war), (b) the US military was still racially segregated at that time, and (c) that “infinite information” is needed to assess which outcome to the war would be better because a hundred or so years from now we might learn it would have been better had the Nazis and Fascists won. He also said that slavery is worse than genocide because torture is worse than death, but also said that notions of good or bad are rooted in theism anyway whereas an atheist needs only logic and philosophy. Ang. and even communist A’ta were arguing against him. Eventually, I became eager to get away and followed E., A. and B. to the bar to talk about the canceled conference. While there, a crazy street addict came in and nothing he said had anything to do with the prior or subsequent thing. I think when he came in he said “Island of Staten” to us like it was some sort of greeting. We forgot about him after he went into the bathroom but then I remembered after he’d been therein quite a while. Quite the bold he‐man, E. repeatedly volunteered to deal with him. First he knocked on the door and opened it, but the man was on the toilet. After giving him more time, a worker opened the door to find him dressed and standing, and he emerged and said indignantly “I’m a sorcerer,” apparently a reason not to bother him. E. rather firmly and unwaveringly led him outside. While essentially being pushed out, the crazy man seemed more threatened by me than E. and gave me what amounted to a light punch on the chest that did not hurt at all, but E. made his dislike of that action clear to him. Later, B.’s dodgeball friend धीर showed up and I was pleasantly surprised how attractive he is.
BBG, E. 4th St., pt. 1. I sat between M. and B., and I was pleased with the centrist if even conservative things B. was saying in conversation. Later, his friends W. and L. arrived and cute L. wound up sitting right next to me.