Good Morning. Hello. How are you? #1540
Finally covid-free again, Springsteen Tracks 2, the new Marx translation, a bad car wreck I saw.
Hi hi hi good morning greetings from Chatham County North Carolina “United” States of America. How are you? All well? Nice weekend? I am good, thanks for asking. I had a… 50% nice weekend. Saturday I still had covid so even though one of my best friends, and his family, and a lovely French exchange student, were visiting, I was stuck away in my little office quarantine q-hole. It was very sad.
BUT on Sunday morning I got my first negative Covid test. And actually, as I wrote those words, I just got my second one. So that is exciting. Last time I got Covid — in 2023, I have re-learned, I was covid-free for six days before suffering a “covid bounce” that lasted another 14 days. So I would not characterize myself as being out of the woods yet. Mayhaps my lost party has found a clearing in the woods, and that clearing winds out of view, and it ‘tis yet unclear whether this is the end of the forest, or if it is just a small clearing, encircled by those scary woods. I am stretching this “out of the woods” metaphor a bit far. But hey, better than Taylor Swift who just kept saying “out of the woods” over, and over, and over, and OVER without, you know, adding anything to it.
Man you know first time I heard that song, when it started, I thought it was gonna be one of the greatest Taylor songs ever. Then it just… did nothing. Nothing. Same shit over and over again. Jack Antonoff can’t write a bridge to save his life.
We did not go to Boston. Because of the potential of the COVID Bounce. Just… would suck to have to drive, or be cooped up in our apartment there instead of this giant house. I am sad we will only get two weeks in Boston this summer, as opposed to our “traditional” full month (it was alreadsy somewhat cut short because of our Alaska trip). But it will probably be enough. Also sucks it’s in August, not exactly the best time to visit Boston. Pooh. But still, we hope to go next Sunday, provided I am still getting negative tests that whole time. According to my journals — and this here GMHHAY archive — it was six days from my first negative to my Covid bounce in 2023, so we will give it seven. Fingers crossed.
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We are listening today to the To Investigate playlist still, of course. We put a real dent in it on Friday, and made some additional progress on Saturday, so we are now down to 17 hours remaining. It is conceivable I finish this project tomorrow, more likely Wednesday. I am very excited. I have been working through the seven LPs of the Bruce Springsteen Tracks 2 box set, for a second listen. God, there are a lot of great tracks here. I feel like I am starring too many but, really, a 30-year parallel Springsteen career? Feels like that would probably have a lot of good tracks.
There is just so much Springsteen to listen to these days. Apparently the dude is already compiling Tracks 3. Gawd.
Anyhoo, on Sunday I did get to spend time with my friends, and that was just great, we went to breakfast, we puttered around the house. They did some trips to show the exchange student around the, ahem, more culturally enriching areas of the Raleigh Durham area. I did some cleaning, put away my laundry, cleaned the kitchen, shit like that.
In the evening Emma and I were invited over to a neighbor’s house for an evening pool party and dinner, and that was nice. There was an actual nuclear physicist there, so that was pretty cool. Scottish, I think, if I am placing the accent properly (so uncouth to ask people where they’re from). Probably not in danger of getting deported. Teaches at two universities around here and works at a five-person company, that must be kind of interesting. I wonder if all his clients are AI Firms. I was still a little slow on my feet, I did not delve. Tacky.
Other than that, well, shrugs. I am too tired to work on my book. I am definitely too tired to do physical construction up in the recording studio attic, and in any case, I did not order any construction materials for this week because I thought I would be gone. I am still sleeping a lot. Like more than nine hours a day. I am in limbo. It is unpleasant. I do not like being unproductive. It messes with my self-esteem. Getting old is going to be rough.
I’ve started — I think I told you this already — the hip new translation of Marx’s Capital, volume 1. First new English translation in fifty years. I’ve now read all 100 pages or so of all the introductory material, and last night I actually arrived at the proper beginning of actual words by Marx. Though not the actual beginning of Capital, just the introduction to the second edition of volume 1.
I gotta say, though, this essay by the translator, Paul Reitter, was just fantastic. I, like many of us, am fascinated by the nuance of translation, and Marx, it seems, is a particularly tricky one to translate, what with a bevvy of German neologism compound words that are tough to translate into English. He also has a propensity toward sentence compression, not repeating subjects in the second half of compound sentences, etc., that is apparently tough for clarity in translation. And a lot of witty asides and unexplained jokes and literary references, not like GMHHAY if I may say so myself.
And then there is the very nature of Capital, never really, actually finished: two authorized editions in Marx’s lifetime, two more overseen by Engels after his death, but also a French translation where Marx decided the translator didn’t do a good job so the dude spent three years of his life just fixing some other dude’s translation of Capital volume 1. Three years.
But the problem is, of course, that in the process of doing the French translation, which came after the second German edition, Marx snuck in, here and there, actual new opinions and research during the process of translating. And on top of that, the notes for both Marx’s French translation and the notes of the dude who did the initial French translation that Marx reworked? All those notes are lost. So it is not actually clear, on a given sentence, whether there is a new Marx opinion, or the other dude just translated it sloppily.
So this poor Paul Reitter dude, you can just picture him with:
The First German Edition
The Second German Edition
The First French Translation
The First English Translation — partially overseen by Engels
The Second English Translation from the 70’s
All propped up in front of him while is working on this new translation.
For 800 pages.
For volume one.
Why would anyone do this to themselves.
But man. Monumental intellectual work. hats off to you, Paul Reitter.
Well, assuming the translation is good. We’ll find out tonight.
Oh! I saw a terrible wreck. I maybe even caused it! I was driving to the construction site on Friday to pay a grading crew, and I stopped to turn in, and the dude behind me stopped, and the dude behind him stopped. There was a long line behind me because the car in front of me was going 30 in a 50. So, like, six cars in this long line managed to stop, but not the seventh. Slammed hard into the car in front of it. Completely wrinkled his entire hood. I mean I don’t even know how he did such damage given he couldn’t have been going more than 30 (because of the slow car in the front). It was crazy.
Thankfully, no one was hurt.
The old man who heads up our concrete crew trotted out there and started directing traffic like he had done it a million times. I was very impressed.
I have been getting to hang out with my daughter again, it has been lovely. Many hugs and kisses, with my mask on, lol (you’re supposed to mask for five days after your five days of isolation does anyone else ever do this?). She is such a joy. Her vocabulary is out of control. She is a much better swimmer than I realized (I don’t usually join Emma and Jane on their weekend pool jaunts). She is hilarious. She is mostly pretty good with other kids, though still needs a little more sensitivity toward younger kids. But really, just a good kid. It is a joy to spend time with her. She is just great.
Got a “W Hotel Lobby in a Better, Alternate Universe” playlist for you today, volume 93. Boy, my relationship with W Hotel Lobbies has really changed since I started doing these playlists. Haven’t actually been to one in years, and I used to basically live in them. I wonder what they’re like these days. Anyway, mostly new. Very into this Four Tet re-working of Mazzy Star. New Sault is great, new Pulp of course, fantastic. We have talked about this new Blonde Redhead I find it very compelling. Love this new Soulwax. Good stuff, good stuff.
All right fine friends. Talk tomorrow.
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Thanks for reading.
And hey! Maybe buy one of my books!
Good Morning, Hello, How Are You vol 1.