02 August 2004 - 9:24 p.m.

chinatown

on friday night i went with simon to the australian culture now exhibit at ngv and acmi. while he watched a sound performance, i had a wander. i walked into one room and saw a giant installation that immediately made a voice inside excitedly say, "donkey kong!" then i read the last sentence of the artist statement (scroll down) - what a load of crrrrap!

in my expert opinion, the description should really read, "this installation is about donkey kong." or "i just wanted to see if i could recreate donkey kong." the end. i hope he wrote it as a big f**k-you to the art world for making artists write statements in the first place, and it's all a big joke after all. the only genuinely funny part, though, is that i couldn't stop making donkey kong noises for the rest of the night.

james lynch's art (and the idea behind his art) was my hands-down favorite. he made animations based on "dreams that his family and close friends have had in which he appears." kind of like waking life but more interesting in its own way. i wish i had time to watch them all.

******

i went to the doctor last week after two months of being sick. i wanted to touch base and make sure it wasn't something like allergies (it's not). she told me that the only thing she could think of in terms of a diagnosis was chronic fatigue, but that you have to have it for six months before you can be diagnosed. when i told her that i had it for six months during my freshman year of high school, she said that means i'm even more susceptible.

how funny that when i was originally diagnosed, fewer than half of doctors believed in it. now it has its own page on the centers for disease control website.

i had a long talk to my mom about it, and she advised me not to tell anyone at work because i haven't really been diagnosed and the info could be used against me. instead of my lack of time and resources being a constant problem in terms of things not getting done, any illness could soon be to blame.

i'm trying to act like i know nothing and just focus on staying healthy, but hearing something like that really changes your perspective on things. One day of a sore throat and headache mean nothing when compared to something much more long-term. thank goodness i love sleep.