Thursday, May 19, 1994

Dear R:

     I thought those pictures of you, me, and Otto on FH might get your atten-
tion.  So that's what it takes to get you to send me a letter written a year
ago?  Well, for my next act...
     Walter's visit here resulted in a couple of revelations.  First that FH
is more alive and well than one might conclude from Cynthia.  She had not been
there for a couple of years.  And many of her friends in the group were decid-
ing to leave, and leaving.  But, obviously, not everyone.  Walter remarked a
number of times that real estate is his hobby, but his real goal in life is to
learn how to live together in a group.  For the group there are now about 2
women for every man.  Also, the sexual hygiene quarantine is now 3 months.  It
has come to their attention that 90 days is enough time to find 99.9% of the
problems--and 10 years to find that last smidgen.  He described a number of si-
tuations with men leading some women to imagine they were that woman's one and
only.  Of course, the math doesn't really work out when you think about it.  So
he, personally, has Beatta and Eva as his favorites.  He commutes most days to
Vienna for work.  There is a plan to maybe start a gallery for the art of some
of the people who have developed their style and skill for many years.  Eva's
paintings were described as being well done and pleasant to look at.
     At some point in the discussion about the group sexuality, Cynthia made a
confession.  It seems she did not really spend 13 months in the quarantine.  It
was more like 6 months.  And I know, as do you, probably, who the other guilty
was was!  I remember a couple times during our visit when she came into my
room in the morning and put her hand under my covers.  It had to be slapped.
You may recall that I'm a bit slow on waking in the morning and usually have
an erection.  So her hand had to be slapped again the next morning.  Anyway,
I wasn't surprised to hear this admission of guilt from her.
     "I was born in a HOUSE!  My mother was a hippie all the way."  Young woman
in Harvard Square, Au Bon Pain (you know the spot), Gen X, blonde, hip dresser,
expertly done hair, jeans, cotton jacket (plaid--very large squares), back
pack.  Could be a fashion model with her face.  Her language is well educated
and upper class.  She hangs out with "square" types.  A guy tries to talk her
into going into the woods for sex.  Only if you give me Ecstasy (a currently
popular drug), she counter-offers.  Another day, another overheard conversation
in Harvard Square.  Is there anything like HS in DC?
     On the Erika front there was a strange, almost throw-back letter, about
being in the middle of an affair with a married man.  One had the sense that
the emotionalism of the situation threw her backwards into a state like when
she had her head injury.  An extreme regression.  She continues to NOT want to
be there but is coming to accept her fate.  We get many photos of trips to the
local villages and countryside.  The most recent set includes two of her in a
dress--something we've not seen till now.  Makes me wonder if it was a man be-
hind the camera.  Before all her pictures were taken by one particular female
friend, or a few at the beginning with several friends.
     Cynthia is in SF at the moment.  Big film/video/multimedia conference out
there.  A recent phone call informs me she is very pleased to have gone.  She's
learning a lot about new technology and where things are going in the future.
     You mention that C & D are getting a divorce, but only hint at a reason.
Is it the S word or the M word?  And why is she taking an assignment to Korea
at a time like this?  Doesn't she have a choice?  Doesn't she read the news-
papers?  You tell her I said to take an assignment in Iowa, or some other calm
place.
     Speaking of exercise, Cynthia has almost given up completely on running.
However, not on exercise.  We both do a lot of walking.  But the main thing is
the stairs at Porter Square.  We walk them about once a day, seven days a week.
She noticed an amusing thing a month or so ago.  There were a number of pieces
of clothes she hasn't been able to get into--until just recently.  Now they fit
fine.  The running didn't do as much for her body shape as the walking--and, of
course, those STAIRS!  You may remember them.  Oh, and when going to Davis
Square we often walk by your old place on Grove Street.  There is a guy just
across the street from that house who has planted fig trees in his yard.  All
winter they were covered with huge amounts of plastic and insulation.  Now they
are about to fig out, so to speak.  But you don't mention being pregnant.  Have
you been trying for a year without success?  Do you need some help?  You know
my number.  But, back to the exercise...  Get your self a VERY good pair of
walking shoes and do a lot of walking.  For a start.   And don't miss any op-
portunities to do the stairs.  One minute of stairs is worth 10 or more minutes
of walking.
     About Koresh: now we know more about what the story was with Jesus.  I see
it as very similar.  Fire/gunshot versus crucifixtion.  A small technical dif-
ference.  He wrote and said a lot of things.  Some of them may turn out to fit
to reality, things that happen.  Then he will gain some credence.  And off it
goes when his "Paul" finds him.  Yes, a very American sort of disaster, on the
one hand.  But then also a very old type of human disaster.  Nature makes some
individuals with a stronger sense of leadership than others.  Those who have it
can't avoid living it out.  It is a program that, for the good of the species,
has to be run.  Who knows, the event could lead to a new religious direction
that grows into something bigger than he and his group experienced.  But only
if it helps its adherants adapt to the current situation better.  If it gives
them an advantage over other groups.  But then you know my absolute reduction-
ist view of the world, don't you?  I also see it as a sort of learning exper-
ience for the government and the world.  You can be REALLY sure that if any-
thing at all similar to this crops up again there will be lots of people put-
ting on kid gloves and tippy-toeing around.  It was a horrible lesson for those
BATF guys, and their families, to learn.  It will be even more devastating if,
and when, I think, a jury lets the Koresh people go on this one.  MOVE, Idaho,
Waco.  Yep, real soon now the government will realize the cost of that kind of
action against citizens who may be a bit strange, but little danger to anyone
but themselves.  Send the Feds after crimes of violence.  Leave the gun nuts,
the religious nuts, the substance abuse nuts, alone.
     And what is the story of your stolen purse?
     Did you go to the Clinton dinner last June, or did you get the invite from
someone in your office?  I almost made it to the Whitehouse last February.  I
helped Somerville to a Second Place finish in this year's US First competition.
Just wait till next year...
     Your little marked item about one of the two nuclear power plants having 
been built backwards, reminds me of my first college roommate.  He was from 
Thailand and came to MIT to study nuclear engineering.  His country was just
beginning a big push to go nuclear for their energy needs.  Actually, it is not
such a bad idea to build two at a time and to build one of them backwards.  One
of them could then be used to reverse the results/consequences of something go-
ing wrong with the forward built one.  While at MIT I proposed a number of so-
lutions to problems like that, with similar ideas/parallel solutions.  But I
see nobody has taken up the idea--till now.
     Remind me to tell you about ma, a kindred spirit who found me on the In-
ternet, and who is now a big fan of TCC & FHC.
     One last item--we have three guests from Fh arriving tomorrow.  Philipe,
Karin, Marika.  A couple and their daughter (actually the daughter of Thorson,
who is currently married to Terese, the mother of Jean and Angel--but then you
know how complicated things have gotten there!).  They will visit this country
for about two weeks, staying most of the time here.  You will be informed if
they journey to your part of the country.

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     -   M W A  -   yourself!

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