Steinbeck and Three Fountain Green.

   It's funny how literature pops up oddly in our everyday lives. It really is. Those books that our English teachers force down into our stomachs during high school actually do have resonance outside of those jail-cell walls.

   

   This past summer I read John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" and enjoyed the hell out of that book. The story and the characters in that book are sublime--American Lit gems that only Mr. Steinbeck could concoct. And I find it funny that in the past six months, my life has played almost exactly out to the plot of "East of Eden" as if Athens were early-20th century Salinas, California.

   

   It's hard to believe that such characters depicted in novels--especially "East of Eden"--can exist. They're imaginary, right? They exist only in the context of our minds and allegories. 

   

   But if you take the time to think about it, these characters aren't merely symbols: they're people we've come to know in real life. 

   

   It's also funny to find yourself playing the victim in this case (shit, in your own story).

   

   So maybe I need to find my own Adam Trask-style catharsis. But maybe in reading "East of Eden" I suddenly know what I've needed to do all along about Kate. 

   

   Thanks for that, John. 

   -Also, for those of you who haven't checked Speakeasy's review of my fellow dorm mates's band, Three Fountain Green, please read the story:  http://www.speakeasymag.com/entertainment/music/2009/mar/11/three-fountain-green-combines-passion-music-unique/.

   Great article about a great up-and-coming Athens band. Much love, 3FG.