Falling Down

Hi Ghazal,

Thank you for the very condensed e-mail from yesterday. One could see, you have been very bussy or in a hurry. I hope it was it worth.

I think the weekend wont be as hot any more, therefore you probably wont miss the electric vent a lot.

The Summertheater was very nice, I like this open-air atmosphere under a the sky at night a lot. In particular, since there was lightning from a far thunderstorm the whole three hours through, and this gave the Shakespeare comedy "As you like it" a bit of an infernal taste. You might not know the play, and I"m not sure if you would like it, although it has a clearly defined happy end. But before, it shows and dissects the stereotypic human characters of desire, cheating and vain, and how it ends in devotion and surrender. It is amazing, how Shakespeare could described this 400 years ago in a manner, that stills appeares quite up-to-date.

During waiting two hours for the play to start (one has to go there hours in advance to get a good seat) I met two friends who run a music club in Munich. They told me they had just been to the 3rd serie of the Stieg Larsson movie. They also had seen the two earlier parts, and I asked them about the plot. To be honest, I decided not to see it and I also wont read the books. I hate the idea to make a thrilling story out of something cruel. For me, such kind of violence against kids, girls or woman is sick, absolutely sick, and is just a case for psychatric research, not for a mass-audience in the cinema or book-shop. I mean I like crime-stories a lot, but only if they are based on a "healthy crime", like stealing a million of dollars, mafia-type crime to gain power over a country or a city of gold, or men-killing-men because they love the same woman: these all would be crimes I can understand, therefore I can identify myself with the characters of the movie.
But if the whole plot starts with killing or turturing a young woman for nothing or for fun, I"ll be frustrated and would feel ill the whole film through. So it is definitly not my film. I had the same frustration when I once saw "The silence of the Lambs", with Anthony Hopkins and Judy Forster (whom I both like very much in other movies). But in this particular film, it was just violence of a psychatric monster, who like to bite others in the face and eat peoples flesh. I was terrified and left the cinema after 15 minutes. Since I don"t need this to happen again, nobody (not even you) will convince me to go to a Stieg Larsson movie.

If I want to see a thrilling crime movie, I better wait for the next serie of "Bourne Identity" or "Oceans 14" or "Godfather" or "A history of violence" featuring Vicco Mortensen or "Gangs of New York" or the like. Those movies, I can perfectly follow and understand, cause they show sort of sympathic criminals which only commit crime because they live in a sick society (in which money means everything and where one has to rule over others and where there are never enough nice and lovely woman for every man). You know under other circumstances, these criminals would be very nice and lovely persons and could work as teacher or doctor or waiter in a restaurant. They are not mentally sick, they are healthy and strong and don"t have to commit crime for fun, they only turned into criminals to fight against the circumstances.

Sorry again for this long epistle, I"m sure you wont agree and perhaps did not even read it to the end. Does not matter.

Anyhow, enjoy the weekend

Take Care Michael

PS: The form you have to ask for in Unterschleissheim Rathaus is called "Freizügigkeitsbescheinigung". It is supposed to be a yellow paper. Just bring it to the lab, I can fill it out for you. The Rathaus (I think englisch would be called Town-Hall or Registry-Office) will open at 8 a.m.
..........................................................................................................

hi michael,

im happy you had fun at the theater and that you met some friends.
okay then you shouldnt read or watch stieg larsson. cause yes it has one scene where a man rapes her or something, but then she will hurt him back later. but this is nothing for you then.

i was planning to give a talk about sleep , but if you wanr you can talk a bit more about rem phase? the slides you gave me maybe you want to give a talk about them?

take care

/ghazal

..........................................................................................................
Hi Ghazal,

Hope you are well up and progress with your talk. It is o.k. if you talk just about sleep and I take the part about dreams and REM.
I took the Brittanica to the Institute today, and put the copies of the sleep-article on your desk.
I"ll probably live in my office the next few days, because we have decided with my wife it is better to separate. 20 years together were definitely a few years to much.

I will go later to the center, to hear a concert. In case you want to meet, I"ll be at 8 p.m. at Karlsplatz near the McDonalds..

Don"t worry, everything is fine (it only can get better).

Michael
...........................................................................................................
hi michael!

i am so chocked .. why do you want to separate? is it not good between you? it is so sad, after so many years. dont you want to try and work it out? what about your son..

thank you for the papers.. i will have a look at them on monday. so i will talk about sleep and the phases, and shortly just mention REM. and then you can talk more abour REM? i think you will do a great presentation about it.

about the concert, i think i stay home.. have fun michael.. and enjoy.

/ghazal

..........................................................................................................

Hi Ghazal,

I was very reliefed when I read that you were chocked. This means that you firmly believe in love, in good human values and in the possibility of a final happy end. I so much hope that you will never ever loose this thrust. To be honest, I also believe in these values (deep inside and on the long run), but in this special situation the values were already damaged over years and it is better in everybodys interest to make a clear stop now.
Only this summer I understoud how easy and wunderful and enlightening life can be, if you are together with someone with whom you share similar thoughts even without many words.
O.k. I have to accept that this is not possible with you, Ghazal, but it will be possible with someone else (even it is just my dog or my guitar). But continue to live with someone only to fight every day makes me completely sick and dull.

Don"t worry, my Dear. I have to be very grateful to you.

Michael
...........................................................................................................

hi michael,

i do not know if love with happy ending exists, but i want it to exist. i havent been in a good relationship so far. but hopefully maybe i will. but i can understand that life is much better alone than with someone you fight with all the time. ive been through it and feel much much happier alone. you are not acctually alone, you fill life with other nice things, in your case;family (ur son is important), guitar, dog, your family in berlin, your friends, your work. all these can make you happy. and then someday maybe true love will come, but nothing that one should think about and feel sad about all the time.

i know that its hard, but if there is someway to fix it between u and ur wife i would recommend it. but if there is not then i hope u will be fine.. the hardest part is in the beginning.

take care michael, u deserve only good things in life. hope you are enjoying the concert.

/ghazal
..........................................................................................................

Ghazal, my Dear,

I was so happy reading your encouraging letter after I came back from the concert. I feel a bit guilty that, because of me, you now have to worry about these sad things. You should not spoil your young life with such problems, better hear nice music, watch a funny movie and enjoy life. And one day somebody will come, I"m sure, and will carry you on his hands.
On the other hand, I think, love might come easy in the beginning, but later it always requires some effort from both sides, otherwise it might got lost again.
Thanks for your warm words, they are really very important for me. It is strange, I almost forget that they come from a girl that is 24 years younger than me, I rather feel that we have changed sides and you are currently supervising me (who appears to be very very naiv).

Sleep well, my dear

Michael

PS: I just had dinner. Your chocolate was delicious.