Letters from Marcy #17: 31 October 1965
Another indication here that Marcy loved her contact lenses. I wonder what happened that led her to switch back to glasses a few years later.
Interesting to me to see her attempts at connecting with guys. “this guy never has heard of some of the most important people in my world, never read some of the—most, all, I guess, of the most important books there are to read, nor seen any of the films that have been meaningful to me, nor appreciated anything other than a limited stratum of light classical music. A fine mind just going to waste, really sad.”
sunday night
[pencil: 10/31/65]
Hello, hello. time really flies; 'tis a week already and
then some (ah, yes: daylight saving ended last night, just
to satisfy something you asked long ago.) since I spoke to
you; have been busy and moving and etcetera every night,
without even time to wash my hair all week, let alone sit
down by myself for a few hours and dig into some
much-delayed correspondence. Today I finally answered an
invitation for thanksgiving dinner from the family of some
student I don't know but who found my name in the record and
noticed that I lived near them; would have been great to go,
but have already planned to go to San Francisco that weekend
(have that friday off, without pay) and figure we can make a
profit on the deal if we take paying riders
Not going to get a phone; will send back the $10 pretty
soon---like, they insist that I be here when the man comes
to install thetthing, but they can't give me any more of an
idea when he'll come than a 4-hour time span....or they
could install it on saturday, but their saturdays are booked
up about 3 weeks ahead, and by then I'll be nearly gone.
No; have not yet got either last qtr's grades or the $50
deposit; the latter should be around sometime next week. no
telling about the former.
The bike is great; I'm really independent, can travel all
over the place--down by the ocean, along the beach, etc, etc
Have been taken out to dinner xxxxxx twice this week. Once
by a young man who lived in the same apartments I was in
last month--a kind of junior executive type who seems to
think I'm tremendous though he's hardly an intellectual
stimulation and is interested in exactly nothing I care
about. He has a triumph (sportscar) which is very nice, and
rigged an xxx fm antenna for my radio (The beach is very low
compared to the rest of the city, and radio reception quite
poor)---tho I hate to turn away free dinners and rides to
xxxx places I'd never get to see, I would rather spend my
time reading or looking at the ocean than trying to think up
things to say to someone I have nothing to say to.....the
other young man is a student who works for a gas station
nearby--I'd stopped there several times to ask directions
and we got to talking. We go for bike rides along the beach
and talk about politics and Zen, but--such barriers! I learn
the hard way that not all intelligent people are
intellectual or well-read; this guy never has heard of some
of the most important people in my world, never read some of
the xxxx--most, all, I guess, of the most important books
there are to x read, nor seen any of the films that have
been meaningful to me, nor appreciated anything other than a
limited stratum of light classical music. A fine mind just
going to waste, really sad.
Went up to Aunt Sara's for dinner Saturday, but had to leave
quickly as Mary had to meet some people. We kind of invited
ourselves, but they were glad to see us...all in usual
shape, Stelle a bit more relaxed with her x hearing aid, but
complains of hearing noises and such. Oh, well, I suppose
she'd complain if someone gave her a million dollars and the
whole kingdom of Persia that the xxxxx taxes were too high
and no one spoke enough english to understand her. Finally
remembered to ask about Ruth and Peggy Price, and sure
enough Peggy is in the city. Spoke to Ruth on the phone
briefly, then called Peggy and stopped to see her for a few
minutes on the way to meet Mary's xxxx friends. She's a big
wheel in the local peace movement, lives in Hollywood right
near a good friend of ours who used to go with Nan Meister
and now goes to school in LA....will be a pleasure to get to
know Peggy, I think.
today we just sat around and did nothing (Mary spends
weekends here when she can)--it's so absolutely great to
have a place you like well enough to sit around and do
nothing in, instead of having to get out before you go mad
or something equally undesirable.....went to the art museum
in the afternoon, then had chinese food for dinner at
Hermosa beach, where we like to go swimming. (sent you a
postcard from there) Chinese food around here is so cheap
and so good that it's almost as sensible as cooking your own
meals. I've been eating enough x of it to come out of my x
ears these past 2 weeks, but won't have had too much for a
good while to come, I think.
so. take care; hope the contact lens is working out alright.
have faith, Daddy: you just have to keep at and you have to
want it to work, x and that's about 99% of the battle won
already. I don't know how I survived with glasses all these
years. How/what are the Sachses doing?
take it easy,
[handwritten: love, Marcia]
Postmark: Nov 1, 1965, Torrance, Calif. Handwritten: “Rec’d this Wed. 11/3” and “Wrote to M 11/11/65” and “Get Ambodryls?”