Jean Baudrillard

Last Friday as I was doing my Theory reading I turned the page to see the next subheading to be "Santa Barbara." My excitement took hold of me as I wondered what French sociologist and notable PoMo (last week I learned that in the academy, this is the cool way to refer to post modernity) philosopher, Jean Baudrillard had to say about my beloved city. I just had to share what I read next.

On the aromatic hillsides of Santa Barbara, the villas are all like funeral homes. Between the gardenias and the eucalyptus tree, among the profusion of plant genuses and the monotony of the human species, lies the tragedy of a utopian dream made reality. In the very heartland of wealth and liberation, you always hear the same question: "What are you doing after the orgy?" What do you do when everything is available - sex, flowers, the stereotypes of life and death? This is America's problem and through America, it has become the whole world's problem.

Awesome.

I had been reading about the paradoxes of the Centre Pompidou and the implosion of French culture so I don't know what I expected. We are talking about post modernism here. Still, I could not stop laughing when I saw that the next three sections were devoted to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City. Turns out last spring, Drew, Ryan, Rob and I went on a road trip through hell.