When Your Mama Was The Geek, My

I Think That It's Really Important To Go Away And Come Back.

Oh, Of Course, I Always Feel Unconfident.

I Have Been A Believer In The Magic Of Language Since, At A Very Early Age, I Discovered That Some Words Got Me Into Trouble And Others Got Me Out.

Freedom Within Any Kind Of Social Structure - The Whole Issue Of Exactly What The Human Animal Is - Is An Ongoing Preoccupation Of Mine. And I Certainly Don't Think I've Come To The End Of That Exploration, And With Any Luck, I Never Will. But I'm Very Curious About Exactly What Kind Of Beast We Are. We're So Complicated.

I Do Consider The Human Capacity For Violence Is The Central Issue Of The Social Contract. In Boxing We Have A Peculiarly Civilized Form, In That Boxers Don't Screech And Holler. They Don't Use Weapons. All Of This Seems To Me Quite Amazing, Because It Is So Disciplined, So Controlled. It's Ritualized, But Absolutely Genuine. And The Cultural Structure Built Around That Ritual Is Absolutely Fascinating To Me. And It Seems To Me That Boxing Is One Of Those Structures That Is Designed To Promote Harmony. I Think That It Is A Stove That Contains That Fire In Us And Makes It Safe And Useful.