I used to believe that the blank pages at the end of the book were for writing a different ending if you didn’t like the original ending.
We used to believe that windfalls should be shared.
We used to believe our sins were transformed unto the chicken, and then we killed it.
We used to believe in innocence until guilt was proved by a court. Not any longer.
I used to believe that a mile is a mile.
We used to believe that people living with HIV and AIDS were someone else.
We used to believe that gingival tissue destruction indicated that the bacteria were releasing acids that severed the fibrous gingival attachment apparatus.
I used to believe that I would go crazy, and it was just a matter of time and circumstance to set off the powder keg of unreason.
We used to believe in the good old days.
I used to believe a little penguin lived in my refrigerator and his job was to turn the interior light on and off.
We used to believe that music was a sacred place and not some fucking bank machine.
We used to believe that a fair shot, i.e., non- discriminatory treatment, was equality.
We used to believe that chocolate milk came from brown cows because our Daddy told us it did.
I used to believe that my penis was a shit and a woman’s vagina was a toilet.
I used to believe that marriage would diminish me, reduce my options.
I used to believe that Kleck’s estimate of DGU’s was correct, but overwhelming evidence to the contrary has convinced me otherwise.
We used to believe that forests could be managed only as a one-harvest crop.
We used to believe that God personally held each of the stars in place in the sky.
I used to believe in forever, but forever is too good to be true.
We used to believe in [Incomprehensible]
Sources:
Texts: among top Google search returns (6th February 2010) for sentences beginning “I used to believe…” or “We used to believe…”
Images: among top Google image search returns (6th February 2010) for “hopeless circus performers”, “jaded circus performers”, “disappointing circus”, “desolate circus”, “pointlessness of circus”, “the circus is depressing”, “circus performers self-harm”, “circus suicide”, “circus of shit” and “circus I gave you everything.”
Fucking hell Chris. What a beautiful, illusory post you’ve pieced together here. I’m not totally sure why, but I jumped a little bit (fright?) when I scrolled down to the end and saw that the text was pieced together from somewhere else. Not quite sure why, but that really got to me. Like suddenly I had to wonder if I still believed what I used to believe, only a few seconds previous. That’s got me tingling in a really sad, but excitable way. If you were a magician, the Magic Circle would probably throw you out for revealing your tricks like that. Excellent, excellent post man.
ENCORE!
chris, thomas said it really well, when i realised the text was taken from somewhere, the whole thing changed. a magic trick. a beautiful construction!
Like giving someone just enough rope to hang themself with.
It’s really fascinating that your search terms for bleak circus shots get increasingly intense yet not one of these images evokes a self-evidently sad scene (although they were returned on those search terms). The circus – it seems – is irredeemably joyous which may be why we have to say goodbye.
Cool. I want to write a whole novel using nothing but texts generated from search engines, using a list of key words or phrases, which would itself be a novel.
I still to believe in [Incomprehensible].