The Moby Dick Diaries

The Banality of Evil

                                                                                        June 16, 2015

Was I was tired from yesterday's 14 hour bus ride?

Yupitty yup.

After a community dinner of raw kale and cauliflower, Emilee led me up the tall stairs lighting the way with a candle. "You're lucky to get your own room. Normally I'd charge $50 a night on AirBnB.

Diary, "my room" was a mattress on the bare floor of her walk-in closet. GRRRRRR. Emilee's clothes hung in it. I didn't say anything. Again I kept my big mouth shut. I'm beginning to wonder if silence will be a thing with me.

I fell asleep in my clothes with my boots on and woke up at dawn. I'm glad I have you to write in and tell everything to. I'll keep you under the mattress from prying eyes. Emilee's pretty nosy and bossy for being a middle sister.

My closet isn't as bad as it could be. There's a window that overlooks Telegraph Avenue and if I position my head just so I can see Alcatraz Prison floating in San Francisco Bay. I sure hope Emilee cooks something for brekkie but I doubt it. That's because Emilee's house is A++ Capital WEIRD.

I go down the stairs to explore. The hallway is piled floor-to-ceiling with books, text books, cookbooks, almanacs—every kind of book—crammed into unpainted wooden bookshelves. Over the doorway hangs a painting, a whale reading a book, The Banality of Evil. The Berkeley campanile pokes up in the background.

Emilee said a whaling captain built the house 150 years ago. Brrrrrr it's cold. It's against the co-op rules to turn the heat on. Last night Emilee told me a whole list of other hippie house rules about composting, cleaning, and what foods in the refrigerator were solely-owned and what foods anyone could eat.

Here's their house's craigslist ad for a new roommate:

WE...are an intentional raw food community seeking a new member. We do not promote racism, consumerism, materialism, factism, slut shaming, or sham slutting. We accept all who are willing to pit themselves against our unforgiving standards in a three-day process interview cum Outward Bound weekend.

THE ROOM...has a floor, a sloping ceiling on one side, and is conveniently near the front door, under the stairs. It's windowless but cozy, a "room of one's own" for that height-challenged someone who doesn't mind sharing their space with coats and athletic gear. It's approximately three feet in width and five feet in length, height ranges from five feet to two feet. $400 month.

YOU...should be or are gender-fluid but pay strict attention to personal cleanliness while abstaining from soap, fragrances, deodorants, gels, and perfumes. A full five-minute shower is allowed each community member once per month.

INTERESTED? Please respond with your detailed life plan, projected income for the next five years, six month's rent as a non-refundable deposit, no more than four references but no fewer than three. (If you have more than four friends it is likely you will not have sufficient time/energy for our all weekend house meetings that occur four times per month.)

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