day 12: by the book
He strictly lives within the rules. It's scarily attractive, this internal consistency. But when asked of something just outside of the line, he does bend, ever so slightly. He does it in his own, rule-following way. It's a bit charming, but also infuriating. But I am amused by how he caves, that he caves. He is willing to compromise, which is even more attractive.
And then I'm reminded that he does not bend on all things. And the things he doesn't bend for are things that I cannot excuse.
I hate how I notice all of this.
On another note, I read a small chapter from John Berger's Portraits on the Fayum paintings. The style is somewhat unsettling. The eyes are all slightly enlarged, as if to compensate for the fact that the subject is actually dead. "Wanting nothing, yet declaring themselves, and anybody looking them, alive!"