3 July 18

Today's tie featuring moths, flies and beetles honors the birthday of German writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924). His most popular work, Metamorphosis, tells the story of Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, who wakes one day to find that he has become a monstrous beetle or cockroach ("ungeheures Ungeziefer"). Gregor and his (human) family face monstrous challenges as they gradually become aware of their new circumstances, and while there are some moments of sympathy/care, it's clear that love cannot triumph for the Samsas. The framed print on my office wall is Salvador Dalí's "Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory" . . . with elements resembling the disintegration of Gregor Samsa's life!