Er, just realized that my previous post could be taken as a spoiler for Dreampark. Sorry! And, it isn't. I think. What's the delay time for spoilers for novels?
I am reminded of the excellent film "The Incredibles", wherein can be found this exchange between mother and son:
Helen: Everyone's special, Dash.
Dash: [muttering] Which is another way of saying no one is.
Excellent post. I've always deeply appreciated the use of a cargo cult in "Dreampark" as well - it's one of the more unusual ways to die (not to mention humiliating, I mean, brought down by fake landing lights in the South Pacific? ouch.)
Get Well Soon, Teresa! May you have all the necessary magic potions close to hand, plus soft handkerchiefs, warm feet and lots of TLC. And Merry Christmas (don't worry, it'll be there for you when you're better).
I'm happy to report that the results of Prop 8 notwithstanding, the streets of Hollywood last night were filled with revelers. On my corner there was an impromptu band made up of local musicians. I danced and danced, and hugged strangers and screamed Dylan lyrics into the night. Peace and love to all of you.
I am completely owned by my unread books. They rule my life. On the flip side, there are a few pieces of jewelry and clothing, a few precious ancient books that I would mourn deeply if lost, but the only thing of mine that gives me a deep freezing feeling at the thought of never seeing again is my piano music, and my piano. Which is weird, because I hardly ever play anymore. This thread really makes me wish I had a dog. So many wonderful touchstones of life.
#12 Terry Karney re: buck knife
I too, have a buck knife. My father gave it to me and I have a special custom-made sheath for it. It is a fabulously useful thing and I should miss it terribly.
A question about traveling during 'flu season for all you knowledgable folks. I live on the West Coast and will be visiting New England in mid-October. I'm "at-risk" due to upper-respistory weakness, but I'm worried about getting a 'flu shot - is it the same 'flu shot all over the country? Would a 'flu shot make me into some kind of carrier? Sorry if this is a dumb question.
#180: I think it's Lee who recently mentionned the time she was at a con and, when she told her friend John to sit down, people around them spontenously started singing the song from 1776.
Ha! That's wonderful. I saw a production of 1776 in Los Angeles, with Roger Rees as John Adams, mere weeks after 9/11. Such an odd collection of emotions, I haven't the words. Might not for years. It's always been one of my very favorite musicals, and Rees instantly became one of my very favorite actors. (And his Lord Marbury from The West Wing will live forever in my heart, too.)
On light after darkness and unexpected group experiences:
On a family jaunt through the South of France when I was a child, we went on the official tour of some of the Carcassone caves. This was a very well-organized, guided group tour with well-lit paths and many vaulted ceilings with gorgeous rock formations - no moments of terror or real darkness...but... It took several hours, all below ground, and ended in a short trip on boats on an underground river. During the tour, the group of forty-or-more tourists had developed the friendly sort of camaraderie one has on these things, but on that last leg, on the water, something special happened.
There was a small bend in the river. We were in small boats, the whole lot of us, pushing slowly through calm water driven by quiet little outboard motors. Around the bend, suddenly, there was the mouth of the cave. Beyond this curve of light and shadow there was a green river bank and blue sky and yellow sunlight, and all of us, every one, gasped at the same time.
I've never forgotten it - that intense sudden realization that we had all been in the dark, and that was the world out there. Sometimes I think that's the closest I've ever come to the feeling religious believers get through prayer.
#109: Did anyone else from a dysfunctional family know there was something wrong from when you were young?
I found other families very confusing. There was no arguing, no sarcasm, and nobody needed me to referee or provide constant validation or entertainment. I could see there was something different, but for the longest time I just assumed that they (those other families) must have been playing a game, hiding their chaos from me out of good manners. Manners were extremely important in my family. Thirty years later, a peaceful, cheerful family gathering e.g. Thanksgiving at a friend's house still kind of weirds me out.
My warmest thoughts for posters here who have survived the depths of human neglect and cruelty.
Having no beverage to hand, I raise a vegan snickerdoodle in acknowledgement and gratitude for the holiday. As someone who moved thousands of miles away from my emotionally-screwed-up family, only to have them move next door to me two years later... yeah. It could have been a lot worse, but at least now I have an ulcer, so I can beg off family get-togethers with a doctor's note. heh. A toast to the urban family unit! w00t!
I played D&D in 7th grade, the only girl in the group. I blame my brothers, for teaching me how to sword-fight (they were on their high school fencing team) and then giving me no castles to conquer. So I hunted up some imaginary worlds to conquer instead. I went on to other games later on - games that brought me my closest friends and fired my imagination and challenged my intellect. Thank you, Gary. You are the happy rattle of dice in a warm leather bag, forever.
I have fond memories of Buckley -- none personal, but it was he who opened my eyes to the way words can be used as tools. I saw him as a fascinating artist, who could take apart an oppposing argument, shift the focus of discussion and spellbind an audience with just his wit.
Neil B @ #121:
Note #5: "When an arguer is caught in a mistake, what is his best course?" Buckley's response: "When an arguer is caught in a mistake his best course of action is to trivialize its significance." Michael Harrington said, "Admit the mistake quickly and openly." Harold Miller: "Admit it. ..." Daniel Patrick Moynihan: " ... a person of any integrity admits it right off." Pat Buchanan indicated one should try to press on in similar vein to Buckley - how ironic.
I get this, I do, but I love the difference between Buckley and the rest. To me, he's responding as an .. arguer? agh, cannot think of the word. advocate? help? .. while the other respondents are speaking as humans. Their responses show their priorities. Buckley's priority was always to win the point, and I think a lot of the time he simply didn't care to notice how that point might connect to the suffering of the wider world. And if he did, he brushed it off as a consequence of the "natural" segregation of society into classes. The romantic in me likes to think that Buckley was in love with Argument (and love is blind).
All I'm trying to say, rather clumsily I admit, is that he was one of my first tutors in the power of language, and for that I respect him. I had other teachers later on, more connected with human morality, thank goodness, to wean me off his influence.
For all the damage that his words caused, well, he lived long enough to comprehend it, and his role in it. That's my hope, anyway.
inge @155:
Ingrid @ 133: my mother used to arbitrarily purge these things from my belongings when I was young, without consulting me
I had that happen occasionally. It helped in strange and probably destructive ways: I was already intellectually opposed to owning more stuff than one needs. Having things I loved disappear for no good reason brought the message home emotionally that one should not value stuff because one could lose it any moment.
For me it was more a declaration of war -- a war that continues to this day.
Lee @ #135:
Would it be feasible for you to reframe the action of culling clothes or books as a victory over your mother?
Hmm. Victory seems like such an ephemeral thing. Perhaps I could start a little smaller, like imagining my apartment as panic-space versus my-space, and try to reclaim some territory, bit by bit.
Thank you for the brainstorming. Sometimes all you really need is somebody else's eyes on the problem.
I have a severe push-pull problem with clutter. I want to push it all out the door, but I want to pull it all close to my heart, too.
I'm getting better at not adding to the pile, but I have a panic reaction to getting rid of clothes or books, because my mother used to arbitrarily purge these things from my belongings when I was young, without consulting me. My paperwork, though, I can envision getting rid of old hard-copies of for-hire work.
All the books mentioned in this thread look interesting, if terrifying. Thanks for the heads-up!
Is this not what shunning was invented for? I would like to see the state of Louisiana shun the town of Gretna, but that's my inner Erinyes talkin'.
It seems to me the current situation is just the policy of you didn't vote for me so screw you writ large. New Orleans is a democratic city, so it was killed.
My first reaction upon reading this was to laugh to myself: "Who kills an entire city out of spite?" Then I realized I was thinking too small. This administration kills whole countries out of spite.
But at the end of the day I believe incompetence, not malice, to be the root of this tragedy.
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