Happy new year. This is still not a real blog. RUN ALONG NOW.
Happy New Year
January 4th, 2010Page: sheSaid and 00Pisces Read “A Happy Marriage” by Rafael Yglesias
August 9th, 2009I don’t know what took me so long, but I recently formed an addiction to Matthew Yglesias’s blog. Is genius. A few weeks ago, he was promoting his dad’s novel, A Happy Marriage. After reading a one-pargraph summary and making note that it got good reviews, I decided to buy two copies: one for me, and one for sheSaid. It just sounded like something she should read and would enjoy. So when Rafael Yglesias came to Politics & Prose, I decided it would be a great opportunity to finally go to Politics & Prose–I’ve lived in DC for two and a half years, and I still hadn’t been there–to pick up the books and get them signed.
sheSaid and I discussed what transpired.
00Pisces: at the signing I said into the microphone, “I haven’t read the book yet, but I read about it online, and I thought it would be good for my best friend. She’s married, 26, with a two year old. Is there any part I should tell her to pay really close attention to?”
now I know why he blanched when i asked the question
yet another moment of “ooops, i’m an asshole” in my long line of accidental assholery
sheSaid: lol
no
I think that is really funny actually
I think it is fairly autobiographical?
00Pisces: yes it is
it’s very autobiographical
sheSaid: :)
00Pisces: siiiiiiiiiigh
Of course, I have no right to whine about my accidental assholery, because if I just used my damned head every once in awhile, this would be entirely avoidable. In a work of literary fiction about relationships, what chance is there that there wouldn’t be an episode of adultery? That’s right, ZERO. And in a relationship spanning thirty years, what chance is there that one partner won’t stray, ever? Also pretty small. I know this, because I read literary fiction. Circular logic, perhaps, but I do actually think it’s possible to value and strive for monogamy while also being, you know, human, with the capacity for lust and love of other, non-spouse, human beings. Anyway, I should use my head more, and not ask blatantly stupid questions.
Yglesias was, however, terribly nice about it, which reminds me of Moonrat’s post about how authors need to be nice to their readers. He’s a pro, that one.
Notes on the book:
We both liked Enrique and Margaret’s second honeymoon to Venice. We especially liked how Enrique talks about the changes in his wife’s body reflecting their life together. All women hope that their husbands will view their aging bodies in this way; part of how I knew my long-time infatuation with a wildly exciting and innappropriate man needed to end was because he displayed an utter lack of the ability to respect the changes a woman’s body goes through as a result of birthing children. Who wants to have kids with a man who will think you are gross afterwards? So it was sweet to eavesdrop into the internal thoughts of Enrique while he was thinking, not just saying, the things we all hope are true.
Then sheSaid and I talked about self-loathing, despair, and worthiness of love; there’s not much to say other than: “Yeaaaaaah . . . is there EVER any rational balance, here?”
Then we talked about hats and yarn; book club over and out.
Why Launching the Blog is Taking So Damned Long
July 30th, 20091. WordPress and CSS are effed up and I refuse to give up sheSaid’s design and heSaid and sheSaid have other projects, ones that pay them better than I do (as in, you know, at all) plus a babySaid, plus sheSaid is getting a new site of her own for her fan-frigging-tastic self-portraits and . . .
2. It would have been up months ago, except I procrastinated about something I was supposed to do, and then their projects took precedence. Is my own doing.
So, why not just start blogging now, that way I’d be writing regularly and building an audience?
Because that’s like walking into prom in jeans and a tee-shirt, saying “hi” to all your friends and your crush with his slutty date, then going and putting on your dress and your sparkle make-up, coming back, and realizing that they totally already played the Macarena and now everybody is just humping and you’re all alone.
Also, because I’m working on some fiction stuff. And by “working” I mean, writing three paragraphs, becoming overwhelmed with the things that I do not know and wondering if my idea is trite and cliche, then wind up lying flat on my back, staring at the ceiling, and making lists in my heads of all the things I might like to be besides a writer, and wondering if 9-5 in a cubicle isn’t as bad as I think it is. Then I go to work the next day, determine that yes, yes it is just that bad, become UTTERLY DETERMINED to write something decent, go home, repeat. Or watch a DVD.
Basically, I need to grow up a bit before I can write any fiction, as I’m currently pretty self-absorbed. Which makes a personal blog perfect for me, except, as I said, I’d much rather wait to “launch” it when it’s properly set up, so I can have a better way of tracking viewers, feel comfortable linking and commenting, etc. Am reasonably certain that nobody is reading this now, which is good, because I have absolutely no idea when it will be ready to go. A final upside to the long, long delay in the blog launch is that I’ve had a longer time to conceptualize how I want the blog to be, which topics I want to cover, and how to limit talking about stuff that bites me in the ass later. A couple of years ago, I ran a blog where all I did was talk about my love life. As is prone to happening when a woman admits interest in sex while allowing for anonymous comments, people called me a slut. I hadn’t even ever had sex. It was predictable, and I didn’t take it to heart too much, but I don’t necessarily want to go there again. Public sexual discovery? Blargh, I’m not a pop star.
Things It Is Hard to Do With a Broken Arm
July 18th, 20091. Type
2. Open a bottle of Vicodin
3. Open a bottle of water to take said Vicodin
4. Open a can of Vanilla Coke Zero
5. Unwrap a straw
6. Avoid feeling sorry for self
7. Eat non-finger food
8. Bathe
9. Dress
10. Text message
Launch Coming Soon, I SWEAR
June 5th, 2009Maybe as early as Sunday. The blog is going to be leaving WordPress and will be run entirely off of my friend’s hand-built blogging software–the bones will be a lot like that of PurpleHouseonPearl.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time Review
May 23rd, 2009I’m contributing to a “Fill in the Gaps” project, where a group of bloggers commit to “filling in” their reading gaps, reading books that they think constitute a gap; for some, it’s a list of classics, for some it’s all writers that they’ve never read, and for others, it’s going deep into the lists of favorite or famous authors. For most, like me, it’s a mix. I loved The Handmaid’s Tale, so I’m reading more Atwood; I’ve always enjoyed Mark Twain, so I’m taking the opportunity to hit up his major works. I’m also reading books friends have raved about for years but I’ve never picked up, and, of course, War and Peace, Ulysses, and Moby Dick.
I just finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, by Mark Haddon, and the review is here. I’m currently reading Atmostpheric Disturbances, by Rivka Galchen, and I’m also participating in “Middlemay,” a community project to read all of George Eliot’s Middlemarch. You can expect some classic Double-Oh Pisces waffling over many books, because I hate to give a book a bad review, but for now, at least, I can only sing the praises of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I may be a few years behind on this book, but I sincerely did love it, and highly recommend it.
Orange Kitties
May 20th, 2009Orange Kitties are cuter than all other kitties. They are really the only kitties worth the time and effort of photography. CuteOverload needs fewer generic balls of kitty fluff, and more of the A-list kitties.
Plane: To Drive, Fly, or Stay Put
May 20th, 2009My rule for travel is, in general:
If drive time < 8 hours, then I drive.
But for drives longer than 8 hours, if the weather isn’t going to be nasty, the traffic won’t be too bad, and the flights are crazy expensive, sometimes I drive. The BFF college-version has requested that I go to Boston or Western Mass. The parents want to see me, as does BFF high-school-version. Then there are possible plans with friends in DC, and a certain hooved creature that deserves attention.
The Options:
Fly to Boston. Can’t bear to look at cost of plane tickets.
Drive to Western Massachusetts from Arlington, VA. 10 hours minimum.
Drive to Sault Ste Marie from Arlington, VA, while listening to Bob Seger’s “Roll Me Away,” because Alrington really is about 12 hours out of Mackinaw City, never mind that that means not pulling into the Soo until about 8 am Saturday, and probably having to sleep in the car at truck stops, which would inevitably delay my “12 hours out of Mackinaw City” bit, meaning I’d have to plan my trip very carefully so that I sleep at exactly the right time in order to not screw up the timeline of the song. Because failing to be precisely 12 hours out of Mackinaw City is just not acceptable.
Stay put, go to the barn, ride the horse, maybe duck over to a friend’s house on the beach.
I’ve been away or had guests for the last four weekends in a row, and I have a planned trip to NYC in June. I SHOULD stay put, but . . . but Bob Seger! Cottages! Farms! Dogs!
Hoof: The Preakness
May 17th, 2009The launch really is coming soon, people–I swear. We’re working on some lay-out issues. heSaid is a genius with PHP, but he hasn’t ever worked with my blog tool of choice (WordPress) so he’s taking it slow. Measure twice, cut once and all that. Ok, maybe no physical cutting, but the principle applies, I think.
How does this relate to the Preakness, you ask? Very simple.
Launch=heSaid=nice way to blame it on him=Measure twice=Dad=talked to Dad today on the phone because . . .
Went to the Preakness. Forgot to take pictures because, 292 photos of Hawaiian fish, food, fauna, and ferocious waves aside (and coming soon), I’m not that eager a photographer, especially not when snapping pictures means having a distorted view of the action. This is my excuse for not inserting a photo into this blog post, the way a modern blogger is supposed to–I’m so 1999.
In the eleventh race, I bet $4 on Just as Well to win. Bugger finished second. Called Dad to whine. He tsked and told me to always bet to show. Called him again to brag about winning $11.20 on Rachel Alexandra, which was more than I would have won if I’d listened to him and only bet to show (yay girl power and all that) but he harumphed and asked how much I lost over the course of the day. While it’s true that I have a net loss from my betting endeavors, I think that the day is a net profit because:
1) Black Eyed Susans are tasty, tasty drinks that I even got a commemorative glass for drinking, so I can go ONE MORE DAY without doing dishes
2) Managed to get home from Baltimore without missing my exit, which almost never happens
3) Discovered that watching horse-racing really is as much fun as I expected it to be, and feel vindicated for having read the Thoroughbred YA series EVEN AS A COLLEGE STUDENT. Alas, it also makes me want to re-read all of the Black Stallion series, which is sad because it is squirreled away somewhere in Dad’s attic. Dad lives in Michigan, and I don’t have time to read it, anyway. Although if I’d read the whole series only once instead of three times, maybe I wouldn’t need The Fill in the Gaps 100 Project now.
I hope that my cousin and I make Preakness attendance a tradition for the two of us. I love spending time with her, and it’s heart-melting how quickly she went from being the baby cousin that I want to look out for to a woman that I can count on. Yep, that’s two prepositions in the wrong spot!
Socks
April 14th, 2009One of my Firmly Held Beliefs is that socks should have cotton and lycra in them, unless they are made of merino wool or are dressy trouser socks or riding socks. Ok, I have lots of exceptions, but ordinary everyday socks have to be a cotton/lycra blend, heavy on the lycra, with only mild ribbing. They can’t be too long, but they also can’t be ankle socks–they have to roll down.
I could say more, I really could. But since this is a test post, I’ll refrain.