The Burning Ring of Fire

Men don't like rejection was the only piece of romantic advice my daddy ever gave me. A man of few words, he did not elaborate. Storytelling was not his thing, nor was giving advice. The only book I can ever remember him reading for pleasure was Horseman, Pass By. That Hud, my dad said, was a real mean-ass. So I think it's safe to say that the infamous literary critic Michiko Kakutani was never in danger of losing her day job. My dad thought like a pilot -- you do certain things in a certain set of conditions and everything is predictable. You have checkpoints, you have safety lists. But he wasn't rigid -- my dad could give great comfort with his easygoing ways -- if A doesn't work, try B. And so on.

Love, of course, has no such trajectory. If you want to get in touch with your dark side, fall in crazy love, what the French call the amour fou, the burning ring of fire. My sister and I refer to this by shorthand -- the fou, rhyming with fool. Note the recent rocket lady case -- you can go from working for NASA to strapping on a pair of Depends and trying to kill a perceived rival. Or killing an actual rival like the woman who cut the parachute strings of her rival -- a man she'd been in love with had dumped her for another married woman in the same skydiving club. They all did a group jump, and the parachute-snipper got to watch her beloved's new squeeze fall to her death and hit the ground at 130 miles per hour. Note to self -- do not jump out of an operational plane holding hands with someone you are, umm, how to put this delicately, fucking on the side. That's pretty succinct advice. Perhaps I am my father's daughter after all.

Michelle's Spell of the Day

"I fell into a burning ring of fire/ As I went down, the flames went higher." June Carter Cash

Cocktail Hour

Drinking music suggestion: Sand in the Vaseline Talking Heads

Benedictions and Maledictions

I hope your schools are closed and you are all safe at home, fellow Detroiters! Be careful in the evil snow!

54 Days until The Sopranos airs!

Happy VD Day to all who celebrate this vile day!