In the wake at trying my hand at horror fiction, I've been reading Stephen King's Secret Windows which is a collection of essays from various points in his career. My favorite story so far is the one where he talks about the first time he saw someone reading a copy of one of his books. He determines he will sign if for her. He was drunk and on a plane so he goes up to the woman reading Carrie and asks if she likes it. She says no, that the writing is pretty shitty. My favorite part of this anecdote is Stephen King's reply, Oh, I guess I won't get that one.
Self-deprecation is a quality that has gone out of favor for some reason. I think it's all the new age bullshit that has us believe that if we're not one hundred percent confident all the time and presenting our "best" selves (ie, nightmare horror version of this -- Heidi Montag's ten plastic surgery procedures done at one time), we will fail. I don't know about you, but sometimes it's a relief to be a mess and let the guard down. Right now, I'm worried, my face is broken out, and my hair is in a transitional 'do that is downright scary. But that's okay. I'm in search of my opening sentence, something that will make it all good. Right now, I'm toying with the image of a bullet-riddled wall that surrounded the hacienda where my dear Angela had her wedding. Those bullets had been lodged for a long time. Someone needs to notice them.
Michelle's Spell of the Day
"The difference between daytime and prime-time drama is the suffering of consequences. There is no time at night to experience the result of foolish actions; during the day, that is all there is to do." Agnes Nixon, creator of All My Children
Cocktail Hour
Drinking movie suggestion: What Happened Was
Benedictions and Maledictions
Happy Monday! My apologies on Cleaving, Dave! Hey, if I controlled who got the book deals, I'm telling you it would be a different world. But I still think it's interesting in a train wreck sort of way. I don't think too many people want to admit a pretty common situation -- wanting the comforts of a predictable, relatively happy, relatively safe marriage versus the crazy passion she describes with Damien. I take the view that all affairs given enough time become as tedious as any marriage. And Keith your comment about the evil little blonde white children in Village of the Damned cracked me up! And finally, rest in peace, James Mitchell, ie Palmer Courtland. A fan of All My Children since birth, I can guarantee you will be missed.
8 comments:
That Nixon line is so true.--Conan the Hair Barbarian
We can't let the guard down against Iran or they'll nuke us. The Iran sympathizers are in on it, too.--Patton
Good luck with that, Michelle!
I quite like King, reading Under the Dome right now.
Looking beautiful as always!
The wall became all the more bold because of the bullets lodged in it. Behind it I was comfortable. I knew nothing that was less than atomic would take it down or penetrate the blocks.
I don't really give a rats ass about being new age anything, talk about a way to fuck up the head. Buying into an alternate reality that requires perfectly smooth skin and always freshly coiffed hair AND a "healthy attitude."
Give me that belly to neck scar and everything else behind it and I will find you in your glory.
I'm looking forward to seeing what you do with some horror themes, Michelle.
No apologies necessary. My wife checked it out for me from the library. She always does that when I talk about a book. She was reading "Julie and Julia" for her book club (GOD we lead such a suburban life!) and I talked about your reading the sequel. So she checked it out and I felt obligated to read at least some of it. So as not to hurt her feelings for doing "something nice." Then I told her that I couldn't stand it anymore and took it back to the library.
It's like with my grandmother Hirsch, as long as you tried her headcheese casserole, it was OK to discretely spit it out into your napkin.
ah, self-depreciation...
Dear Michelle, Perfection is boring and tedious to maintain. My face breaks out, my roots need doin' as well as my nails. I need to lose xx amount of weight, but what the hell. It's just me bein' me. At a certain age, you just don't give a damn. Well, at least LESS of a damn... xoxo
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