Trying to read more this semester, and not just for school, but also for the soul (partially in order to cope with the reading for school). Sometimes there's a little overlap. Here are some quotes from the non-assigned reading I've been doing lately, mostly about identity in some form:
"Even after all this, one hardly knows what Sam Spade looked like. But everyone knows what Humphrey Bogart looked like. A reader of unillustrated fiction completes the work in his mind; the reader of a comic book or the viewer of a movie is passive. That is why kids lose a lot when they don't read fiction, even when the movies and television that they watch are aesthetically superior."
- Gaiman v McFarlane, 360 F.3d 644 (7th Cir. 2004)
"Eloise shook Mary Jane's arm. 'I was a nice girl,' she pleaded, 'wasn't I?'"
- J.D. Salinger, "Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut", Nine Stories
"From the situation where I now am, I see a scene of ambition beyond all my former suspicions or imagination… Jealousies and rivalries… never stared me in the face in such horrid forms as in the present."
- John Adams, as quoted in David McCullough's John Adams
"Rather, the point is that most people have experienced what might be referred to as compromising moments of identity performance – moments in which a person's performance of identity contradicts some political or social image that person has of herself."
- Devon Carbado & Mitu Gulati, Working Identity, 85 Cornell L. Rev. 1259
A common thread: the disconcerting confrontations of the present.
J.D. Salinger was my introduction to the wonderful world of candor and snarking on phonies. I was probably Holden Caulfield's age when I first read The Catcher in The Rye, the perfect age for identifying with that sort of thing. Like many others, I was tired of all the insincerity I saw around me and skeptical of those who professed to be sincere. At least that's what I got out of the book at the time. Awareness of the book's flaws came after that initial amazement at someone articulating so many truths (or things I deemed true). It's just so frank about so much. Aw, hell. When something helps influence you at a young age, it's hard to look back with a critical eye. I've read and reread Catcher so many times that I have certain lines memorized and they'll run through my head once in a while, like a fragment of a song I can't forget. All these little melodies reappearing out of the blue.
In the 11th grade, near the end of our unit on The Catcher in the Rye, I made a "serious" mix with a tracklisting and description of how each track related to something in the book. My friend H made one as well. Both our mixes had "Rollerskate Skinny" by The Old 97's on it because that was one of the phrases Holden uses to describe his sister. The last track on mine was "Lowdown" by My Morning Jacket because the gentle tune and leisurely drums reminded me of the carousel spinning around and around near the end of the book. A soundtrack for the final scene in the film adaptation in my head. Just one of those earnest things you do as a kid.
There's a line in Catcher about how Holden thinks the best authors are the ones you'd like to hear more from: "What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it." From what I've read about Salinger in his later years, I probably wouldn't have wanted to know him as he was, but based on what I've read from the man, I'd have liked to call him up. Not Holden, but the guy who wrote Catcher and all those other words that comfort people for some reason or another. Sometimes you'll read something and it's so damn nice that you just want to check out everything else the author's done, because if they've already come up with something that resonates with you, who knows what else they have up their sleeve? Enlighten me, man. Tell me more.
I'd still like to believe that this is all an elaborate hoax by a cantankerous old coot who just wants everyone off his back, but it's drawing far too much attention for someone who made a point of becoming a recluse for the rest of his life.
Unsurprisingly, my stamina for daily blogging tapered off after three days in a row. I have, however, bookmarked something every day since my last blog entry, so I'll pick a link from each day and write some commentary for it:
Nov 8th:a clip about friendship from "The Inbetweeners." (NSFW if your workplace cares about f-bombs, but you probably shouldn't be watching Youtube at work anyway.) Hilarious stuff, though a bit sad. "Ooh, a friend? Since when do you have other friends?" Teens have enough concerns without worrying about whether their friends approve of their other friends. It's almost tragic, really. Jay, the kid who's mocked for making a friend outside of his usual group, ends up shredding his new friendship with the kind of adolescent rage that evokes The Lord of the Flies in its suddenness and absurdity. I was never a big fan of Golding.
Nov 9th:Make a gift bow from a magazine page. Sure to come in handy for future wrapping needs. It's a simple tutorial, which means I'll probably actually use it, as opposed to just admiring the results of how other people use it. I like drawing and I like putting things together by hand, but I've never really been a craftsy etsy kind of person.
Nov 12th:suggestions from Ask Metafilter about vegetables to dip in hummus. My tub of cilantro and jalapeno hummus from Trader Joe's was about to expire and I didn't have any chips left. Dilemma. This AskMe question pointed me to some interesting directions for roasted vegetables (kale chips sound great), but, more importantly, it reminded me that raw mushrooms were good for dipping purposes. I happened to have some mushrooms in the fridge, so I washed them, dipped them, and enjoyed them. They were pleasantly crunchy.
Nov 13th:Excellent Metafilter comment regarding various ways to respond to a command of "Smile!" from a stranger. My favorite is this:
When I really want to rant (if the tone and body language of the man is particularly condescending), I'll say "Ask a man. (again, I get 'what?') Ask a man to smile. Go on. I'll wait." He never knows what to do with that. "Why do you think you have the right to tell me, a complete stranger, how I should look and feel, when you would never, *ever* ask a complete stranger to smile if that stranger were a man."
I don't have much to add to that. It's just a great counterpoint to an absolutely ridiculous and arrogant notion that some people have regarding other people's faces. Absurd is the word. The only person who should be able to command you to smile is the photographer at your family gathering. (Friends usually don't have to command smiles, they can obtain them easily.)
I still regret not buying this and finding out what was inside the box. Beetle-shaped candy? Candy inspired by fighting beetles? Licorice? Fightin' licorice?!
