tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post604582513148599490..comments2023-10-17T08:16:35.305-04:00Comments on That's Why: Tangled uplisahgoldenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11158660223296807317noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-83728605161034265112012-05-07T07:52:14.257-04:002012-05-07T07:52:14.257-04:00Okay, I'll admit that I've tried a few tim...Okay, I'll admit that I've tried a few times to get into Joan Didion and I haven't quite made the leap over the name-dropping, cool customer business. I'm going to try again, because god knows the writing is gorgeous and she certainly has a story to tell.Averilhttp://averildean.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-34116164604537065822012-05-06T19:31:34.308-04:002012-05-06T19:31:34.308-04:00well, i will try again...i swear that blogger aka ...well, i will try again...i swear that blogger aka google tries to punish those of us who flew the coop! wow, you and me both...i cannot even bear to write it...<br /><br />i did think about reading her book after seeing something somewhere about her... she did seem an interesting woman but i am like you with the name/status dropping stuff...still it sounds good. and your writing is also very good, my dear. how is that book coming? did i miss that somewhere? xoxoxL'Adelaidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10725322054223364858noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-23878370897640314142012-05-06T09:31:09.364-04:002012-05-06T09:31:09.364-04:00I haven't read Joan so I can't comment on ...I haven't read Joan so I can't comment on her writing. I do know that there is some chick lit that seems so focused upon name brand high heeled shoes that I just can't get around it enough to read whatever else the author is saying. <br /><br />There is a class system in this country and in a way it's worse because it is unacknowledged. And should one bring it up the wealthy begin to rant "class warfare". Fuck an A!Life As I Know It Nowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03733963455243806298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-11966683406774577022012-05-05T23:11:46.745-04:002012-05-05T23:11:46.745-04:00I know many people love Joan. Pure writer. Yes, Jo...I know many people love Joan. Pure writer. Yes, Josephine. That's very much it. An ability to write beautifully, but with a detachment. It's sentimental without being emotional. It's fucking hard to describe.<br /><br />Please do take a photo of that sign. I would love to see it.lisahgoldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158660223296807317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-48511961937387510512012-05-05T22:43:51.995-04:002012-05-05T22:43:51.995-04:00oh no. i love joan. she seems pure writer to me. i...oh no. i love joan. she seems pure writer to me. i don't know what it is, but something about her being able to write, not like a man, but with the same...drive as a man. as if the writing is first, over everything else. that i love. and respect. and magical thinking floored me. to write about death in that way. detached and yet deeply. i feel like i'm rambling, but i love joan even with the name dropping (maybe even because of??)<br /><br />(there's a sign on a corner near my house for a yard sale that reads, "Big Yard Sale this Saturday -- Lots of Junk" I keep wanting to take a picture when in my car. Your gorgeous hwy shot has inspired me to do it next time I see it.)Josephinehttp://www.joseyfritz.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-4713409868768443712012-05-05T22:08:40.911-04:002012-05-05T22:08:40.911-04:00We haven't watched The Wire yet. It's on m...We haven't watched The Wire yet. It's on my list of shows to watch. What you wrote is so true. We like to think we're a classless society. Not true. We have less class mobility than we imagine and it's only getting worse.<br /><br />susan, any day I can remind you of Edward Gorey is the perfect day in my book. Thank you.lisahgoldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158660223296807317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-39133872618868145372012-05-05T21:40:52.017-04:002012-05-05T21:40:52.017-04:00It's true what you say. I haven't read Joa...It's true what you say. I haven't read Joan Didion's 'Blue Nights', and I'm sure I'd be equally irritated by all the wealth and status references, but the urge to protect our children from harm is a primal one. What we've been hung up on the past few weeks is a tv show now on dvd that I'm sure you must have seen - 'The Wire'. The worst part for both of us is the ongoing tragedy of the young people stuck in the projects of Baltimore simply because their lives aren't valued by the society they were born into. I'll always remember seeing the little ones crossing the street under the watchful eye of a crossing guard while their not much older siblings are fighting a drug turf war. It may be a tv show but that stuff brings tears to my eyes because it's as real as anything gets. <br /><br />So I think again about rich people, gated communities, and the fact that all children eventually leave home. As the class divide grows wider everyone is less safe. <br />Apologies if I've gone off topic but cultural diseases are just as deadly as anything the world can throw at us.<br /><br />btw: You reminded me of Edward Gorey's picture: They searched the cellar, fruitlessly.susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16747450215034568033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-91437322841312593752012-05-05T21:39:46.499-04:002012-05-05T21:39:46.499-04:00Thank you, Thunder. Yes. I was patiently waiting.Thank you, Thunder. Yes. I was patiently waiting.lisahgoldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158660223296807317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-20575711589271670842012-05-05T21:39:13.897-04:002012-05-05T21:39:13.897-04:00Excellent, Renn. I'd love that. I just picked ...Excellent, Renn. I'd love that. I just picked up "A Grown Up Kind of Pretty" to listen to next. Then there's Farther Away, a set of essays by Jonathan Franzen. Keep the ideas coming, please!lisahgoldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158660223296807317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-1806009900845306772012-05-05T21:37:06.890-04:002012-05-05T21:37:06.890-04:00I haven't read "Magical Thinking." I...I haven't read "Magical Thinking." It remains untouched on the shelf because I never could bring myself to read it when I was already feeling so blue.lisahgoldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158660223296807317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-91539730708759071992012-05-05T21:26:23.402-04:002012-05-05T21:26:23.402-04:00"Tangled Up In Blue"
Some body had to p..."<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZhwyrUvV_s" rel="nofollow">Tangled Up In Blue</a>"<br /><br />Some body had to post it, right, Lisa?<br />~ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-12955969926964021932012-05-05T18:36:37.927-04:002012-05-05T18:36:37.927-04:00I recommend that you follow that up with Isabelle ...I recommend that you follow that up with Isabelle Allende's "My Forgotten Country" in Audio Book. If I can remember who borrowed mine, I'll get it back and send it to you. It's 6 CD hours.rennratthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08258514296905380163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-83271543915648527162012-05-05T18:33:34.916-04:002012-05-05T18:33:34.916-04:00I tried to read "Magical Thinking" and g...I tried to read "Magical Thinking" and gave up for the same reason. I just couldn't link to whether or not she truly cared for her spouse. It's a terrible thing to think, as I'm sure she grieved deeply for him. I just couldn't connect to it myself.rennratthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08258514296905380163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-884936117295233742012-05-05T18:30:52.765-04:002012-05-05T18:30:52.765-04:00I think that's why I kept listening to Blue Ni...I think that's why I kept listening to Blue Nights, Teri. I had to finish to understand that this is who Joan is. This isn't a brave face or pseudo-anything. It's who she is. Her writing represents the real person.lisahgoldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158660223296807317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-70545604404868793592012-05-05T16:13:56.764-04:002012-05-05T16:13:56.764-04:00Where do I start....
I had the same reaction when...Where do I start....<br /><br />I had the same reaction when I read The Year of Magical Thinking, the initial push-back-response to all the name dropping. I remember sitting in my kitchen with a few people on New Years Eve and arguing my point so strongly I thought I'd pass out. I was so distracted by the "shrimp quesadilla at Morton's" and all the movie sets, etc... the entire time I was reading that book.<br /><br />But then I read it again, because I was looking for patterns in the writing. And then I listened to it on audio for the same reason. And by then I was no longer bothered by that stuff ---- so much for my big soap-box-hissy-fit on New Years Eve! ---- because I saw too many other great things about that book. I've since listened to it on audio about 10 times and I feel like I get it. Joan is telling her version, what it looked like from where she was, "the cool customer" she kept calling herself. And you know what? I appreciated her calling herself "the cool customer" because it was honest. Joan knows that Joan is not the warm and fuzzy and bawling in public type. I accept this. And I appreciate that she didn't try to portray herself as such. It's not who she is. She's always been "the cool customer" in her essays, and she remains so now, even in her deepest grief. <br /><br />So yes, Joan does have a soul. It may not be the soul of the wife or mother we wish she had, the broken and bleeding in public kind, but it is there. It is.Terihttp://tericarter.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-346312537891708722012-05-05T14:52:17.262-04:002012-05-05T14:52:17.262-04:00Thanks, Fran. What a perfect song. We're not t...Thanks, Fran. What a perfect song. We're not there yet with the death of the elders on my side of the family, but on Doug's side, his siblings are all who are left. It makes me feel anxious to move back to Chicago so we can get old together. There's something really lonely about getting old down here where we don't really know anyone.lisahgoldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158660223296807317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-22069294954557010052012-05-05T14:41:29.834-04:002012-05-05T14:41:29.834-04:00Suzy, thank you. I think that's it. A certain ...Suzy, thank you. I think that's it. A certain bloodnessness to Didion's writing. I'm listening to this waiting for the tears, the bleeding. I'm thinking what a heap of goo I'd be in similar circumstances and the moment never arrives.lisahgoldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158660223296807317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-7430425812899999312012-05-05T14:39:34.118-04:002012-05-05T14:39:34.118-04:00Indeed, Randal. For the record, it's Quisp. An...Indeed, Randal. For the record, it's Quisp. And I thought for sure you were going to bust me for the "classic" car reference. A '95 Celica with just a bit of rust is a classic, right?lisahgoldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158660223296807317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-14479522002516608192012-05-05T14:38:33.288-04:002012-05-05T14:38:33.288-04:00Thank you, Bill. Knowing that you share my conflic...Thank you, Bill. Knowing that you share my conflicted feelings about raising children, I take this as high praise.lisahgoldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158660223296807317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-69155332731350120042012-05-05T14:37:59.947-04:002012-05-05T14:37:59.947-04:00Thank you, Summer. Message received. Someday.Thank you, Summer. Message received. Someday.lisahgoldenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11158660223296807317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-30458522935618079382012-05-05T14:26:25.464-04:002012-05-05T14:26:25.464-04:00I can see how you choked on the name dropping upsc...I can see how you choked on the name dropping upscale overload. As Jefferson Airplane put it in a song *Doesn't mean shit to a tree". Nothing matters but the heart & soul & how we care & the effort we make. <br />Having lost all the older generation to death on both side of the families in the course of a year's time, you realize life is short, and for me, I realized, we ARE now the elders of the family. Just like that, it happened. <br />I like how you pointed out money can't buy you health, and it can't prevent pain & loss. <br />I can't imagine what losing a child must feel like. The whole world falling apart under you?<br /><br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7epbdQ4YYIFranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14198689517878201943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-7375276245207498912012-05-05T14:12:53.039-04:002012-05-05T14:12:53.039-04:00Beautifully written Lisa. I love Didion's writ...Beautifully written Lisa. I love Didion's writing but for me, she has no soul. She doesn't bleed on the page. A friend of mine who lost her husband read Magical Thinking and said not only did it not help her, it was like the husband never even existed except in Didion's writing. I tend to agree.Suzyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13980186321981090019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-13977363214938137392012-05-05T14:02:46.068-04:002012-05-05T14:02:46.068-04:00Seasons don't fear the reaper, but we pussies-...Seasons don't fear the reaper, but we pussies-with-kids do.<br /><br />When you write your memoir, don't forget the product placement (what's that cereal you name drop now and then, Quisps, Quints, Will-O-The-Wisps?)Randal Graveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08728992897551848531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-56898773780232148972012-05-05T13:55:20.382-04:002012-05-05T13:55:20.382-04:00Very nice ... Poignant with truth laced within.Very nice ... Poignant with truth laced within.willhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15590217997145761582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3221819058568684886.post-73030138815180010032012-05-05T13:48:05.482-04:002012-05-05T13:48:05.482-04:00What lovely writing, Lisa! [subliminal message] wr...What lovely writing, Lisa! [subliminal message] write a memoir! [end subliminal message]Phoenix Berrieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15326092800551901196noreply@blogger.com