Greetings.
Usually, in normal times, when my brain is sucked down a rabbit hole, it’s because of travel. That is – when you see the absence of super-original content here for a bit, you can assume, “Oh, she’s planning a trip and is
spending all her mental energies researching airfare, lodging and weird things to see on Atlas Obscura and Roadside America.”
Well, we all know that’s not the case right now – although I do check various South-of-the-Border travel forums every day, to see what the story is down there in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica – since when we do travel again outside the country, our first destinations will probably be one of those countries, not just because it will be more possible than Europe, and not just because we enjoy going to them, but also because of Education – as in, got to work on that Spanish. (Although, I hasten to say, it does get worked on up here, every day, academically, through watching and listening, and talking with his native-speaker friends in Spanish.)
Ah, so back to the topic. No, it’s not been travel – it’s been car. No problems or tragedies, it’s just that my lease on this current vehicle ends this fall, and I’m figuring out what to do next. Basics: I would very much like this to be the last car I ever buy (and yes, buy – never leasing again. The stress of the mileage limitation makes it not worth it at all for me), not because I’m being morbid, but just because I think it should be possible. I’m 60, and in ten years (or less) hopefully I’ll be living somewhere, at least most of the time, where I won’t need a car – NYC, Europe, nursing home…who knows.
So yeah, I’m obsessing, and just as with travel research, I’ve reached the point at which I need to just go ahead and pin something down so I’ll stop .
Hopefully that will happen over the next day or so.
(And in case you are wondering what is, actually happening with travel to those countries mentioned above – at this point, Mexico is the most open to US travelers – yes, folks are back to piling into Cancun and Cabo – but the situation is still iffy enough and not enough is back to normal in terms of things to do and places to see down there to make it worth it. Plus, language schools don’t seem to be operating in-person yet, and since that would be the major reason for the trip, well…no reason to go at the moment. )
Digest:
Writing: As noted, the car research has dominated my already limited brain power of late. Also having an impact is the combination of just completing a large project and then unexpectedly having large chunks of time available to me. I’m still adjusting to College Guy getting back to school, and the space that’s left after his unexpected six months return. It’s not just a space that’s there because of the difference between him being in the house and not – it’s a mental space left open by the diminishment of concern about The Future. These months have been filled with a bit of anxiety and uncertainty about what would happen with the school, and what he’d do if any of the less than optimal possibilities occurred. But as of last week…it seems that everything’s going to be okay. The school, it seems to me, is going to make it through the semester with the students on campus and the majority of classes in person. (He only has one that’s remote, and he thinks it’s because it’s a large class, with no where on campus available to spread the group out).
So…that’s it. After months of my mind being focused on that issue, the busy-ness of having the two around, my working on a project, less for Kid #5 to do because, well, it was summer and Covid had shut so much down – last week that all shifted. I stopped worrying about College Kid’s situation, Kid #5 got busy, project finished…and here I was with what I’d been complaining I didn’t have for months – mental space and quiet.
So what do I do?
Decide it’s time to buy a car.
Typical.
Anyway – I did look at one of my novel ideas and beginnings and decide to go with it. This week, I’ll start, seriously guys. Seriously.
Of course, there are also innumerable essay and blog post ideas churning in my head. Which I can’t pin down. Of course.
Reading: I read two novels last week, and I meant to write about both, but I think that moment has passed.
Work Shirts for Madmen – an antic romp through the brain of an alcoholic outdoor metal sculptor. The author is from North Carolina, but is a favorite in these parts, regularly giving readings at a local literary gathering – and Birmingham figures in this novel. I enjoyed it – very funny with a ton of acute, accurate observation – but it felt a little too antic and forced in the Quirk Level. Tiring.
The Index of Self-Destructive Acts by Christopher Beha. I read one of his previous novels Arts & Entertainment – and reviewed it here.
I think this is an astute observation, but I think that Beha actually doesn’t cut deeply enough here. In confining his characters’ hijinks to the world of television-and-movies celebrity and reality TV, he lets the rest of us off the hook.
I say this because “the audience” isn’t just people who watch TV and peruse gossip sites. The “audience” that must be pleased is composed of our blog readers, Facebook friends, Instagram and Twitter followers…all of which feeds the human temptation to make choices and behave for God’e sake of others’ opinions rather than God’s will.
It’s the temptation to perform instead of just live.
Hahaha. Written five years ago…I obviously have a horse around I like to beat, regularly.
Anyway, in this novel – quite a bit longer and more ambitious – Beha traces the fates of several characters whose lives are intertwined by accident and intent, and who all end up – as the title indicates – in spirals of self-destruction.
I did enjoy reading it and spent the better part of a day last week contentedly immersed in that world, but…it didn’t stick. I’ll be lazy, and quote from an Amazon review with which I agree:
Then, as I got further in, I realized that everything I needed to know about this novel was right there in the title. Every single character was going to have a serious fall because of a self-destructive act. I won’t spoil anything by outlining every character’s downward arc but, needless to say, the book became simply the experience of watching a multi-car trainwreck unfold in slow motion. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Unfortunately, Mr. Beha wasn’t quite up to the task of making it interesting.
I fell in love with the idea, actually. Drawn from the analytics that have made Sam’s name, the index of self-destructive acts is the measure of the things a pitcher does on his own to cause his own downfall—wild pitches, balks, etc. It’s a clever metaphor brought up early on in the novel to foreshadow what was to come. Mr. Beha ruins it, however, by making every single major character a victim of it. Instead of creating something that feels like real life, the reader feels manipulated, especially since the self-destructive acts are, for the most part, obvious and “topical” (racism, insider trading, etc.).
It’s too bad because this novel ends up feeling like a good idea wasted. Mr. Beha clearly has some skills as the story was initially very engaging and his prose, except for a couple of painfully poor set pieces late in the novel, very readable. It just feels like he got so enamored of his clever idea that he let it take over, instead of letting his characters run the show and become real people.
Now? I haven’t been able to get to the library the past few days, so I’m back to their digital offerings, which I discovered include several Peter de Vries novels. I feel like swimming in cool mid-century waters right now, so why not?
(His Blood of the Lamb reviewed by me here.)
I’m starting with this one. Should be a quick read.
What’s your favorite novel among those you sense that very few—or no—other people you know have read?
Like catnip for me.
Oh, also, the Scarlet Letter. But I’m going to do a school post later today, probably, so more on that then.
Cooking:
Just a bit. Beef stew last week, which did us for two meals, along with cornbread drop biscuits (mixed up in a batch, formed and frozen, two or three taken out when needed and wanted), then pizza dough made on Saturday, which will make for three dinners or lunches. Ham steak with this nice glaze.
Watching: As noted last week, Interstellar.
Fargo starts this week! Will definitely be watching that.
Listening:
Will be listening tonight to SIL Andy Branton’s livestream – go here for that.
And for our local music-maker? Same as usual: Gershwin Preludes and the Moonlight Sonata, mostly third movement.
With the addition of possible Chopin. Been listening to potential candidates for that addition to the repertoire, mainly one of the ballades. Gulp.
Charlotte was Both 