On Nothing In General
As one may or may not have picked up upon, I am a Neil Gaiman fan. Recently it has come to my attention (via my latest acquisition- or possibly second to latest, as I do not recall if I got the Neverwhere DVD before or after the Sandman Companion) that I have been mispronouncing his name. In my defense, I am a native English speaker and thus little used to pronouncing things the way they are spelt. (Spellt? Spelled? I'm sure you see my problem.) Little, for example, would have an extra vowel sound of of some kind if it were pronounced the way it appeared written. Or else would have to be written littil. (Which brings to mind Mattel (which, I suppose, ought to be Matel) and sometimes fennel, and thus I am happy it is not spelled (whatever) that way.)
I've been pronouncing it guy-men, by the way. Something my most favored of authors said in the Companion told me that Gaiman is pronounced exactly the way it is written. He received an award from GLAAD for positive portrayals of gay and lesbian characters. "It was the only time a room full of people cheered simply for the correct pronunciation of my name." Gay-man. And immature being that I am, I giggle every time I see his name, if only because he said he never got teased for it in school and I must make up for all those lost oppurtunities.
As well you know, I am something of an obsessor. (Obsesser? One who obsesses over the silliest of things?) I am trying to figure out which of the Endless correlates to which members of the CSC. Which is difficult in the extreme, due to the fact that there is a bit of all of them in everybody. So I'm only half done, even though I've been on this project for weeks.
Stephanie is Death- and you'd agree if ever you met this most agreeable and friendly of persons.
Katie is Destiny, chained to books as as she is.
Stephen is Destruction: jovial and completely talentless at most everything, yet taking great joy in the doings thereof, and something of a ladies man.
J.C. is Dream- the always responsible King of Stories, though with better luck with the ladies, and a far less dour temperment, and a complete opposite to the 'no touching' sign hanging about Dream.
And thus my difficulty comes to light, for I am a great deal of Dream, with the exception of the responsibilities thing. But I am also a great deal of Delirium, who knows things not written in Destiny's great book and knows that even though we all know everything, we convince ourselves we don't because that's the only thing that keeps you sane. And sometimes I am Despair, for happiness is a most fleeting of feelings with even the best of people and I cling to nothing better than most. And Theresa is some of Dream as well- unforgiving, kind to animals, creator of imaginative tales, relentlessly honest, with horrible bedside manners. And Liz is some of Death, as is J.C.- mother hen and common sense and good advice that you never think to listen to. And E, since the CSC has one less than the Endless, makes an excellent Desire- cruel and beautiful and self-centered, living inside herself, for nothing outside is quite so good. But she is also Delirium- her thoughts fly past our own and then do cartwheels in zigzags around us, and only those who know her realm can even try to understand where she's coming from, and sometimes lost within herself when she hurts too much.
(Nobody ever claimed the Endless were perfect. They're a family.)
So it's difficult to see who goes where. Because, in the end, we're all a little bit of Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium.
I've been pronouncing it guy-men, by the way. Something my most favored of authors said in the Companion told me that Gaiman is pronounced exactly the way it is written. He received an award from GLAAD for positive portrayals of gay and lesbian characters. "It was the only time a room full of people cheered simply for the correct pronunciation of my name." Gay-man. And immature being that I am, I giggle every time I see his name, if only because he said he never got teased for it in school and I must make up for all those lost oppurtunities.
As well you know, I am something of an obsessor. (Obsesser? One who obsesses over the silliest of things?) I am trying to figure out which of the Endless correlates to which members of the CSC. Which is difficult in the extreme, due to the fact that there is a bit of all of them in everybody. So I'm only half done, even though I've been on this project for weeks.
Stephanie is Death- and you'd agree if ever you met this most agreeable and friendly of persons.
Katie is Destiny, chained to books as as she is.
Stephen is Destruction: jovial and completely talentless at most everything, yet taking great joy in the doings thereof, and something of a ladies man.
J.C. is Dream- the always responsible King of Stories, though with better luck with the ladies, and a far less dour temperment, and a complete opposite to the 'no touching' sign hanging about Dream.
And thus my difficulty comes to light, for I am a great deal of Dream, with the exception of the responsibilities thing. But I am also a great deal of Delirium, who knows things not written in Destiny's great book and knows that even though we all know everything, we convince ourselves we don't because that's the only thing that keeps you sane. And sometimes I am Despair, for happiness is a most fleeting of feelings with even the best of people and I cling to nothing better than most. And Theresa is some of Dream as well- unforgiving, kind to animals, creator of imaginative tales, relentlessly honest, with horrible bedside manners. And Liz is some of Death, as is J.C.- mother hen and common sense and good advice that you never think to listen to. And E, since the CSC has one less than the Endless, makes an excellent Desire- cruel and beautiful and self-centered, living inside herself, for nothing outside is quite so good. But she is also Delirium- her thoughts fly past our own and then do cartwheels in zigzags around us, and only those who know her realm can even try to understand where she's coming from, and sometimes lost within herself when she hurts too much.
(Nobody ever claimed the Endless were perfect. They're a family.)
So it's difficult to see who goes where. Because, in the end, we're all a little bit of Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium.