First of all, MERRY/HAPPY, EVERYONE! Even for those of us for whom today is just a Saturday, albeit a Saturday when none of the stores are open :D
I was debating making a post about Chinese food and my family, but I have decided against it, largely because I had breakfast with my grandfather and my father and Burro&Burrito this morning, and it was literally SO MUCH LIKE AN EPISODE OF CURB THAT I HAD TO PINCH MYSELF. I can't even bear to relate it. There was arguing. And a few badly-landed penis jokes. And arguing. And a poor, hapless waiter who visibly regretted being employed at a Jewish deli. We tipped him heavily, but I doubt it eased the pain of having to listen to us very much.
Also also also someone wrote me an incredible Westing Game story for Yuletide!!!
A Game of You, Theo/Turtle, and it's just excellent. EVERYONE WHO HAS EVER READ THE WESTING GAME SHOULD READ IT AT ONCE.
Now I am going to eat a piece of the amazing parve dobos tort the local Jewish bakery (ALSO OPEN CHRISTMAS DAY OH MY GOD BEST DISCOVERY OF MY LIFE) handily provided me this morning, and maybe take the plunge and watch the pilot of Hawaii 5-0, if I can find somewhere to...procure...it.
But first, a conversation about nothing at all that needs to be preserved for posterity anyway, even if it does make both me and Cathy sound more than a little bit like Pretentious Hipster Nerds....
gyzymoh oh oh also
cathy i need you to know
that last night
i read
100 pages of the franzen novel
two_if_by_seaal;kdfj;akslfdj;asfd
which novel?
gyzymfreedom, the new one
two_if_by_seaa;fdslj;slfkd
gyzymand it is dkfjsdf EXCELLENT REALLY EXCELLENT LIKE
two_if_by_seahahahahah
as;dflkjas;dflkajs;dlfkajs;dlfkjas;fdj
as;dflkjas;dfk
but he's SO MEAN
like
i like him but he isi just SO MEAN
TO EVERYONe
TO EVERYTHING
and i'm just like GOD WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN
gyzymI KNOW, BUT THAT'S WHY I LIKE HIM, BECAUSE HE'S JUST SO LIKE
VICIOUSLY FUCKING HONEST
two_if_by_seaa;slkdfj;alskdfj;alksdjf
IT"S NOT HONESTY THOUGH
it's like
intellectual SNOBBERY
gyzymwell i mean, yes, obviously, but
two_if_by_seait's like even his emotional insights are only so deep because
he's
SO MEAN
gyzymBUT
two_if_by_sea(she says, as she secretly wants to write like him)
gyzymlike, i don't actually read franzen for anything other than the way he builds and tears down relationships between people
and i love the way he writes in general, because jdsfds that style, but like
i...largely ignore
his social commentary
two_if_by_seaa;ljdf;lakjf;afkdj
HOW
HOW
IT"S LIKE
THE ENTIRETY OF EVERY NOVEL
it's like HERE ARE MY WITTY AND TOTALLY ASSHOLEISH THOUGHTS
ON HOW YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE
gyzymWELL, YEAH, OF COURSE, IT'S SO THICK YOU COULD CUT IT WITH A KNIFE BUT
two_if_by_seaasf;dlkajsd;flj
gyzymhis character development
IS ACTUALLY FAR MORE COMPELLING, TO ME
and you have to keep in mind that i willingly read
both dave eggers and david foster wallace
and enjoy them
two_if_by_seaI MEAN
I DO TOO
I LOVE THEm
BUT AT LEAST DAVID FOSTER WALLACE IS LIKE
gyzymbecause there's a certain level of intellectual snobbery that i am so used to as to just shut out
two_if_by_sea"i am a terrible human being
you are a terrible human being
human beings are terrible
here is how we are terrible to each other"
and dave eggers is like
"these are my thoughts on alienation and being white"
gyzymOKAY BUT DAVE EGGERS IS DEEPLY
DEEPLY
SELF-OBSESSED
two_if_by_seaa;slfdkja;sfd
gyzymLIKE, DEEPLY
two_if_by_seaI KNOW
I KNOW
but at least it is like
"here is me
i offer myself
to your tearing wit
and abuse"
franzen is like
HA
THIS IS YOU!!
I AM MOCKING YOU!!!!!
gyzymJFDSFSKD BUT I DON'T EVEN CARE SO LONG AS HE DOESN'T SHUT UP
THAT'S WHAT IT IS
two_if_by_seaa;sdkjf;asdjf;askd
hahahahahahahah
gyzymI HAVE AN ASSHOLE CRUSH ON FRANZEN
two_if_by_sea;Ljfd;akdslfja;lkdfja;skdlfjafsd
I SEE
gyzymIT'S NOT THAT I THINK HE CAN CHANGE
IT'S NOT THAT KIND OF THING
two_if_by_seaHE WILL ONLY BRING YOU PAIN
gyzymIT'S THAT I FIND HIM SO ATTRACTIVE THAT I AM WILLING TO IGNORE
two_if_by_seaHE DOESN'T DESERVE YOU!!!
gyzymWHAT IS COMING OUT OF HIS MOUTH
asjsfdsf all that mouthwateringly gorgeous prose
two_if_by_seaHE DOESn'T DESERVE YOU!!
gyzymI DON'T CARE
I DON'T CARE
two_if_by_seaONLY PAIN!!!
gyzymBECAUSE AFTER THIS BOOK IS OVER HE WON'T CALL ME FOR SEVERAL YEARS
two_if_by_seaPAIN AND MOCKERY
gyzymAND I WILL GET OVER IT AGAIN
two_if_by_seaa;sdflkjas;fdlkj
a;slfdkj;safljka;lsdfk god
so true
gyzymJUST LIKE I DID AFTER THE CORRECTIONS
two_if_by_seahe totally is the author who would like
metaphorically pick you up with a backhanded compliment
take you back to his apartment
fuck you
and then smoke a cigarette
and wait for you to leave
and not call you
ever.
gyzymbut! you would show up, mutated and twisted, as a shade of a character
in his next book
two_if_by_seaa;ksldfj
in a novel
yes
and you would read it
and wince
and then you go back to the bar
and he's there again
and he just raises his eyebrow at you
and you do it
ALL OVER AGAIN
gyzymYES EXACTLY
and sometimes
you go into the bar
and david sedaris is there
two_if_by_seaajlkfd;alskdfj;aksdja
gyzymand you commiserate
two_if_by_seaohmygod
gyzymon how much
two_if_by_seaand you
yes
a;slfdkj
gyzymyou HATE PEOPLE
two_if_by_seayou hate and love him
specifically
gyzymwell yes but you start broad
two_if_by_seaprobably david sedaris blew him in a basement at a house party
gyzympeople in general, and then specific people
that's how david sedaris is
two_if_by_seaoh but david sedaris is like so witty about it
you're like luaghing
through your PAIN
your AWFUL UNYIELDING PAIN
gyzymhe's like, i hate everyone i hate everyone JUST KIDDING I HATE THAD JOHNSON FROM THE THIRD GRADE
and yes, that is so true
I LOVE HIM DO NOT GET ME WRONG
two_if_by_seathen foer walks in drinking a wheat beer
and is like
gyzymdfjdsfsdkf
two_if_by_seaO HAI GUYS
and you and sedaris are like
gyzymwith his hat on
two_if_by_seago away
gyzymall askew
two_if_by_seaand foer goes off to sulk
and be earnest
somewhere else
gyzymLOL
and foster-wallace's ghost
is lurking in corners
taking great pleasure
in quietly unsettling everyone who wanders by
two_if_by_seaa;lksfdj;aslkdfj;alskfd;alskfdj
ohmygod
foer is like
"aren't you dead"
and foster wallace smiles at him maliciously
YES, he intones
and foer's like
kind of disturbed.
just staring at him
gyzymstaring THROUGH him cathy
HE IS JUST A LENSE AFTER ALL
two_if_by_seafranzen snaps at foster-wallace and is like
"leave him alone"
and foster wallace is like NO U
gyzymLMFAO
two_if_by_seatheir friendship is so weird
i mean like
i get it
gyzymGHOSTLY-SLAP FIGHT ENSUES
two_if_by_seabut it's still weird to me
gyzymbut all those guys, i mean, to a certain degree i think it's all kind of, yes hello i AM a genius and i might be willing to acknowledge that you are not dumb, let us muse on the universe together
it's like a coffee house in like the 1400s
two_if_by_seaajfd;lakjfd
it totally
totally
is
except witih like varying degrees of earnestness
and smarminess
gyzymTHERE WAS SMARMINESS IN THE 1400s TOO
two_if_by_seawell but
a different kind of smarminess
gyzymYOU THINK THE RAPE OF THE LOCK AND ITS CREATION WAS FREE OF SMARM?
two_if_by_seathen it was like
WE ARE SMARMY BECAUSE WE ARE THE ~CHOSEN~ ~ARTIESTES~
and now it is like
pretending to be self-deprecating
but actually secretly
really judging you
a;dlfj;sfdj "Never use the word "then" as a conjunction - we have "and" for this purpose. Substituting "then" is the lazy or tone-deaf writer's non-solution to the problem of too many "ands" on the page.“
THANKS FRANZEN
THANKS
gyzymBBFDBGFDFBDF
two_if_by_seaI CAN'T BELIEVE THAT IS NUMBER THREE
ON YOUR LIST
OF SERIOUS TIPS
FOR WRITERS
gyzymGOD I DO
I DO
HAVE
AN ASSHOLE CRUSH ON HIM
I AM EVEN NOW THINKING AWWW, FRANZEN, YOU ADORABLE LITTLE SHIT