Lit in Progress

I’m considering re-naming either this or Feminist/Christian The Other Side of God.

“It’s funny,” she said, “how often the things you want aren’t. I mean, aren’t what they’re supposed to be. You know?”

“Like when you’re a kid and you want some talking dinosaur or something for Christmas, and you’ll die if you don’t get it, and you end up playing with the bubble wrap longer than the damn toy?”

“Or when you have a crush on somebody in middle school and they end up being total jerk-offs, and you run into their relatives after you’ve grown up and realize how miserable you’d have been if it had worked out?”

“No.”

Why does there always have to be this space? This void, this nothingness, that gobbles you up when you are quiet enough to hear it? Why can you not keep it away with the memories of living, of being, of talking and drinking coffee until three in the morning, of sour pickles and hockey games? Why do you have to be swallowed by everything in order to avoid being swallowed by nothing?

“Worrying is the Jewish form of prayer.”

Take me up on that. Go ahead. I don’t want you to do what you’re doing, just listen to me and do what I suggest. No; I take it back, I don’t make suggestions. Do what I say. I’m angry! But I don’t want you to hurt – I want you to listen. Won’t you? Will you? Can you?

Marienne & Jason – she’s in Nashville, he’s back wherever they started (gotta figure that out sometime) Their son, Robert? something like that, who was ‘having some problems with his coach’ and who’s dating what’s-her-name, Brianna – is Joseph her dad? Does she have a mom? He seems kind of like Billy Flinn; at least, that first scene in the tailor’s reminds me of him. Maybe I need to put all I’ve got so far up here, and just sift through it that way. We’ll see. And then there are James & his patient Herb, whose sister Cynthia Marshall just passed away a bit ago. Scott’s dad is getting out of prison. Sarah from somebody’s work (probably the salon – who else wouldn’t have to sign their name?) has cancer; Nelda, speaking of which, is the main gossip-monger at the salon, I think she’ll be driven away by her own machine at the end. Susanne is a patron of the salon, she’s a grandma. She may end up being something like Mrs. Bennett, but I’m not sure. Maybe she’ll be Darcy’s grandma. But who the heck is Darcy? And why is she so loath to get out of bed? I mean, besides general principles. I think she’ll be in her late twenties or early thirties – I’d love to use that story of Michelle’s, with her permission, of someone inviting a woman she knows to church and then after she bought a new outfit and everything saying, “that’s not appropriate!” – It’s so disgustingly believable, eh? Are we all so thoughtless? anyway, more later.