Musings and Amusings

Writing a blog is kind of hard. The most difficult part, in my mind, is the constant attention one must pay to what kind of gesture one is making in posting created material in a public place. I guess that since I have never been published (I was going to, but sadly, that offer has been rescinded), I have never really had to confront the idea of writing for or to an audience, and this concern opens up a whole 'nother can of proverbial worms: appropriateness, self-censorship, general presentation of myself, etc. etc. It's kind of an annoyingly necessary evil of publication (even the softcore self-publication of a blog) that I have to consider each thing I write as a real speech-act.

For example, I just split up with my boyfriend of a year. And let me tell you (like this is some kind of news), there are all kinds of feelings happening apropos to that little life-change. But I tend to be a pretty private person. But I sometimes feel so sad, or so bitter, and I have had many sad and bitter words to say about it. But do I want to present myself to the world (or the Interwebs) in that way? Do I want to be so dramatic? How should I consider the fact that he reads this blog? Like c'mon, let's not get all LiveJournal about this.


I guess there have been a lot of life changes in recent weeks. For example, I am further giving up my isms, which means I have been not quite the strict vegetarian I used to be, nor the sort of bullshitty pescatarian I have been for the past year. Why? Oh, who knows. I'm finding it hard to care about things like that. I don't know what that says about me. I guess it comes at some kind of intersection of generalized apathy and my recent inculcation with a culture of food and cooking. I'm not quite a 'foodie' yet, but it could happen. Bring on the ridicule; I'll keep the delicious treats to myself.

In conclusion, I've spent the long, bikini-clad day off sitting in the sun with a full glass of cold Italian Blood Orange Soda and my old dog-eared paperback copy of Gone With The Wind. I haven't read it since I tore through it the summer after 6th grade, but so far, it's been amazing. It's funny, as an educated white Yankee of the Future, to read something so nostalgic for the lifestyle of the antebellum South, especially given that Margaret Miller was actually mourning an era where the privileged enjoyed their various comforts at the expense of, y'know, slaves. It's a good book, though. I'd even go so far as to say that it's better than the movie, but I have to say, I love the movie as well.

Here's the most amusing quote so far:

The more sedate and older sections of the South looked down their noses at the up-country Georgians, but here in north Georgia, a lack of the niceties of classical education carried no shame, provided a man was smart in the things that mattered. And raising good cotton, riding well, shooting straight, dancing lightly, squiring the ladies with elegance and carrying one's liquor like a gentleman were the things that mattered. (p. 6)

What a culture. And what men. Feminist leanings aside, who wouldn't swoon at a man who rode well, shot straight, danced lightly, and carried his liquor like a gentleman?

If you're interested, here's the New Yorker article that inspired me to watch the movie again, and embark on my current summer reading. Victor Fleming was quite the character. And the New Yorker is quite the entertaining rag.