Bla-bla-bla
My latest fascination is this new form of telemarketing that seems to be all the rage. The messages on my voice mail always go something like this (insert chummy, upbeat tone here):
“Hey guys, sorry I didn’t catch you in. I’m going to leave a message if that’s OK. You’ve been selected to win a free trip to bla-bla-bla. Just call bla-bla-bla and ask for Kevin.”
Hey guys??? Kevin, I need to know if anyone, anywhere ever calls you back. Does anyone, anywhere fall for this routine? Believe you’re they’re good buddy? Think the trip is really free? Any of the above?
I know telemarketers are just trying to make a living. But this approach just seems so contrived and sad. An interesting study in human nature.
Starting anew
My day was filled, it seems, with people venturing into new beginnings. I love how naturally attracted I am to these kinds of people and vice versa.
Lunch with one. A client session with another. A phone call with yet another. Their excitement is palpable, contagious even. Pushing past anxiety, taking baby steps until their gut says it’s time to plunge, smiling so widely it’s heartening.
A fine day for a life coach.
Light
Some things that inspire me:
– Really good turn of phrase. From Jazz by Toni Morrison, which I just finished reading:
I want to be in a place already made for me, both snug and wide open. With a doorway never needing to be closed, a view slanted for light and bright autumn leaves but not rain. Where moonlight can be counted on if the sky is clear and stars no matter what.
– Warren Buffett. He just announced he’d be giving much of his fortune to improve world health and education. And maybe equally inspiring, he lives in the same house in Omaha, Neb. which he bought in 1958 for $31,500.
– The New York Times. For thoughtfully continuing its quest to inform people because they have a right to know, the essence of a free press.
Impressive all.
Zonin’
I think it’s safe to say I’ve had a good writing session when I’m laughing out loud at my own jokes, jokes that feel like they’re channeling through me as the dialogue pours onto the page.
My writer is happy today.
The fiction section
Again I am laughing at reaction to The DaVinci Code. Caught a documentary about decoding the book and all these scholars are lined up to disprove statements in it.
So let me get this straight. James Frey was nailed to the cross for calling his memoir fact instead of fiction when he took liberty with some events. Dan Brown is getting persecuted for weaving a compelling story around some real events and copping to the fact that he took liberties by calling it fiction.
Here’s a fact. One of the joys of writing fiction is that you can blur the line between fantasy and reality. That’s the fun of it. You create a world within a work that will fill readers with wonder and curiosity about what’s on the next page.
Duh.
Food group
Just stocked my refrigerator with freshness. Fresh tomatoes, celery, cucumber, lettuce, cherries, peaches. Will spike a nice balsamic vinaigrette with some dijon mustard or raspberry preserves. Some tricks learned from my “friends” on the Food Network.
My body feels so grateful for that kind of fuel. It shows me again and again.
I am strong.
Lightbulb moment
I have an idea. A really good one. It comes from a place in myself that I really like, the common sense, grounded, smart place.
It is time for a sweet beginning. It will co-exist nicely with other ventures and goals. Intertwine with them, even.
Yes, I like this feeling very much.
Never a dull moment.
Land of the free
I love that I live in a country that attracts so many people to its beauty and freedom. I know quite a few people who have come from other lands and have embraced what America offers and it makes me proud.
Today one of those women from another land expressed unabashed glee that the United States lost in the World Cup. She has been routing for the U.S. to lose, she said, looking at me apologetically.
Well, I can’t say I give a lick that the U.S. lost since I haven’t been following the World Cup. I do get a kick out of others’ reactions and excitement around it, but I digress.
What I did think in reaction to this woman was, why are you here? I have no problem with folks who disagree with some American policies or get annoyed at American arrogance. Those things bug me sometimes, too. But if you go to the trouble of routing against the very country you decided to settle in, don’t you have to ask yourself why you’re here to start with?
Come on. We have people dying on rafts trying to get here from points south. We have people who want to be here so much they’re doing back-breaking labor to keep the dream alive.
Part of me thinks I’m making too much of a sports thing, maybe blowing it out of proportion. But an insightful, seasoned part of me knows from 15 years in sports journalism that sports can tell you a lot about a person and there’s more to it than what happens between the white lines.
You’re free to be here. You’re free to not be here. You’re free.
The riff goes on
Really sinking my teeth into Jazz now. Toni Morrison has a way of telling you a ton in a single sentence. Countless examples. Yet today’s favorite line suggests a running theme from yesterday:
There, in a city, they are not so much new as themselves: their stronger, riskier selves.
Morrison keeps echoing how I felt — yet couldn’t quite articulate as beautifully — about growing up a suburbanite, getting a taste of urban life and realizing I had come home. For me, there is a headiness in a city that cannot be captured in any other setting. It’s like instead of watching a movie, you’re in it. You’re participating. You’re in the game.
Yes, that’s about right.
Lyric passage
Started reading Jazz by Toni Morrison today. My favorite line so far:
A city like this one makes me dream tall and feel in on things.
Abso-freakin-lutely.
