Pleasure Notes

Thank God for Gwen Bell. I first learned about this amazing, dynamic woman because of a business affiliation. Later, I met her in person. Now, she inspires me. And, if I’m honest, occasionally intimidates me (my issues, not hers). But today, I’m simply grateful to her. She’s come up with this Best of 2009 Blog Challenge, and that has me writing again.

Obviously, the “blog every day” thing and I don’t have a great track record. After all, only last month I attempted the NaBloPoMo with notably dismal results. I can pull out the excuses – I was sick, I was traveling, I was spending what little energy I had trying not to cry 24/7 – but the results remain black and white, for all to see.

So what makes me think this month will be any different, that Gwen’s challenge will be met with any greater results?

Not a damn thing. Except… desperate need.

I NEED to be writing, more now than perhaps at any other time in my life. It may just save me. Or at least distract me from the crying.

You see, this challenge is FOCUSED. There are SUGGESTED QUESTIONS on which to ruminate. And the point is to talk about what is BEST about the past year, not what is worst. Part of the reason I haven’t written much the past few months is because I’ve been overwhelmed with worsts and unable to see or believe in bests. This shouldn’t come as a shock to those who know me, but it has caught me strangely off-guard.

While I can’t change my life overnight, I can step up to this challenge, to the best of my ability.

Baby steps, I know. But with enough of those, I may yet go the distance.

by Lady Gooner/flickr

So it’s only been a day since I began this ridiculous challenge to write every day for a month, and I’m already prepared to thrown in the towel. I won’t, of course. At least not yet. But I’m currently wadding it up into a nice tight ball.

I’m not quite sure when the transformation happened, when I suddenly became the type of woman who would prefer to curl up on the couch in my flannel lounge pants and tank from Target, a bowl of Soy Praline Pecan ice cream and this past weekend’s TiVo’d episode of Mad Men rather than drag my laptop out of the heavy-as-shit bag in which I lugged it home from work in order to write a rambling blog post. But I must confess, the transformation is almost complete. Just a few more pieces of dead skin to pluck off and I will no longer be mistaken for anything but graceless couch potato. Sad, don’t you think?

It doesn’t help that I just found out I have to go to New Jersey this week. Let me repeat that. NEW JERSEY! No offense to anyone who has ever lived there but really, people, haven’t I been through enough hardship this year? Why couldn’t I be sent to New York? Or Hawai’i? Or, hell, Bora Bora isn’t that far away. There is just nothing particularly appealing about the Garden State when I’m having to give up dinner with friends, a potential rendezvous with an ex-lover and some unstructured time on – yes – my couch to be there. Even an invitation to dinner with Bruce would leave me only begrudgingly enthusiastic and, since there are no Evites in my in box, I’m guessing that’s not going to happen.

I am left to shake my fist at the universe and wonder once again why I wasn’t born with a healthy trust fund. Can you feel my pain?

I moved to Los Angeles umpteen years ago to pursue acting. Yes, it’s cliche, but it’s the truth. I let that dream go a number of years ago in pursuit of a better one… to be a writer. And that’s a dream I’ve achieved, which is pretty cool. But I have to admit that from early childhood I’ve fantasized about winning an award in addition to a paycheck for my creativity. I obsessively watched the Oscars, Emmys and Golden Globes before learning that many of the results have more to do with advertising dollars than merit. I thought up speeches and wardrobe choices and potential red-carpet dates. I practiced the hand wave, and how I would restrain myself from punching out Joan Rivers. So just imagine my thrill at actually winning an award! That’s right, ladies and gents, I have been honored with the Superior Scribbler Award.

Okay, so I received it while sitting on my couch in my sweatpants and trolling my favorite blogs, but I did do a little booty shaking in celebration. And here go the obligatory thanks — or in this case, the eligibility requirements for the kudos…

1. Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass the award on to 5 most-deserving bloggers.
2. Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author and the name of the blog from whom he/she has received the award.
3. Each Superior Scribbler must display the award on his/her blog, and link to this post, which explains the award.
4. Each blogger who wins the Superior Scribbler Award must visit the linked post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky list. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who wins this prestigious honor.
5. Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.

I started this blog just two and a half months ago. I was am a complete neophyte in the blogosphere. Truth be told, I didn’t even read blogs before I started my own. I had never heard of Twitter. HTML was just one more acronym for something I didn’t understand. The internet intimidated me. In many ways, it still does. Once I entered this world, however, I quickly immediately fell in love with it. I entered it because I am a writer.

By Guy Ottewell

Yep. I am a writer. I even claim it on my tax forms. But I don’t always claim it in my real life. Why, you ask? Because. Because I’m not on the best-sellers list. Because no one optioned that feature that circulated last year. Because I haven’t been in a writers’ room since before the writers’ strike. Because I currently pay my bills with a “day job.” Because, right now, all I do is blog.

Each one of these arguments is a ridiculous reason to denigrate what I do, but it’s the last one that truly gives me pause. All I do is blog. Now, that’s a doozy.

By Ando Tokutaro

You see, if I devalue my role as a blogger, I am devaluing the role of every other blogger out there. That’s wrong. There are some great ones. While the level of integrity, and quality, of mainstream media seems to be in free fall, the trajectory of bloggers appears to be in the opposite direction. Change is uncomfortable, however, and many people outside the blogosphere would disagree with me. They don’t understand, value, or respect bloggers. I know. I was one of those people. Yet, I have seen the proverbial light.

Don’t worry. I’m not deluding myself into thinking that this blog will change the entire world. But it has changed mine. I rediscovered the pleasure of writing. Out in the “real world,” I spent so much time trying to play the game please my agent catch the latest trend sell my shit, I lost my voice. I forgot that I write… because. Because I love it. Because it keeps me sane. Because I have something to say.

By Johannes Vermeer

Every other blogger has something to say as well. You or I may not like all the voices we stumble across, but the blogosphere deserves as much respect and protection as any other written word arena. Two witty bloggers writers, califmom and Mr. Lady, present this case very well. They were inspired to do so by Don Mills Diva. So was I. She is actually doing something to ensure that bloggers have a seat at the grownups’ table.

Wanna join the crusade?

If you were drained of all political fervor in 2008, and you are currently living under a rock, you may not know of Rod Blagojevich. Since most of you do, however, I won’t bother providing his bio here. You may wonder, in fact, why the hell I would even utter his name given his ubiquitous presence on so many other platforms. I only mention him because he is further proof that I am surrounded by liars. And I kind of like it.

Let me explain…

By American Cacher

I am a writer and a rabid observer of human nature. Our foibles, and our attempts to disguise and deny those foibles – by lying – absolutely fascinate me. Lies are rampant in the 21^st century. They are evidence of a hopeless pursuit of perfection and power. Perhaps they are unavoidable. After all, have you ever met anyone who can claim they’ve never told a lie – without lying to make the claim?

Photo by Julius Lim

Watching Mr. Blagojevich compare himself to Gandhi, and attest to caring only for the little people of Illinois, has me shaking my head in wonder and cackling in glee – not because I believe one iota of what comes out of his mouth but rather because the design of his lies is utterly Baroque.

By MasksofVenice.co.uk

On the rare occasion I can force my eyes to lower from the behemoth mass of hair he carries around like a weapon, so I can closely examine his face, two things strike me:

1. I now know the struggle men have in shifting their eyes onto my face, though the effort is in the other direction.
2. Television is better than our public school system at teaching the important things.

Wed. 9pm on FOX

In particular, Lie To Me is a must-see for anyone who values a well-rounded education. For those who have thrown out their televisions in protest over the imminent switch to digital and thereby missed the ad campaign, Lie To Me is a new show on Fox, starring Tim Roth. The premise is, shockingly, that everyone lies and lucky folks like Tim Roth’s character, Dr. Lightman (Light Man – get it?), can tell when the lies are being told. I actually think the show is pretty clever, and Tim Roth is yummy in that slexy kind of way. But the priceless aspect of the show is the weekly lesson it gives in how to uncover a deception. Watch, and you will learn much.

A Dreamworks Film

However, will viewers implement the lessons learned? Do people really want to know when someone is lying? Really? Isn’t there a teensy part of you that secretly hopes the FBI’s got it wrong and Blagojevich is simply a misunderstood dude in need of a stylist? Or that your husband really is stuck at the office instead of stickin’ it somewhere else? Or that the pretty girl truly loves the idea of seeing The Uninvited on your first date?

Novel Cover Art

Heidi Julavits’ latest novel, The Uses of Enchantment, addresses the question of whether lies harm us or save us in an entirely charming manner. The young, female protagonist takes a single action, with far-reaching consequences. The story explores the emotional murk created both by deception and by truth, the damage caused by lying to others and the even greater damage caused by lying to ourselves, and the difficulty we all have in distinguishing whether or not someone’s pants are on fire.

By Huuh/ deviantart.com

Lies makes life interesting. Uncovering lies makes life dangerous. And learning to love someone despite his or her lies makes life worth living. What lie are you telling today?