So, here are a couple questions:
Have we been employing our time prudently?
I've been thinking about why I love Big Boss––we're so different––and the main reason is, I love talking with him.
He takes questions seriously, going deep with his answers.
He asks other people questions with big curiosity.
And––key––he doesn't take umbrage easily. (Not in one-on-one conversation anyway--he can be touchy about his honor in groups).
If I said that to him, he would probably ask,
"What does 'umbrage' mean?"
[Huh. It just occurred to me, since it's from Latin umbra ‘shadow’, like umbrella, you know, the concept of umbrage is related to throwing shade (MW: a subtle, sneering expression of contempt for or disgust with someone). * ]
Yesterday BB asked:
Is Mayberry a real place? [I said, only in some white people's minds**]
What sort of magazine is the New Yorker? [it exposed Harvey Weinstein's sex crimes]
How're you getting along with your roommate?
[I'm practicing Mr Rogers' "I like you just the way you are". At which point, BB told me he'd watched the Tom Hanks Mr Rogers movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood with interest because I'd recommended it, and he really liked it.]
Also yesterday, I asked him:
Where in the Bible does it say Bathsheba is one of Jesus' ancestors?
[Matthew]
Would you be good, even if there were no heaven or hell?
["I hope so!" etc.]
Are you a better parent than you were ten years ago? [yes, and he explained why]
When I graduated from college, people asked me what I would do with a BA in Classics. I said, "I want to lead a life of conversation."
An older friend said, "The trick is finding someone who can hold a conversation."
I thought he was being snobby, but in fact, I haven't encountered a whole lot of good conversationalists in person (or, not that many I can converse with, anyway).
I don't enjoy conversation as a competitive sport, like some people do. I like the mutual exploration of wondering/wandering together. Asking stuff like, Why do you think the Bible lists Bathsheba as one of Jesus' foremothers? (Only a few women are.)
BB & I both thought it was that it shows Jesus is like us--heir to the whole mess of being human.
"What is truth?"
_______________________
* On "shade", in Paris Is Burning (1990)
* On the death of Andy Griffith, Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote (in the Atlantic):
Have we been employing our time prudently?
. . . Have we been eating:
❧ ❧ ❧
I've been thinking about why I love Big Boss––we're so different––and the main reason is, I love talking with him.
He takes questions seriously, going deep with his answers.
He asks other people questions with big curiosity.
And––key––he doesn't take umbrage easily. (Not in one-on-one conversation anyway--he can be touchy about his honor in groups).
If I said that to him, he would probably ask,
"What does 'umbrage' mean?"
[Huh. It just occurred to me, since it's from Latin umbra ‘shadow’, like umbrella, you know, the concept of umbrage is related to throwing shade (MW: a subtle, sneering expression of contempt for or disgust with someone). * ]
Yesterday BB asked:
Is Mayberry a real place? [I said, only in some white people's minds**]
What sort of magazine is the New Yorker? [it exposed Harvey Weinstein's sex crimes]
How're you getting along with your roommate?
[I'm practicing Mr Rogers' "I like you just the way you are". At which point, BB told me he'd watched the Tom Hanks Mr Rogers movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood with interest because I'd recommended it, and he really liked it.]
Also yesterday, I asked him:
Where in the Bible does it say Bathsheba is one of Jesus' ancestors?
[Matthew]
Would you be good, even if there were no heaven or hell?
["I hope so!" etc.]
Are you a better parent than you were ten years ago? [yes, and he explained why]
❧ ❧ ❧
When I graduated from college, people asked me what I would do with a BA in Classics. I said, "I want to lead a life of conversation."
An older friend said, "The trick is finding someone who can hold a conversation."
I thought he was being snobby, but in fact, I haven't encountered a whole lot of good conversationalists in person (or, not that many I can converse with, anyway).
I don't enjoy conversation as a competitive sport, like some people do. I like the mutual exploration of wondering/wandering together. Asking stuff like, Why do you think the Bible lists Bathsheba as one of Jesus' foremothers? (Only a few women are.)
BB & I both thought it was that it shows Jesus is like us--heir to the whole mess of being human.
"What is truth?"
_______________________
* On "shade", in Paris Is Burning (1990)
* On the death of Andy Griffith, Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote (in the Atlantic):
"Sheriff Andy Taylor was better than Mayberry and that's the thing people don't get. People are nostalgic for Mayberry, but Andy spent most of the series (after the early years when his character was a silly hayseed) trying to improve it.
"To be nostalgic for it is missing the point. To be nostalgic for it is forgetting that Mayberry was based on a town where Griffith grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and where he was called 'white trash.'"
Interesting thoughts. I like the lion on the cover of the cookbook, and I loved "Paris is Burning," though it's been YEARS since I've seen it. Andy Griffith was never one of my favorite shows, but it had a nostalgic homey comfort that Trump voters now want to replicate with their MAGA baloney. Unfortunately it was also complete fiction and largely unrelated to real life!
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