Shel’s Comments (group member since Mar 05, 2009)

Shel’s comments from the fiction files redux group.

Oh, Robert. I think you may have elaborated perfectly on my objections. THANK YOU.

God, I adore Ibsen.

Also, Alan got a blog gig on The Nervous Breakdown as a result:

http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/ab...

Maureen wrote: "you guys! i still haven't found my copy of moby dick but i just saw this new release on netflix (in canada) and had to tell you about it so we can be horrified (and not in a good way) together. i a..."

I saw that too this past weekend and seriously considered watching it.

But then I decided on The Piano, a movie that makes me happy.

Well, they still went on the list, because you know, they actually look pretty interesting! :)

Hmmm.

I got sci fi ---- which is weird because I don't really read sci fi or futuristic stuff.

Ready Player One
By Ernest Cline
"At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, READY PLAYER ONE is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut—part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are inspired by Blade Runner, and flying DeLoreans achieve light speed. It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place."

and

Robopocalypse
By Daniel Wilson
With cinematic flair and a charging pace, Robopocalypse is what happens when World War Z meets classic Asimov robots: a surprisingly heart-wrenching tale of the ways our modern society can backfire on us when we least expect it. And we hear Steven Spielberg is set to direct the movie version! - Alena

It is kind of a downer. Agreed. But it is SO tightly written from a style perspective.

And it could take place anytime, anywhere. I was impressed by the movie version, actually, which surprised me.

I actually think that it would be something high school kids could really connect with, maybe even as much as I did to Camus in high school. One of those really powerful books you connect to your own life for about 1/2 way through it... until you realize it's not about you. But by then it's too late. You're already neck deep in the feelings... and by the end you realize... this can happen any time, any where.

Alienation from our fellow people is kinda ever-present as a theme.

One of our newest dorks has been included in Best Food Writing 2011.

Alan's piece is called Purple Reign, and the book itself includes pieces by Anthony Bourdain and Jonathan Safran Foer.

The piece is somewhere on his blog, Blood & Thunder, but I ordered the book because he gets PAID for that. The Swagga Like Us piece in this blog is one of the best blog posts EVER. I dare you to say it's not hilarious and human and splendid.

I think you have a career in cover jacket design ahead of you.

That is AWESOME.

What does Lulu look like?!

The Joy of Sex.

Wait.

Sorry.

The Bed of Procrustes, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

Yes -- PICTURES, Dan. :)

God, Adrian. This is AWESOME.

Sting can sit in his library for 6 hours and not make a single sound.

(That's a riff on his tantric sex interview of many years ago. I always seem to watch late night tv on the most random, and best, nights!)

The entire top floor of my house is mine. Off to one side is an unfinished attic with a bunch of gorgeous wood rafters. MY plan is to have that room finished out with built-ins but keep as much of those rafters as I possibly can.

I have the same feeling about my house. Yesterday Alan was just saying that he bets I look around sometimes and say, holy shit, *This... this is mine and I did it on my own.* I said, oh, not just sometimes. Almost EVERY day. :)

I was watching Ghostbusters 2 the other night and saw Stephen King do a cameo in it.

I was wondering what the heck he was doing in a Ghostbusters movie.

Jonathan wrote: ". . . okay, i'll start looking around, patty!"

JE... let me help... :)

Oh, Elizabeth, I don't view it as suffering now. I have two beautiful children, an amazing life, and all that came before it had to happen for me to be as happy as I am now. :)

Three cheers for chocolate pie. Alan mentioned that Gloria said we should make a Thanksgiving dinner... I thought that was a grand idea, and chocolate pie would fit right in!

People ask me about this group all the time. They ask me about this gathering I go to, they ask me about what we do together.

I tell them that I had no idea how much this group would shift things for me as a person. I couldn't have known, as I started posting to the group, how much it would change how I feel about my life and who I am.

Then I tell them about the drunk bingo to lighten things up.

So first, I thank Jonathan, for sending me the invite, and creating a space in which I could be only me. And I don't usually get all personal here, but what the hell, right? People don't know how you feel if you don't say it. Life is too short to not say I fracking LOVE you when you feel it.

When I joined, I was in a terribly co-dependent marriage where I was made to feel totally inadequate, no matter how skillfully I performed the role of wife. I took on responsibility for another person's happiness, another person's baggage. It was a marriage gone sour.

But by 2008 I was experimenting with what it meant to be on my own. When I came to the first Dork, I made something of a silent commitment to myself. I would only be me. I would see how that went.

And you all accepted me with open arms. I was only there for what, 72 hours, but that feeling of being accepted just as I was ... helped me gather courage to experiment more.

By 2009's Dork I was well into the throes of what seemed like a calm divorce on the surface but made me crazy on the inside, because of all that I had to unwind myself from. I must have seemed like a whirling dervish, but you all hugged me just the same, made me laugh just the same, accepted me just as I was.

This year -- after all of the work I've done in my own life -- I was able to simply, deeply enjoy the smiles on everyone's faces, the stories told, games played, meals eaten and time with one of my chosen families.

I wouldn't say that the group has somehow given me all of the courage and encouragement I've needed for the changes I've undergone, but it has contributed to my understanding of me, and made my life a much richer experience.

I'm so grateful for that. Thank you. I love you all.

Alan and I were already talking about how, if we go back to the Northwest, he and I will be taking a leisurely spin through the market and heading out with seafood to cook for everyone the first night. :)

There better effing be! But I'm checking. :)

One word: Ego.

That's all it is. And that's all it takes.