Part I of my graphic memoir
October 23, 2022 11:28 AM   Subscribe

 
Congratulations! I can relate. (And I’m looking forward to more. No pressure.)
posted by probably not that Karen Blair at 11:56 AM on October 23, 2022


Yay! Glad to see this project here on the Blue. It reminds me of Roz Chast and Lynda Barry, and is really good in its own right.
posted by MonkeyToes at 1:16 PM on October 23, 2022 [1 favorite]


I really liked this. Bravo!
posted by Thella at 1:47 PM on October 23, 2022


Everyone always writes lol or LOL in email or text or online chat. But they don't really lol, much less LOL.

They have robbed the language, they have cheapened the word, they have weakened what could be -- should be -- a wonderful addition to our linguistic palette, they have brought mistrust into what I read, and distrust, mistrust and distrust into how I feel when I read, they are another of the breed which includes used car salesmen, lawyers, dogs who pretend they care when all they want is the goddamned biscuit, mechanics who say it's absolutely going to cost $63.22 maximum and take just fifteen minutes.

In short: They are liars, they are dishonest, and, worst, they know it, yet somehow they look in the mirror.

They suck.

But I! I do ~ not ~ write lol unless there has been a lightening of my spirit, a guffaw, a smile. It may not be a big smile but there it is, pulled by humor onto my face. It is A Good Thing.

And LOL? Only if I "Laughed Out Loud." Just like it says on the tin. For Jesus Christ sake, this isn't rocket science, it's simple, it's easy, a child can understand it, and practice it, and smell it when it's a lie, and call you out on it.

I write all that to write this: I Laughed Out Loud when I read your book. Real fun. Wise, smart, funny.

I loved that you caught the annoyance of doctors making us put those stupid gowns on backwards; I've pushed back, and put it on correctly, only for them to get all frowny and finger-pointy and they tell me to turn it around, and they mean it. It's a power play, for sure. I'd bet no doc ever had Don Vito Corleone put one of these goddamn things on bass ackwards, or Joseph Stalin.

And going back into therapy, to chisel finally The Finished Product, you called it right. Fuck it. This is as good as it's gonna get.

Which doesn't mean that I have not had therapists save my life. One therapist and one psychiatrist, in tandem, 19 years ago -- I still can't believe the love these people gave me. Fantastic human beings, as good as can possibly be expected, better, truth to be told. They are gold. They flat would not give up on me nor let me give up on myself. I owe them my life.

And I have has therapists save my ass, I have had therapists call me on my bullshit, I have had therapists as Wise Friends. I have had two therapists to break my anonymity, and didn't call any board or whatever, though I damn sure wanted to, esp with one who told my girlfriend things that should never, ever left that room. I have learned to never lie, except just a little bit, when I have to, but mostly the cards are Face Up on the table when I'm eye to eye with some other soul giving me what they can. I learned that in those rooms, and also from books which no one reads any longer, books that were/are incredibly important to me -- you caught that also. Fun.

You caught a lot, you've given my Sunday afternoon on the couch on a lot of zing.

Your book is every bit as good as that crazy kid (Allie Brosh) we all fell in love with ten years ago, it's as honest and human and intimate and LOfuckingL funny.

More please.
posted by dancestoblue at 1:50 PM on October 23, 2022 [2 favorites]


This is excellent and I can’t wait to read the rest!
posted by obfuscation at 2:23 PM on October 23, 2022


Therapists are aware that that "You always overreact to everything!" is unhelpful bullshit?
posted by bleep at 3:52 PM on October 23, 2022


Clap clap clap!!! It's really good! Now do more!
posted by HotToddy at 4:04 PM on October 23, 2022 [1 favorite]


This was great! I have been having my own grey hair struggles this year, and I could relate. My feelings about going grey really are a…what’s the word? Synecdoche! for my complicated feelings about aging and midlife in general.

Total Lynda Barry vibe, which I mean as a big compliment.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 4:51 PM on October 23, 2022 [2 favorites]


Relatable, enjoyable, warm and familiar, like an old friend...or a memory of one.
posted by meh at 5:08 PM on October 23, 2022


Yeah, this is really great and I’m happy to see it getting love and recognition on the blue.
posted by fruitslinger at 5:25 PM on October 23, 2022


On the page about Shakespeare's first name I tried to remember it and was completely stumped. I'm looking forward to the next chapter.
posted by bendy at 7:57 PM on October 23, 2022


Extraordinarily relatable!
posted by mollweide at 8:11 PM on October 23, 2022


MOAR PLS
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 10:46 PM on October 23, 2022


This is the best memoir I've ever read. And also, you are the best wife I've ever had.
posted by McNulty at 10:47 PM on October 23, 2022 [4 favorites]


“me, hiding my anxiety inside my Eileen Fisher separates” is such an evocative expression. If I weren’t getting more and more gray hairs myself yet, I’d say “it’s a whole mood.”
posted by meijusa at 7:18 AM on October 24, 2022 [3 favorites]


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