Friday, March 11, 2005

Fruits of the Pity Tree

2:00 PM
So a week ago I said: I'm gassed, I'm wheezin', I'm old & gray before my day. Hoping, of course, for a little tenderness--yeah, that's the truth, I threw a little pity-party, and am SO grateful that some of you came! Admittedly, not all of you did--most of you proceeded onward with the business of talking about the business (annoying well, in fact--my absence in this regard seemed not at all problematic). But enough of you said 'Oh Max, please don't go' that it reminded me of a quote offered up some while back by Ami McKay--who had, at an earlier time, detected a note of resignation and responded in a manner much beloved by the pity-prospecting proprietor of BookAngst 101:

"And Max the king of all wild things was lonely and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all. Then all around from far away across the world he smelled good things to eat so he gave up being king of where the wild things are. But the wild things cried, 'Oh please don't go - we'll eat you up - we love you so!"

from "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak 1963 - Harper Collins Publishers.

So thanks, to Ami and others, for the love & pity, and also for the several good topic suggestions--about which, hopefully, you'll be hearing more soon.

2 comments:

Ami said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
10:47 AM, March 12, 2005
Ami said...

Awww, Max...you make me feel all warm and fuzzy. (The fuzziness is probably from staying up too late, obsessing over the notes I just got from my editor. But the warmth is all yours, baby.) ;-)

Just wanted you to know that I meant every word. I think that "The Blogging Blahs" happen to all of us from time to time. Sometimes there just doesn't seem to be much of anything to say. I say wait 'til the spirit moves you...it's the only way to keep it honest and real. xoxox

10:48 AM, March 12, 2005

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A VOCATION OF UNHAPPINESS [Courtesy Georges Simenon (1903-1985)]

"Writing is considered a profession, and I don't think it is a profession. I think that everyone who does not need to be a writer, who thinks he can do something else, ought to do something else. Writing is not a profession but a vocation of unhappiness. I don't think an artist can ever be happy."

PRACTICAL MARKETING [Courtesy Zornhau, 2005]

"They should put the 1st couple of pages up in subway adverts. Having read them several times, you'd feel compelled to try the book - if it was any good."

PLATE OF SHRIMP [Courtesy Alex Cox’s REPO MAN, circa 1984]

"A lot of people don't realize what's really going on. They view life as a bunch of unconnected incidences and things. They don't realize that there's this like lattice of coincidence that lays on top of everything. I'll give you an example, show you what I mean. Suppose you're thinking about a plate of shrimp. Suddenly somebody will say like "plate" or "shrimp" or "plate of shrimp" out of the blue, no explanation. No point in looking for one either. It's all part of a cosmic unconsciousness."