is the word 'diary' better than the word 'blog'? probably not.
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Gimmick.
Gimmick.
Caroleen hears music in terms of lyrics. By which I mean, she has this funny gift for hearing a short tune, like the theme to Law & Order or Six Feet Under, or an inane instrumental phrase from a commercial, and then immediately transforming it into a song with words. Not profound and interesting and beautiful words such as her own songs are made of, but funny obvious little words that are funny because they fit so perfectly, and are so obvious. They are the kinds of words that I cannot transcribe for you because if I did the effect would be lost. So you will have to ask one of us in the circle of TV-watchers to sing a song or two for you next time you run into us. Or something.
The only good funny song I�ve ever written is my Hegelian recognition song.
Caroleen�s tiny-song gift (as opposed to her huge-song gift) reminds me of my friend Keith�s crazy ability to make things rhyme. I�m not so bad at that, but he is quicker and crazier at it than I am.
Right now I�m taking a break from preparing for this afternoon�s Jill/Caroleen belated birthday barbeque. Caroleen is making cupcakes, and I�m boiling pasta for pasta salad. Jeff is marinating pork. Literally. But it is HOTT up there. Jeff�s oven is a ye olde tymey oven which looks great but which you have to keep closed with a bungie mechanism strapped to the handle and over the stovetop to the ledge on the stairs. So a lot of heat escapes whenever baking happens. I have ducked downstairs to the land of cool breezes and internet coverage for a few minutes.
Back up in the kitchen, we were talking about gimmicks, or signature things that people can do (like a photographer who is known for taking long-exposure night shots of city buildings� that is his gimmick). Jeff was all, I NEED A GIMMICK. I responded, �I�m sure you have one. You should ask other people. I think sometimes other people can see our gimmicks better than we can ourselves.� Caroleen agreed. He said, �Other people might say my gimmick is misanthropy.� And I told him it was good that he knows that. Ha. I would say his gimmick is quiet observation paired with a quirky form of judgment on situations that appear benign, but aren�t. He has a huge conscience. So maybe that particular gimmick (I would also say that he has many �gimmicks�) isn�t so visible to that many people, since having a huge conscience, especially one that operates outside the norm, that�s a bit indiscernible.
Speaking of indiscernible, I finished my book review of Being and Event. (The book is indiscernible at some points, no matter who you are, and also, the book is about how indiscernibility gets made discernible, AKA how change is possible in the world.) I think it turned out OK. It was hard to do mostly because there is SO MUCH going on in that book that there is no way a double-spaced 8-page review could ever be �authoritative.� So I picked a couple of themes and went for it ALL THE WAY. (Is that my gimmick?) Someone else can do the rest.
Perhaps gimmick is the wrong word. But since I�ve defined it for you in a roundabout fashion in this entry, it doesn�t matter what it �really� means, because I�ve told you how it is operating here. It means: someone�s style, or their character, or something identifiable about them, that singles them out. Perhaps gimmick = ethos.
[pause.]
I went back upstairs and ate a cupcake and chopped some red peppers for the pasta salad while Caroleen picked basil in the backyard. Then I realized I should get dressed. I was wearing red athletic capri-type pants and a tank top. Jeff was all: I thought you were just going for the casual-it�s-a-hot-day look. And I said, �No Jeff. This is my around the house look. When there are people coming over, there is some DRESSING to do. It�s my gimmick.�
Now I look totally overdressed. And for some reason I feel more comfortable.
1:26 p.m. - May 28, 2006
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