July 4
Though Labor Day was the biggest holiday of the year in my home town, it did Independence Day fireworks well. Every year, the local paper recruited a teen to do the fireworks story, and at some point this fell to me - a fairly odd tradition, as it’s a pretty dull story actually.
The year after, my friend Philip got the gig, and this surprised me because, while I was always a good dooby, and also already worked at the paper (at that point as office cleaner and occasional copy editor; several years later, post-college, I covered city council meetings), Phillip was NOT.
Philip grew up, got a BS from Chicago and a PhD from Harvard, did research on bullying, developed cancer, and died. Here’s what I wrote about him a few years ago on DreamWidth; this led to me corresponding a bit with his mother. I told her I’d write up something more extensive; I didn’t/haven’t.
It was hard to write my usual friendship-focused h/c in the immediate weeks/months after learning about Phil’s death; what could I say about friendship, other than that it was fleeting? My mother’s illness last summer, I believe, has made writing even harder, because though she’s doing fine now AFAICT, it’s not because of anything I did. Though I tried - I really, really tried - to get her the proper help, mostly from afar, I persistently felt that I should be down there banging on doors and shouting at people. And being with her. And, I didn’t. Okay, well, I did, a little. Argh.
So I could relate, some, to Link in Monday’s Ear Biscuit. Though his grandfather’s situation’s closest analogy, in my life, was Kay’s passing a few months ago - and the close friend of a close friend just a week or so ago...
Anyway, I was thinking of grabbing an h/c bingo card and trying to force myself to write, but now I’m thinking, I’ll give the guys a few weeks off, at least, before I try anything. And also, what could I say, that Link didn’t?
Okay, we got insight into how Link processes; how Link thinks processing SHOULD be done; into the village that raised Link; into the island that raised Rhett...
THIS POST WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT HOW JULY 4 IS “RHETT&LINK&JOHN&HANK DAY FOR ME, because it was on this day four years ago that my daughters had us listen to John Green’s Ear Biscuit interview as we drove to the beach house some friends have access to (long story; let’s hear it for the One Percent). I was generally aware of Rhett&Link and John Green, but that interview turned me into a fan; my first foray into RP fandom, and definitely RP fanfic.
At the time, it felt like a Terry Gross interview had been - somthinged. And I really wondered how that interview would have been different if Terry Gross had done it. Several years later, my wish was answered. If I ever submit a question to Dear Hank and John, it will be about this, though it’s not the sort of question they usually answer.
Back to bed