Patti loves Kurt Vonnegut. Probably always has. Knowing her, she picked up one of his books when she was in junior high, maybe earlier, and just started reading — not because anyone told her to, probably, but because she’d read his name somewhere or saw his works referred to by someone else whose books she enjoyed reading.
She’s a bit of an explorer, that Patti.
I read something by Vonnegut once, a short story or two, I don’t remember. I’m quite certain I had something else going on at the time, so, as usual, I wasn’t paying full attention.
(I always seem to not catch on in time, sometimes.)
Anyhoo, upon hearing of Vonnegut’s death, I e-mailed Patti because I knew she’d be sad. He was one of her heroes — and if you know Patti at all, you know she doesn’t toss out words like “hero” to too many people. Which is probably for the best, really.
This morning, I found myself thinking about this Vonnegut quote:
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.”
What are some of the things I pretend to be?
- Aware
- In control
- Interested (I try to be, but when it’s not all about me … I struggle.)
- Responsible
There are many more, of course;* these are simply a few of the ones I don’t mind sharing, mostly ’cause people have probably figured them out already.
What are some of the things you pretend to be?
* — I couldn’t resist throwing in a semicolon, in part because Vonnegut apparently hated them:
“Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.”
(I will admit: I’m trying to cut down on semicolons. Although I have to say that one of the things I love about me is that I know exactly how to use them. So put THAT in your drok pipe** and smoke it!)
** — There are, basically, no limits to my capacity for drokdom.
2 comments
Comments feed for this article
April 13, 2007 at 11:32 am
Patti
Vonnegut had a thing for semicolons. I also read that he said that when Hemingway killed himself he put a period at the end of his life; old age is more like a semicolon (semicolon intended!)
Thanks for the nod to Mr. Vonnegut. He changed my world of reading and, more importantly, changed the way I think.
I picked up Welcome To The Monkey House after a cousin of Bob’s told me about one of the stories. I was hooked from the introduction.
“And so it goes.”
April 13, 2007 at 2:20 pm
t_endo
Vonnegut was one of my favorites too. A hero of sorts.
and I didn’t start reading him until I was 20! He was a great “freethinker,” unbounded by the conventions of society or even this world. I think that’s what got his work thrown in with the sci-fi bunch, even though it was more philosophical in nature.
He changed the way I read, and the way I write, not to mention some of my basic world view. All that adds up to being a pretty powerful figure in my life — so I’m a little sad this week.
Sad but thankful that I stumbled on to him when I did.
And so it goes, indeed.