Summertime dictates that I get my kids to all their doctors’
visits so we don’t have to deal with it in the school year. Why?
Because…I happen to have the only two children who get angry on the last
day of school because the year is over! Heaven
forbid they lose time during the year for something important like a teeth
cleaning or an eye exam! Silly buggars!
Anyway, we’re at the eye doctor and Vz gets cleared, but
Clair and I? Hmm. We need help!
While Clair is in her appointment, I go ahead and pick out my frames. I admit, I went in there (like I do
everything else in my life) with preconceived fashion ideas and thought I
wanted the lovely Silhouette Rimless frames with the tiniest piece of bling on
the earpiece which, incidentally, was bronze to match my hair color. Well, that was until I saw the price tag and
about croaked right there in the display room!
I mean, geeze Louise! So I went shopping.
And see, here’s the thing.
I had already dropped by there before to check out their frames to kind
of give myself a heads-up…you know, for my pre-conceivedness. And when I was there the first time, I saw these
absolutely masterfully created bling-a-ling-a-dingy cat eye sunglasses. Oh.
My. Gawd. I loved
them! But I needed real glasses. So after
playing dress-up I put them back on the shelf like any good little Fancy Nancy
would do. Until this particular day, that
is. I want you to know, I zipped across
that showroom floor from Silhouette to Bebe so fast I made the air whoosh and blur! I did, I tell you! And there they were, shining their bling
right back at me all sparkly and brand new!
I put those Bebes on and walked around while the bells of heaven were
ringing to my singing and blinging. And
I convinced myself I just had to have them.
So I placed the order real fast-like and put that business
behind me as Clair walked into the room with her own doctor’s orders to pick
out frames. And the process began again.
However, this time, Momma Me was there
pointing the way to the Bebe shelf. But Noooo! She doesn’t like bling. She’s not like me
at all. That’s your
thing, she says. And an hour and a half
later, we’re paying for her own pair of Bebes with
bling-edy-bling-bling-bling! Yes
sirree! She does in fact do the bling!
Now why am I telling you this? Because, as someone I admire in the publishing
business said in a newsletter yesterday, writers write what they know. And what they know best is who they are themselves. Their personal qualities and experiences in
life are the filter the fictional characters and stories come through.
So do we really know ourselves? Think about it. Clair was in total denial of her bling-gene. She comes by it naturally, too. Norma Jean, Doc M, Sister, and I all have
it. So it just goes to reason that the grandkids
would have it too, right? Well, the
Man-children do not have anything
close to the bling gene unless you want to start talking fishin’ beads and
bobbles. (Actually, that kinda works! Huh.
Go figure.) Anyway, as a writer
in training, Clair learned a little something about herself that day shopping amongst
the intellectual, the rimless, the round and square, small and big. She found herself. She found part of her true identity in the bling.
Now using ten character words I ask…who am I? I am…. kind,
loving, flamboyant, enthusiastic, friendly, fun, and dependable, a bit provocative,
artistic, and totally wacked-out! And I
think that’s pretty much what I write, wouldn’t you say?
Finally, I put the question to you…Who are you? In ten descriptive words, what makes you You? And be sure to tell us…what do you write?
Grocery lists are acceptable.
