Once more, in hope and fear of Smilin' Bill.

[mrissa]

Am I the only one who has books percolating in her head that feel like they're whole books and then half the plot falls on her like the proverbial ton of bricks and she's left wondering how on earth she could have thought the previous half-plot was the whole thing? Are all you-people more mentally organized and linear than that? Do you tend to know what it is you don't know?

Smilin' Bill Novak -- that would be my tenth grade English teacher -- used to talk about how he didn't mind the people who knew they didn't know, it was the people who didn't know and didn't know they didn't know who drove him buggy. (Actually we all had our theory on who had driven Smilin' Bill buggy, but I already got one defensive snarky e-mail from her ego-googling and certainly don't need another.) Anyway, I keep thinking I want to find Smilin' Bill again, that it would be really cool to see him, but at the same time I occasionally have nightmares that I go to the launch party for my very first book, and he's there, and he gives it to me to sign, and in red ink and large caps on the title page he's written, "DON'T WASTE MY TIME." Just like he used to on our essays when we attempted to bullshit him; Smilin' Bill would not be bullshat. And I live in fear of Smilin' Bill thinking that I'm one of the ones who doesn't know and doesn't know she doesn't know. From him it still matters.

But the stuff I didn't know I didn't know: dang. Dar Williams and the Minnesota River and the Winter Carnival (all of which are Sir Not Appearing In This Book) made my brain go clicketa-clicketa-clicketa-CHING! And the fortune that the machine spat out was, "You will write lots of words about some stuff you made up, and also you will swear at that tricksy little so-and-so Tam Lin and at that totally transparent ape Carter Hall for not seeing that Tam was being secretive in more than one direction at once."

Well. Can't argue with the machine's fortunes. Winds for the sacrifice? If that's what we gotta do. Anything to be able to look Smilin' Bill in the eye when I go to sleep.

Comments

[anne-mommy.livejournal.com]

At the Minnesota Zoo? Hmmmmm......

I'm also quite fond of the song "The Christians and the Pagans" =)

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

That was the first Dar Williams song we ever heard, courtesy of a college friend who was visiting at Christmas time in '04 (I think it was '04...). Williams really gets some cultural stuff: "Saw his own son tug his sleeve, saying, 'Can I be a pagan?' Dad said, 'We'll discuss it when they leave.'" Perfect.

[anne-mommy.livejournal.com]

I love that line.

Also, I love that she pokes fun of intellectualism. You know, Students against the treacherous use of fur doesn't make a good acronym.

Oddly, my husband got me into Dar Williams. He's a huge fan.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

And it's very clear -- to me, at least -- that she pokes fun at that sort of thing from the inside. Have you heard the intro to "I Won't Be Your Yoko Ono" on her live album? It's hilarious. It's become a running joke around here. Periodically we'll say things like, "It's not a bag, it's a shirt!" and giggle madly.

[anne-mommy.livejournal.com]

Yes! I bought that album for Dominic a couple of years ago. "It's not a pipe, it's a musical instrument" and I love how she calls the levels of genius "relentless". My older sister has a degree in anthropology from Berkeley, which says a lot about her. And it's often how I felt when amongst her crowd. They were fabulous and wonderful, but it could be truly exhausting! Dar definitely gets that and manages to both appreciate and tease at the same time.