the pregnant chad
I am such a lazy Mimi Smartypants. Squibnocket is going to take me off her “daily reading list” and shove me right back onto her “weekly reading list.” And I would deserve it. But it's been a weird week. I won't even mention the election stuff because at this point I wouldn't care if I never heard one more word about it.
OK, maybe I'll mention just one, tangentially related thing. This morning I woke up to NPR, and they were broadcasting some Republican protest against the hand count in Florida, and the protesters were chanting “No more chads! No more chads!” And I thought, boy, that would be a lousy thing to hear first thing in the morning if your name was Chad. I'd go right back to bed if that happened to me.
Speaking of NPR, I have to thank them for helping me discover once and for all that I'm no populist. I mean, we knew this already, but it struck home during their election coverage. I love NPR, and I think they broadcast the best news anywhere (certainly better than TV…I seriously just want to poke Tom Brokaw's eyes out sometimes), but sometimes they (meaning NPR) take the down-home just-folks “real America” thing a bit too far. I switched the radio on during this whole debacle and they were interviewing people in Buttmunch, Minnesota and Podunk, Missouri and places like that about their thoughts on the election. Going to beauty parlors and shot-and-a-beer bars and gathering reactions.
Every human being is valuable in some way, I truly believe that even though I may not always show it here. But let's face it, not every human being has an informed opinion that should be broadcast across the country. I hear plenty of ignorant uninformed opinions every day of my life, and when I turn on the news I'd like to hear, well, NEWS, or some expert analysis, and not just what guy on the street named Earl thinks.
(By the way, I apologize to any of my readers who are named Earl. And to those who are named Chad. Earl, Chad, send me an e-mail and I'll buy you a beer. Seriously. I feel bad now.)
I will do another entry soon, and hopefully will get back into the swing of things. Here's some book recommendations for you in the meantime.
Nobrow, by John Seabrook —- this is a hybrid between a personal narrative and cultural criticism, a sort of creative nonfiction thing about culture, “underground,” “mainstream,” and the marketing thereof. I liked it because he worked at The New Yorker under Tina Brown, and has a good analysis of what happened to the magazine over the years, and I find the history of The New Yorker pretty damn fascinating.
Bee Season, by Myla Goldberg —- a good first novel about Jewish mysticism and spelling bees. Also, although I'm not usually interested in the author-as-person, this book boasts one of the cutest author photos I've ever seen. She's adorable. Instant crush. And I liked the book, too.
More later. Enjoy the Chicago snow. It might be better, though, if it fell straight down instead of whipping sideways and cutting up your face with sharp little edges. That's just my opinion.
—mimi smartypants!