A special thanks to the fair Lady Guinevere (otherwise known as Jen) whom I met yesterday at the Proud 2B Catholic event, and who is wicked nice for saying that I'm wicked nice.
"Wicked" is Boston slang for outstanding or really, really cool. It's interesting that modern language patterns are given to such hyperbolic extremes, given the older patterns like say Morte d'Arthur or even as recent as Huckleberry Finn. It struck me that we are prone to say, "How in the world did that happen?" whereas older speech (like in Huck Finn) would have said, "How in the nation did that happen?" I was just noticing, that's all.
Speaking of noticing, this was a major foray out of the cave. To avoid traffic, I drove to Salem a little bit early (I hate trying to find a place with cars kissing my rear bumper). I parked in a parking garage attached to a mall and I did a little browsing in the mall. The first thing I noticed was all the handwritten signs on the windows of the businesses therein informing me that the restrooms were only available for paying customers. As I stepped outdoors, I noticed all the signs informing particular drivers that they could not park in a particular place.
I understand the pressures that drive these sorts of rules, but it all felt oppressive in the way that the Land cried out to Thomas Covenant in Stephen R. Donaldson's Unbeliever series. I just keep thinking how psychologically unhealthy it was to worry about a safe place to pee. I was in shock before the event started. Salem is just too closed in for my tastes.
Of course, I should venture from the cave more often, if only to avoid sunburn from a few hours outdoors on a partly cloudy day.
Posted by Bob at August 10, 2003 08:31 PM