For reasons I can only dimly recall, this week Mr.
Typist and I decided it would be a great idea to watch the Nova documentary, “The Fabric of the Cosmos: Universe or Multiverse?", smack in the middle of the day
like it was a common talk show or something. It was all about the theory of an exponentially
expanding universe. There were a lot of pretty-colored orbs flying at me hypnotically,
incomprehensible animated math wriggling across the screen, and
terribly-performed re-enactments of physicists in oversized glasses being nerd-bitchy
to each other. Mr. Typist assured me it was “geared towards layman” and that I’d
have a clear understanding of…whatever after watching it. But I do not have a
clear understanding, and I'm very upset
now. I have no idea what's going on. I didn’t understand their wriggly animated
math, but apparently we’re just flying apart. I'm panicked at the idea of
non-stop expansion. I can barely handle my own life, and now I'm part of some weird
anomalous particle field speeding untethered through the space/time continuum?
I am so not down with that.
Mr. Typist has this recurring condition he calls
“insignifi-phobia” which is invoked in him whenever he spends too much time contemplating
the vastness of the universe. It’s a sort of overwhelming existential crisis in
which the tininess and irrelevance of his being in the scope of the galaxy is brought
home to bear in no uncertain terms. I already spend too much time obsessing
over things I can’t control, so I try not to add the size of the universe to
that list. But I have to say, I now understand exactly how he feels. Thanks for
nothing, Nova!
This weekend, I spent some time tinkering around
with my dud novel character, Lye, trying to spice him up a little. It was an
interesting experiment. I have been agonizing over that character ever since I
started the re-write. I found myself simply unable to do the “right” thing and
hammer out a character study for him. The only way I was able to work with him
was to actually re-write each of his dialogue scenes verbatim. I realized in this
process that I truly am a “seat-of-the-pants” writer. I have a very hard time planning.
My writing happens during the writing;
I’m just not able to do it any other way. I will never be someone who can
create and write from an elaborate outline, and I’ve come to peace with that. At
any rate, Lye has a more definitive personality now. Not perhaps a more
tolerable one, but a more definitive one.
Today, Mr. Typist and I, in an attempt to escape
our mutual insignifi-phobia, took a spontaneous trip to the Point Defiance Zoo!
After I got over my initial shock that there
were children there, at the zoo, on a Sunday, I started to enjoy myself. I was especially excited to
encounter Gibbon monkeys, which I’ve had a special affinity for since writing “The
Gibbon Remedy”. I saw breathtaking Bengal tigers, two pure white arctic foxes (I
also have an affinity for white animals, which show up often in my dreams), hypnotic
jellyfish, and a motley assortment of other critters, all in various stages of
boredom or ennui, because, you know, they're in a zoo. Pics are below. I’m off to bathe, as I smell like a zoo.
--Kristen McHenry
 |
| Jelly Jelly! |
 |
| Hello, Handsome |
 |
| Bored Yak is Bored |
 |
| Ducks |
No comments:
Post a Comment