Stick a fork in me….
Missy | November 29, 2002
The other day at work, a colleague asked me where I was flying for Thanksgiving. When I told him Ohio, he said something to the effect of, “Ah, okay. I thought you sounded like you were from the Midwest.” I was thinking, what the hell does that mean. Today, while my mom & brother & I were out shopping, I noticed some very subtle, yet distinct things about Midwesterners (or should I say, Ohioans, so as to not offend other Midwesterners): the sameness of uncontroversial clothing styles (unless you’re talking about those painted sweatshirts with, like, Christmas trees and teddy bears on them….what the hell is up with that?); the too much effort put into hairstyles and the too much make-up on faces; the cheeriness in the manners of speaking, not to mention the drawn out vowel sounds that aren’t quite hick accent-like (though we’ve got plenty of those, too). Being here is both pleasing and unnerving. There’s both a pleasantness and plainness about it all.
I’m bored.
My high school won its second and back-to-back state championship in football today. Division IV (I is the largest). Shut up. The quarterback was named “Mr. Football” by the AP, for breaking I don’t know how many national records or somesuch. This really didn’t mean a lick to me until I read that last year’s Mr. Football was one Maurice Clarett. Also, as I type this, my mom’s alma mater (in the same county as my own school) is playing in the Division VI finals. Let’s put this into some perspective. She grew up in the middle of nowhere, on a farm. I think she graduated with like one other person.
We may be rural around these parts, but we shore do love our football.
You know what else I notice? Not the quiet– that’s obvious, and nice. Last night I realized that when it gets dark here, it’s freaking dark. If it was that dark in DC, I’d never go out after sundown. It’s creepy. And it reminded me of the aloneness I surrounded myself with growing up, especially when I’d be driving by myself at nighttime….sort of like that VW/Nick Drake commercial.. It’s a cool feeling, and one I’d like to recapture. Nowadays, “aloneness” unfortunately tends to mean “emotionally distant”.
I am totally out of thoughts right now. This is how sedate I’ve become.
And Julianne Moore is sublime and luminous (words I’m certain I’ve used in the past to describe her; again, her face alone speaks volumes). I was pretty sniffly throughout.
