Perhaps in everyone’s life, there are a million or more things that define us or describe us. Some of them are actions, some of them are memories, some of them are just thoughts. Mostly we do not even have the thoughts ourselves, but recognize them now and then when they rise up before us. We often see or hear them through others. I continue to recognize little bits and pieces of those things even now that are new, even if only to me. Vivid things past and present rose up before me when I read the following in John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden” about the more troubled and troublesome of the two brothers.
“…as a few strokes on the nose will make a puppy head shy, so a few rebuffs will make a boy shy all over. But whereas a puppy will cringe away or roll on its back, groveling, a little boy may cover his shyness with nonchalance, with bravado, or with secrecy. And once a boy has suffered rejection, he will find rejection even where it does not exist—or, worse, will draw it forth from people simply by expecting it.
In Cal, the process had been so long and so slow that he felt no strangeness. He had built a wall of self-sufficiency around himself, strong enough to defend him against the world.”
[For those of you who have forgotten, Cal was the role James Dean played in the movie version of “East of Eden”.]
I Believe In Bread Crumb Trails
I don't know how many of you noticed the addition to the sidebar today, a "Background Colors" list or code. If it's a help or an amusement to any of the rest of you, that's good, but it was conceived as an aid to me when I'm in a hurry and trying to locate one of the posts that is not conveniently at the top of the page.
Also, there are times that I don't use one of these categories long enough that I find I've forgotten which colors to use for what! I forget everything these days and need all the reminders and signposts I can give myself. Yes, I believe in breadcrumb trails, too, thank you very much. Placing this code in the sidebar should satisfy those concerns for me—I won't have to wonder where I've left a copy of the code, I'll have it handy.
Lastly, does anyone object to or really like the azure I just changed to for the background color for fictional vignettes? I like it some, but it seems a bit attention grabbing. If I had a hundred readers at all times, I wouldn't worry about some of them being willing to complain, but my small readership could easily be just 12 shy people who wouldn't want to hurt my feelings. My what?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Abandon hope, all ye who enter here! (At least put on your socks and pants.)