EXERCISE: The Lady In the Elevator, With Corsage

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

original posting: Mon, 23 Dec 2002 23:10:17 -0500

This week bids fair to be interesting.

This morning, in the elevator at the condominium, an older lady came in, with a corsage in her hands.  Clear plastic box, so it was visible.

I joked, mildly, "So does this mean you're going dancing later, or that you went dancing yesterday?"

She turned, with a big smile, and said, "It's the oddest story."

I smiled back, and she said, "It's from a man, because he never took me to a dance when we were in high school.  He came to visit yesterday, and I hadn't seen him in 45 years, and he brought me this."

I and the other elevator patron exclaimed, "That's so nice" or similar phrases.

Frankly, while she wanted to tell us about her story, I don't think she was listening to our responses at all.  She was dancing with the memories of 45 years, spiced with a corsage.

Go ahead, make up a story about this woman and her long-time beaux.  Or take another pair of characters, and separate them for a time, then tell us a tale of their meeting again.

What kind of corsage do you want after all that time?

And what do you say to someone after 45 years?

Write!

"We are most likely to get angry and excited in our opposition to some idea when we ourselves are not quite certain of our own position, and are inwardly tempted to take the other side."  Thomas Mann

Not to mention the allure of antagonism and similar contrariness!

EXERCISE: In My Magic Mirror, I See...

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Date: Thu, 19 Dec 2002 00:39:09 -0500

At 10:13 PM 12/17/2002 -0600, A. J. wrote:

However, on line, we can't see what you are wearing.  (I thank god no one can see what I am wearing.)

Aha!  You obviously don't have the Windows Magic Add-On Package, which allows you to see those scurvy skivvies your online correspondents are wearing, those tattered bathrobes, oh, my goodness, is it that hot in Australia or did she just come in from the dances?  Turn any monitor into a window on the world!  Only $19.95 a month through this special one-time offer (we'll let you know if you ever catch up with the payments, but don't plan on it).

Anyway, for a small investment in imagination and finger-dancing, go ahead and write up something about the "man behind the curtain".  Tell us something about the fake flowers fluttering beside the flatscreen monitor, the dusty piles of papers untouched since they were carefully sorted in place, and the other wonders of your workplace.  Give us an insight into the character that sits there, grinding verbs and splintering adjectives on the rocky shores of the nouns.

Go ahead and show us what you're wearing.  Don't be ashamed, we're tough, we can handle the thongs and flipflops of outrageous online fashion.

And you thought on the internet no one would know you were a dog.