It's all about me...this time...

I couldn't read for almost two years. Anything. My eyes would just skitter over whole pages of novels and even an article in the trashiest of magazines couldn't hold my attention. About two weeks after, a package from England arrived. I opened it and burst into tears when I pulled out the contents. Alison had sent me Helen Fielding's The Edge of Reason (the sequel to Bridget Jones' Diary), which hadn't yet come out in the U.S. I actually was somewhat able to read that one immediately. It wasn't the story that moved me to those tears... Alison's unique, tailor-made thoughtfulness echoed a previous gesture of hers. The last time I'd seen her, Bridget Jones' Diary had just come out in England and she'd brought it with her on that 1996 visit when we all converged in Spokane. We were sitting on the porch, both reading. She was completely enjoying BJD, laughing aloud every few minutes. After a bit, she handed it to me, though she hadn't finished it, and said she knew I'd finish it in one sitting. She knew this like she knows so many other things about me. The vast gaps in geography and time have not dulled in the least my friend's acute perceptive skills.

And now...from so so so so far away, she has read, with more attention than it usually deserves, this blog. She sent...





I asked her for clarification of something she'd said in a previous e-mail, though I wasn't really sure I wanted the answer.

But, the comparison was not unfavorable..

"You remind me of Elle in Legally Blonde because duh, have you read your own blog lately? You switch quite happily from discussing the figure of the prostitute in the turn of the century latin american narrative (and probably discuss it in Spanish!) to the perfect Little black dress, fuck me heels and the merits of embroidery on the backside of jeans, and then switch back to some obscure Portuguese poet and so on. So you're reeeeally smart and in touch with your feminine side. You also like dogs, and would never diss a sister. Believe me, the hair colour is actually about the only difference between you."

For the record, she's reallyreallyrealy smart and craftstastic!