My fiction is usually about women in their 20’s and 30’s because they’re fun to write about, and it comes easily to me. My memoir is about my late teens–very early 20’s and much as I loved it, I would only go back if I knew the same people to start, well in college, not my high school boyfriend, and had the knowledge I have now. Not necessarily of the situations and specific people but of people.
When I hit 40, I seemed to get the go straight to old age card as my life became immersed in it for a decade. I happen to love middle age. It feels much freer in many ways. But it’s hard when you have spent your life getting acolodes for just being. I don’t feel invisible; don’t have that kind of personality. I’m not the flower on the wall type. There are many times now and more times earlier I would have liked to because I was insecure. But I got used to being a centerpiece. I’m not anymore. People don’t really discuss this stage of life in blogs. Tell funny stories.
My fiction, last week tomorrow and in the following weeks will be exploring that stage. More people were born in 1957-58 than any other years. There are so many of us. But we tell funny stories. Or talk about menopause. Frankly that later one is a plus in my life. Just can’t say “lose weight” and it will magically come off. I think middle age is something that needs to be discussed in blogs. Old age, everybody is pro that, and has charming stories. but middle age brings perspective. It brings so much, and people just don’t talk about it
I have never cried as I cried over Katrina. Oh I shed many a tear over 9/11 and my parents. But Katrina, it wasn’t mine. It didn’t hit me where I lived. By the time Katrina happened I had lost all faith in our government. It wasn’t hard for me to believe that people had a moral responsibility both to help and to cast blame.
I had been blogging long enough to have faith in the people of this country.
For some reason Fats Domino being missing and then found hit me the most. Maybe because I love music so much. Maybe Katrina hit me so hard because it is the true magical musical city, and all my associations are of good food, good music and good friends.
I was prepared to cry when I clicked this video. Maybe it was seeing a man, not Fats, somebody more associated with David Letterman, with dark not gray hair. Maybe it was seeing Fats in the 60’s. Maybe crying time is over, and it’s time for all of us to help with the rebuilding.
First a serious video.
I didn’t cry: I swore a lot.
This was a nice post, Pia. Touching and to the point.
I never got to see New Orleans before Katrina, which is something I deeply regret.
There is so much to make up sad and so much to make us happy.The cure for what ails is elusive at best.
This was a nice post. Funny, but most of the blogs I read belong to those of the “middle age”.
It seems that the majoriity of blogs are writtten by 30 somethings. And a big handful by 20 somethings. At times I feel like a dinosaur on the blogosphere, not only because I have been plugging away for four years, but because I am a 50 something. Menopause was a long time ago, I can’t even blog about it because I had it so easy, like childbirth, no one wants to hear how easy I had it! lol!! I have been very frustrated the past several months and not writing much…maybe I will try to look deep and revive some stories…dinosaur stories! And the recent focus on Katrina is heart wrenching. How could we forget and move on so quickly. If not for the media taking a “two years later” look, they could well be still forgotten. My sister was in N.O. when it happened, trapped in the Ritz Carlton and got out only ONLY because the military wanted the building. I have this theory that if buisness said, “Okay, everyone who wants to take two weeks off and head to N.O. to help with the recovery effort can go” we would have had this thing licked a long time ago. And FEMA, what a cluster**** still to this day.