21 July 2007
Family Reunion.
Family Reunions are a patchwork quilt of stories, tastes, and characters that have a single genealogical thread sewn throughout them. Family Reunions are a good time to sample your Aunt's prize winning casserole only to secretly realize that your Mom's is better. Family Reunions also remind you why your family decided to only have one once a year--or two. Most of all, Family Reunions are the only time where you can truly say, "It's all relative(s)."
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7 comments:
"It's all relative"...I swear I've heard that somewhere before.
Side note: just out of curiosity -
who's 'the shoe box salesman'?
Well, that's actually good question (usually I get the question "what's a 'shoebox salesman'?" which at times can be semi-answered). Although, I'm unsure if I have an answer for this question. I'll try though. I wrote under that title for quite some time; however, I wouldn't say, "I am the shoebox salesman" since the shoebox salesman was always more character than pen name. Let me explain, the shoebox salesman is a character without a particular background, but he does have a voice. What makes up the shoebox salesman's character is reflected in the what was written under his name (which of course is ultimately me, but not me entirely because the character has his own voice and with his own voice, elements of character without particular background or narration). Being without narration though, it's hard to know who he is; however, it does make him a much more 'real' character. hopefully this makes sense. So "who's 'the shoebox salesman'?"--like I said, it's a good question. Before I stated all this, who did you think he was?
well, by the second read through, that actually made sense!
So 'the shoe box salesman' is a sort of derivative of 'patrick stearns'...I think I can grasp that.
Before the explanation, I really had no idea but I suspected that it was something you had contrived, as opposed to a character of someone else's imagination.
I guess my next questions would be "what distinction do you hold from the shoe box salesman?" and "what about the shoe box salesman merits him that name?"
By distinction, are you hoping for more than, "I'm human and he's a name at least and a character at most?" Distinction--that's a tough one. Let me go on to answer your second and maybe that help answer the question of distinction.
I think a lot the influence behind the the shoebox salesman and the writing that went along with the name came from Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (all three of which in their own attacked the facade of the 'American Dream'). I know doesn't explain much, but I'll go on. In the case of a travelling salesman, what he sells says a lot about himself. In order to sell a product, a salesman not only endorses the product, but he believes that the product will be wanted by others and eventually sell. So, a salesman selling shoeboxes is pretty absurd if you think about it. Shoeboxes are simply containers and without shoes in them they're hollow. In the same way, the shoebox salesman is hollow in that he's only character and only pen name. Also, he's a hollow character at best because we don't know anything about him (since there is no narration or description about him) and unless decide to write something about him, he'll probably stay that way. Moreover, like the shoebox, the shoebox salesman can be filled with assortment of different things (motives, emotions, ambitions etc.), but shoeboxes aren't just boxes they're designed with a specific purpose--to hold shoes--and they're not being used for that purpose then they're not being used for the right purpose. If the shoebox salesman realizes all this then by selling hollow shoeboxes he's hoping to get the same lesson derived from his character to others because he believes in the product. Like I said earlier, I hope this makes sense.
Back to destinction, the shoebox salesman and I are more or less the same, but at the same time we're not for the obvious reason I mentioned before and because the shoebox salesman serves (or shall I say served) a specific purpose and I stopped writing through that character/name some time ago. And as reluctant as I am to say it "I am the shoebox salesman" at least some times.
P.S.
do those answers satisfy your questions to some extent?
Yes, I think it did answer my questions.
"shape without form, shade without colour..."?? :)
It's such a strange concept that we as people can create a character that is not ourself, yet lacks any real "otherness".
hmmm...it's making me think of Frodo again...
To tell you the truth, I was going to mention Frodo but I figured he and his "existence" would only lead to trouble ;)
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