The vacation book I am currently in the middle of is Mama Makes Up Her Mind by Bailey White. These are short essays verging on short stories. It's non fiction and funny and clear, and you know she's making up a fair bit of it all, but you're willing to take it that embellishment is merely an ingredient. Just because there's a full cup of lying added in every once in awhile doesn't mean they aren't true stories. I mean if you like them. I like them.
I probably read this book a couple of times 20 years ago. It's mostly new to me, but in a very familiar way. When I listed Mama as one of the books I would be reading this vacation I alluded to Ms White's essays as being blog posts. And they do seem right up my alley, musing, watching carefully, the whole thing where you think it's a line, but it's a circle. But there's a bit more story to them. Sometimes they're almost like short, short stories. I've been aware lately, running through old posts of mine, that my blog posts are light on incident and story. Mine hew towards what I think about things, and all that story stuff, well, if you're not careful, it can take the ball right out of your hands.
I like the ball.
I think Bailey White likes the ball too, but she's willing to roll it down the hill more often. I prefer to throw it against a wall, or hurl it straight up into the air.
Well, either way, if it comes back to you, it's yours.
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