The Attic As A Metaphor

I'd like to think I'm a writer. I write every day. I've written news stories, shows, short stories. I've happily pounded out magazine articles. I've struggled with three novels and felt the incredible rush of emotion as I wrote those short, huge words, "The End", and meant it. But I never write as well as I'd like to. There's a touch of poetry necessary to truly write the way I'd like to and I fear I lack it.

Jenna Hammerich has it in abundance. I found her work through my work. Scrolling through a public radio website that allows freelancers to post their work, I stumbled on a piece she'd written about growing up as the child of flower children. It was perfect; hilarious, poignant and thought provoking. I not only used it in my show, I wrote her a fan letter.

She was very sweet, happy for the encouragement and immersed in her writing. She hasn't had time to put together any other shorter stories that I could use, despite my pleas. But she asked me to listen to a half hour piece she put together on the women who painted the poisonous radium dials on clocks in a small Illinois town. I did. I was floored.

Jenna has a talent for not only revealing herself, but revealing the story she's telling in a way that unfolds naturally, fully and inevitably. There is no artifice, no sign where she's placed the wires, where she's pulling the strings.

I was so in love with her work that I went looking for more. And I found it. She's written a moving tribute to Michael Jackson for Salon.

But this may be the one I like best of all so far - she wanders off to the attic of her childhood and takes us with her. She made me remember the attic in the house where my children grew up. It had a narrow, low-ceilinged stairway but opened into a high, dark space with a sunny, finished room in the front of the house. That room, with it's ancient sheet of 1930s linoleum, a small table with child-sized chairs and two shelves with doors where a child and several friends could climb in and hide, was the most magical place in a well-loved house, not only for my children but for me. I remember a few times when they were off somewhere else and I would climb those stairs and sit alone in the sunlight high above our tree-lined street, observing the world from a new and far more objective perspective.

I didn't grow up in a house with an attic. But I wandered many times into the cavernous, bat and squirrel-infested attic above my grandmother's bedrooms. There she kept boxes she never opened, the obscenely grinning teeth of piano keys without their case, steamer trunks pushed off into darkened corners that I never dared open.

That attic held a thrillingly spooky fascination for me, a feeling that our own home's unfinished attic area probably inspired in my children. It was an opportunity to test our courage with little real danger.

Ready to explore? Here's Jenna's essay about attics. Prepare to be delighted.

http://dailypalette.uiowa.edu/index.php?artwork=1734

Lady Gaga And The Fall of The Roman Empire

I stayed up past my bedtime and watched the VMA show. I'm one of THOSE people - I was around when MTV was cool. I remember when MTV played music. I've loved Janet Jackson since she was a cute little chubby thing who liked to dance.

Thanks to my kids, I'm not a total music boob; my son introduced me to Kanye West and my daughter likes Lady Gaga (henceforth to be known as Lady Ga-Gah. I can embarrass the hell out of my son by singing JayZ's "Encore" along with him, word for word. I think Pink rocks. So this was clearly a show I was going to watch if I could.

So first, what was Madonna doing? How was it a tribute to talk about how she chased down Michael Jackson so she could get chummy, win his trust, then dump him? She had an interesting perspective, but the word "I" showed up just a few too many times for my taste. I think I'd have rather heard from someone who truly was his friend.

Janet? Still love her. I felt for her, doing the routine she once did with her brother, then standing on stage as the crowd that had turned on him for years now poured out its adulation.

Lady Ga-Gah. Ugh. I've been really on the fence about this performer, as she has a good voice and she certainly puts on a show. But that blood-drenched finale finally turned me off for good. Her videos are about shock for shock's sake, and that ridiculous routine with the wheelchair, the crutch and the hanging, bloody eyed end of the song flipped my stomach. It had the feel of the last days of the Roman Empire, where excess is piled on excess. Check out the photo. Those are some dead eyes. I'm beginning to think she symbolizes everything that's wrong with the world.

Pink wins my vote for best circus act/singer. The woman did a trapeze act! If only for not falling, not screaming and for nailing her landing, she was terrific. Plus her strategically placed heart on her costume didn't shift and get her into all kind of trouble.

Beyonce is so darned likable that I think I'd like to invite her out for a coffee and maybe go shopping (and I hate shopping). She was having fun, she was enjoying the show. She doesn't seem envious of anyone else, she just appreciates other talented people. I don't like Single Ladies one bit but she put on a good performance as usual. And then she did her gracious grownup routine for Taylor Swift after Kanye West made a total ass of himself. Big props for the Beautiful B.

Taylor Swift. As a musician, you can have her. But her performance on the subway was really cute and you had to feel sorry for her when Kanye came out and ranted that Beyonce was robbed. When Beyonce gave her time to Taylor, I wished Taylor had been as gracious and included Ms. B in those thank you's. But, as KB pointed out to me when I grumbled, that's the difference between a kid and a grownup. And Taylor did thank her later.

Kanye. As the kids would say, WTF. Really. If he's going to get sloppy drunk at an awards show, don't you think somebody would have the good sense to keep him off the stage? Hopefully from here on in he'll either be off the guest lists or on a short leash.

And then there was JayZ and the ubiquitous Alicia Keyes. That left me completely cold, and I like JayZ. When yet another rapper who had no business on the stage showed up, it started to feel like the inmates were loose. If Kanye had been there he probably would have tossed her off the stage like an empty Hennessy bottle.

The big finale? A promotion for the new Michael Jackson film in the presence, it was reverently pointed out, of Joe Jackson. Oh, yeah, he's the guy we're all feeling sorry for. And the film is undoubtedly lining his pockets.

If Lady Ga-Gah had fallen off her hanging strap and landed on Joe's head, I probably would have enjoyed the show a lot more.

I miss The Boggles, Thomas Dolby and The Talking Heads. I guess this makes me officially old.

Go Katherine! Go Debbie! (Sorta)

Katherine Jackson rocks! I am absolutely delighted yet slightly concerned to hear to hear that Michael Jackson's mom and the biological mother of two of his three children have worked out a deal - the existing agreement which calls for the children not to be informed that family friend "Miss Debbie" is actually their mother, will continue and Debbie will drop her challenge to Katherine's guardianship of the kids in exchange for Joe Jackson staying away from them.

My concern is that a lie is being perpetuated - the kids don't know who "Miss Debbie" is and that's a strange choice when right now they're undoubtedly feeling adrift and lost without the one constant parent in their lives.

But that's overshadowed by my elation that Joe Jackson won't be allowed to continue the cycle of abuse that made Michael Jackson the tragic figure that he was.

Katherine and Joe have apparently been separated for years.

Michael always maintained his mother was a wonderful woman. I now heartily agree. She may not have been able to protect Michael, but she's protecting his children. She'll allow the existing relationship between the kids and their secret mother to continue. (Though how secret can it stay since the rest of the world knows it?)

And "Miss Debbie" may not be a mother in the way we define the term, but she's acting like one. She's put the children's best interests first. Bravo to both of them.

Really World? Palin is What Fascinates You?

Greetings to all of you reading this. I have a question for you. Why are you so fascinated with Sarah Palin?

This little spot where I vent on a regular basis usually has a few faithful readers. I'm not at all sure why they check in but I appreciate it.

Sarah Palin changed that this week. Suddenly my readership has gone through the relative roof and it's all because I had an opinion about why she doesn't want to be Alaska's governor anymore. Or maybe I didn't - it's certainly confusing.

Is it schadenfreude...pleasure from the misfortunes of others? That doesn't really fit, unless you're reading this sitting comfortably somewhere other than the United States, in which case I'm betting that's it. Funny stuff, no? I can't say I blame you.

But Americans - what's up with you? Are we so desperate for a distraction from the recession that we'll spend two weeks mourning Michael Jackson and heap on a dose of mind boggling confusion as Look At Me Sarah grabs the headlines yet again?

I watched cable news tonight and heard many Republicans still think she's presidential material. That's pretty interesting, I guess. A politician whose celebrity far outweighs her abilities quits the post she wanted and is still considered a viable candidate?

I think our celebrity worship has finally gone too far. Sarah Palin is being turned into the American Conservative Lady Di (wait, hear me out) - she's attractive, glamorous and seen as an everyday person who has made good. (That's where the comparisons end, Britain - I've seen nothing Look At Me Sarah has done that attempts to make the world a better place. So far it's all about increasing her own importance.)

What is going on with us?

America has vilified Michael Jackson for years, now we're acting like Albert Schweitzer just died. Are we feeling guilty or do we just need a huge national venting of sadness?

A pretty and ambitious woman with few credentials and some serious weaknesses gets the glamor treatment, taps into Conservative America's innate insecurity and anger and suddenly can do no wrong? She should be a blip on history's radar. Why are we even paying attention to her anymore?

I'll be even handed here. The world went crazy for Barack Obama and is still crazy for his wife. He's a politician. I do not believe he is the be-all and the end-all. I do think he's a vast improvement over what we had for the eight years prior to his election. But I'm not a member of the fan club and I'm not going to worship anyone unreservedly, most especially not anyone who's succeeded in our political system. Success in a corrupt, old-boy system to me means you were way too good at it.

Michelle Obama? I like her. She seems like a good person. I'm not going to go nuts over her either.

These are human beings. They will, if you decide to worship them, disappoint you. Human beings are immensely fallible. They should be seen as humans and given credit for the good work they attempt to do without turning them into superheroes.

Our demands for perfection in our leaders has led us to be disappointed in all of them. Thanks to a 24 hour news cycle and the Internet, there is no way to avoid discovering the missteps and foibles of our public figures. Everything comes out eventually. That means we must grow up.

Our heroes, every single one of them, are humans. They have flaws. Some have massive flaws. Instead of blind worship, let's assess their strengths, support them when they are accomplishing good things and when they inevitably fall from grace, let's not react like shocked children. Let's rationally weigh the mistake and ask if it now interferes with their ability to continue to accomplish good things.

For South Carolina's governor, the answer in my mind is yes - he's compromised. He was AOL. His priorities are now suspect. For Sarah Palin, my answer would be yes - she's compromised. She's displayed poor leadership, petty behavior and a lack of intellect that makes her unsuitable for politics. She's a natural for Fox News.
And honestly, when I wrote that I didn't mean to be nasty - but I guess it is and I'll stand by it.

President Obama, so far, is doing an exemplary job as a leader. I do not expect everyone to agree with where he's leading us and it's fair game to debate it. But he is a strong, confident, intelligent leader whose aim appears to be the good of this country. I cannot ask for more from my president. If I disagree with the direction he chooses, it's my responsibility to speak up and attempt to change that direction. But finally, at long last, we have a president I am not ashamed of.

The First Lady gets a free pass forever in my opinion, so long as she continues to uphold the dignity of her position. I didn't elect her, she didn't ask me to and I appreciate the efforts she and every First Lady before her have made. These women give up years of their lives and though it may be a thrilling opportunity, I'm certain there are many nights when they fall into bed and wonder what happened to them. I'm not going to make a rock star out of her.

So thank you for reading, but again - why are you so interested in Sarah Palin? Or any other celebrity for that matter. Wouldn't it be far better to be concentrating on doing something great yourself?

Can Someone Please Talk About Joe Jackson?

Okay, I'm sorry. In the words of Michael and Janet Jackson's performance of "Scream"...I just can't take this.

Michael Jackson was tragic. Whatever his personal demons, they were, by his own admission, a part of his stolen childhood. The pint-sized performer and his brothers (and, eventually, his sister) were pushed to become superstars by their father, Joe. Michael said in later years that his father beat him. And now Joe Jackson is being held up as the broken-hearted, bereaved father with no mention of how his behavior contributed to his son's travesty of a life.

Joe Jackson is not the model of black fatherhood. He is not a fine human being who held his family together. This is one father whose absence might well have been the best thing that could have happened to his children.

I've shaken my head, I've wanted to yell back at the TV. And this morning I saw that Michael Jackson's three children are currently in the care of his mother. And his father?

Maybe the Jacksons have split. If so, I have nothing more to say. Kathleen Jackson seems to have done the best she could for her kids short of taking their father out of the picture. I know that is a difficult choice for a mother and I make no judgements.

Joe Jackson is another story. Another stage father pushing his children to achieve what he didn't. Another drill sergeant turning children into performing robots, driven by his own desire for success and fortune. He was, by all accounts, a philandering, abusive father. He shouldn't be within fifty miles of his son's children.

This isn't about Michael Jackson. This isn't about Joe Jackson. This about three children who have undoubtedly had a pretty weird childhood and will have a struggle to achieve any sense of normalcy.

I don't know if there's someone in that family who can step up and try to offer those kids a stable environment. I hope there is. But I'm certain it's not Joe Jackson and I hope he's nowhere near them because I don't believe he deserves to be in their lives.

Second thoughts: I am absolutely horrified to see that I am in complete agreement with cable scream queen Nancy Grace on this. It makes me wonder if perhaps I'm totally wrong.