--I was sad to hear of the death of Peter Scolari. Like many people, I first saw him act in the TV show Bosom Buddies. I haven't gone back to rewatch that show, so I have no idea if it holds up well. It premiered in November 1980, which was 10th grade for me. We would soon move to a new town, and these kinds of comedies provided refuge during a friendless time. I remember the show as being warm, not creepy, the way it could have been. Later I would also love Scolari in the 90's Newhart show. There, too, I loved the warmth and the community the show depicted.
--This week brought us the latest adaptation of Dune. At the same time I was watching Bosom Buddies, I was reading Dune. Do I remember the plot? No, but I do remember my dad telling me to give it 100 pages before giving up on it. I did, and I was hooked, and for years, 100 pages before giving up became my rule for reading. My other Dune memory is 10th grade art class, where we had a teacher who just left us to our own devices with all the art supplies, and I drew a picture based on my reading. One of my classmates told me it was derivative of Star Wars, although he wouldn't have used the word "derivative." I can still see the hooded figure (bonus: no need to draw a face!) and the swirling desert colors and the burnt orange of the sky. Will I go see the movie? Doubtful, but it does sound intriguing.
--Another book I read in early adolescence was The Diary of Anne Frank. On Wednesday, I went out for my early morning walk at 5:50. Slumped against the concrete column of a downtown building was a man, sleeping in an upright sitting position. On one side, he had a mostly empty bottle of vodka, on the other a copy of The Diary of Anne Frank. I continue to think of him as a metaphor of the human condition, but I'm not quite sure what the metaphor is saying.
1 comment:
We must be close in age, to have had such similar experiences. I also had that kind of art teacher in 10th grade, and both Dune and Anne were seminal texts. As, I suppose, were Bosom Buddies and Newhart. Except that Dune was given to me by a boyfriend, and I don't think I gave it 100 pages. I suppose there's nothing all that remarkable in our overlaps, but it was nice to read something and think, Me too. Maybe we all want to know that someone else knows the things we know, in the way we know them, or mostly. Maybe that has something to do with why the man is reading Anne Frank.
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