This chapter continues with Jessie’s return from the foundations.
I find myself enjoying writing (and reading) about Jessie. I know she isn’t real, and her family’s interaction is more my wishes of how family life should be. I can picture the characters very clearly and feel some of their comments could be true.
It’s difficult to explain.
Jessie and her family are a mix of what I have experienced and what I imagine. I’m lucky enough to have a fifteen-year-old teenage daughter to reflect upon. Not, in what she would say, but more in the way she would say it.
Being ‘old’ – (as she likes to portray me) makes my art of expression also old. And of course, in several ways she is right. Like most adults I try to keep up with change, but this doesn’t keep me young. Maybe this is why I feel more akin to some of the older characters in the book – (who appear later – Nazar is not included – smile.)
Once more, I find myself poking fun at society slightly, this time using the English Blue Willow porcelain, which as the footnote says, is rare.
English people painting Chinese patterns.
This is the thing that gets me. From my childhood I remember most of the porcelain produced in England came from the north, and my memories of northern men were not the kind that painted dainty Chinese motives. These guys made iron and steel.
After having joked about how ‘ugly’ these plates were – and were to be Jessie’s heirloom – I race on to describe the kitchen of the future. In my mind it makes sense. I am a dreadful cook, and any machine that can weigh and measure the ingredients correctly, has my vote. It certainly would reduce loss. (The automatic kitchen makes a cheesecake, for no other reason than it’s my favorite.)
Usually, the things I choose are picked deliberately with some hidden joke or meaning… an example is how her mother says she loves Unicorns… this comes straight from my work in kindergartens. All kids love unicorns. You can have trends and fashion with such things as Frozen by Walt Disney or Paw Patrol, (no idea by who oops) but when they fade, there is always the unicorn. I don’t understand why either – it’s a horse with a horn, right? (smile)
After the family scene comes one of my many favorite moments with Jessie and her WallScreen. I love the way they interact. I often play with the name GoD in the book too, as seen in the chapter, where her WallScreen deliberately avoids answering her questions in the way she wishes.
Please allow me to state that all my puns, jokes, and wordplay around the word GoD, are in no way designed to be derogative or disrespectful to any religious connection this word has. I have met many people who believe in God and live their lives according to the words they believe God gave to humanity. I wish I had such faith. Their lives do not seem to be any different than anyone else’s, they have no great advantage over others because of it, except perhaps they have something that gives them hope, comfort, reason, and guidance (A lot of guidance actually, as following the words of the bible does seem to me to be a good path to follow – not because of getting to heaven, but because I sometimes feel that it might help you find heaven down here.)
Moving on:
After the few jokes with the title GoD Jessie reveals what her next plan is. Getting the tattoo was only the beginning. The chapter ends with the comment: if she was GoD’s Dark Lady. Throughout the story Jessie is presented as being well read in the classics. Often her conversations with her WallScreen have such references, either from poetry or plays. In this last comment she refers to the transition she is going through, from a child to a woman. The Dark Lady is being used here to indicate the more sensual side of life, rather than that of the fair youth.
Such comments and ideas come to me in a kind of gallop, and later, when I read them, I often have to take time to remember what I had intended to say with it. This forgetfulness is usually only associated with such moments of passion. When I write, it becomes passion. A wildfire of ideas. I have learnt to let them rage. Later, (months later) I sometimes re-read what I have written and find myself asking what on TwyNiSaDel was going on inside my mind!
But, and here is the secret, when this passion over takes me, it’s wonderful. If there was a sure-fire way of getting to this point, I would do it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come planned, and recently, I am guessing from the lack of sales and communication, (not to mention reading all these other great authors) I don’t go anywhere which might trigger this passion. It’s a road leading nowhere.
Physical isolation is not a terrible thing (personally I enjoy being alone at times), but mental isolation is frustrating. When no one seems to be able to see what you do – or comprehend what it is you want to say – feels unhealthy. I have somehow managed to get myself both mentally and physically isolated, and I guess this is going to influence my writing at some point.
I look forward to reading this, months from now, and saying * what on TwyNiSaDel was I thinking, talking about faith and mental isolation! (smile)
