Ms. Smarty Pants Know It All

I’m pretty sheltered I know. The dope addicts I can list are from fiction: Molly from Deadwood, Mrs Dubois from To Kill A Mockingbird, and Bubbles from The Wire.

In Junky, the addict William Lee is built from the author’s own experiences. And his experiences with junk are definitely closer to Bubbles’s portrayal than Mrs. Dubois’s.

But this narrative is extremely narrow and focused. For whatever reason, we know next to nothing about William Lee’s background or if he has any distinct personality traits.

As the book’s title says, this is an account of him as a junky. Seemingly relevant information, like how he gets money to keep up his habit, are missing. The only thing we get to learn is that he becomes a dealer on occasion. This information escaped his ruthless detail culling because, of course, it relates directly to the junk. We need to know how the drug gets to the users.

Meanwhile, other life points, like a wife and kids, are mentioned as casually as a trip to the store. I swear I got eyeball whiplash the first time I saw wife on the page.

Burroughs’s hyper and narrow focus brings the junky lifestyle into analytical focus. The tellings of how the drugs feel and how the illegal operations work seem almost journalistic.

The book doesn’t go into sentimentality or overblown prose. What’s powerful is, even without the gothic horrors or the bleeding heart public service announcements, his existence comes across as desperate and not at all cool.

But, the matter of fact tone does make it seem that drugs, even heroine, may be something one can control, if one is tough enough. I’m sure parents and the establishment are not going to like that.

1% Well-Read Challenge status: eight completed, two to go.
What’s In A Name Challenge status: five completed, one to go.

Tags: Books by Ms. SP
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If Oprah doesn’t come back on with another show in 2011, what will I do?

Her syndicated daytime talk show is scheduled to end in 2011. As of now, we don’t know if she will or will not launch another program on her Oprah Winfrey Network, an upcoming cable station.

I often say that half the things I know I learned from Oprah. So that may not be entirely true, but I learned a lot of very important things that have made me who I am today.

College was the first time that I could see her every day. And after a while, I did start watching every day.

Thanks to her, I graduated with a good sense of financial responsibility and the ability to say no without guilt. Just these two things have made a huge difference in my life.

Since then, I’ve learned to give thanks for the little things, to make sure I take care of myself, and to do Good. How often have I repeated, “now that I know better, I will do better”?

Oh, Oprah, you can’t leave me to face my future years alone. I didn’t really pay attention to all those shows about menopause and elder care. Without you, there’s no one out there presenting a generalist like me so many topics in just one resource.

From your show, I can get my mix of celebrities, health information, global issues, personal growth, and just plain fun without much effort on my part. It’s an easy addition to my life that nevertheless gives such a huge positive return.

If she goes, life is going to get that much harder to figure out and navigate.

Tags: Life, TV by Ms. SP
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How do you change a woman into a man on a bathroom sign? Like this. (But they really should have “corrected” the Braille as well.)

Tags: Travel, Uncategorized by Ms. SP
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