now that we're here

i'll admit i'm at a bit of a loss.

so, let's turn to tim o'brien. i reread "the things they carried" this weekend. here's what he says on the importance of storytelling:

"that's what stories are for. stories are for joining the past to the future. stories are for those late hours in the night when you can't remember how you got from where you were to where you are. stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story."

"by telling stories, you objectify your own experience. you separate it from yourself. you pin down certain truths. you make up others. you start sometimes with an incident that truly happened, like the night in the shit field, and you carry it forward by inventing incidents that did not in fact occur but that nonetheless help to clarify and explain."

"what you have to do, sanders said, is trust your own story. get the hell out of the way and let it tell itself."

i'm in the mood to read some more. it's a bit rainy here in my new town and i've got a whole container of chocolate chip meringues. but really, what could you possibly pick up after that book?