Fate and Faith: Taylor Swift

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Sunday Sundries--Slam Book Edition 1

A long, long time ago, back before the Interwebs, I spent a lot of time writing letters. I had dozens of pen pals all over the world. It was a thrill, every time I opened the clear glass mailbox at my mom and dad's to find notes from my friends.

Like this but without the slot at the top. The top is a little rusty, but I have it in my bookcase. I'm trying to figure out where I should hang it on my wall. The house it was attached to was torn down almost ten years ago.

Anyway, we all would get some cute paper, stationery with an "e."

There was an interview a few years back with Taylor Swift. She said an interviewer kind of made fun of her because she kept a bin on her tour bus with stationery and sealing wax and stamps. I perfectly understood. I'd glued my favorite artwork from letters all over a box. I sent my sealing wax and stamps to my niece who is proof that nature is stronger than nurture.

Anyway, we'd cut some paper up and make slam books. It was folded and stapled paper with silly questions that could be answered in a few words or a sentence. The sixth person was supposed to send it back to the person who originated it. I only got a few back, but they were little insights into a time and the minds of the mostly preteen girls who participated.

So, now we use Facebook and other social media to ask our questions. Electrons replaced postage stamps and mailboxes. That's cool. If I really want to save something, I can take a screen shot and put it on a flash drive.

But, with those changes, I'm going to make it a little more adult.

My first e-Slam book question would be, "What is your most embarrassing moment?

Of course, the majority of my embarrassing moments involved alcohol. Number one would probably be my freshman year in college, when I went with my boyfriend to visit his sister. It involved drinking too much:

And chili and bodily functions. Yeah, that's right. Most certainly not my finest hour. But it was the last time I drank that particular beverage. Funny, I am watching Anthony Bourdain on The Travel Chanel and he just talked about Cuban rum.

I put the experience or rather the fear of repeating the experience into my fiction. Two of my heroes' parents were killed by a drunk driver. The brothers don't drink at the bachelor party at a strip club and only have two drinks when back at the hotel. Rob had a DUI when he was performing with a boy band. While the sisters take shots the night before the wedding, Mary Margaret is freaking out that she might overindulge at the open bar the next day. She does not want to embarrass herself in front of the family and the man who might be her family someday.

I do not drink very much anymore. I'm a lot different from the girl drinking with her boyfriend in her early 20s. But I remember her and will put those feelings in my fiction. So, what is your most embarrasing moment?