word: tincture… A slight trace of something
anti-commodity[something that can be bought or sold..]: What Sedaris is all about…
Wellness, what he accomplishes through his writing, for himself and us…

SHARE: “Al Aaraaf” (POE).. beauty and art and “God”: Death and living through observation of what’s beyond you.. but the emphasis being LIFE! Poe’s character compounds and matures through what he sees, and the fact he writers it all.. in poem form no less!

How is this new author evolving, or changing, or complicating for you as the one traveling through his pages? In these last few days I personally have had tremendous time to think about life and what we’re doing in it and.. I’m not as humor-prose and paginating as Sedaris, but I do realize that dumbfounding amounts of seriousness help no one, certainly not us as readers, writers, or just as Human Beings. In “Big Boy”, we see Sedaris equating.. well, you know.. to matters in Life, and how we’re all made to feel like.. well…..
And in “Today’s Specials”, we read something that’s just funny.. no grad intent, just straightforward humor that’s meant to get us to take a deeper look into what’s ‘on our plate’, if you would. Why try to dressing things, up when you just could just put it out there? Then, in “Shiner Like A Diamond”, we’re brought back to family.. so I have to ask, what IS his attitude toward family? His.. others’.. and just family in general? And Amy, is anything really wrong with her? I mean, I know what Dad thinks, but in your opinion, what is “wrong” with her, if anything? If she’s content with her life, and it “suits her just fine”, then what’s the problem?
Reading Sedaris after my last few days, re-reading for class this morning, again reminds me how short life is and we shouldn’t deprive ourselves of laughter, of Life, or interactions meaningful. The last words of ‘Like a Diamond’ read “…totally in love, and I feel great.” I ask, offer, entertain: ‘Isn’t that what Life is truly about?‘ Finding what makes you happy, giving you that love and that peace? Actually, she said ‘Finally’ before the above words, like she’d wanted it for so long and now she had it.. so again I have to ask, what is Sedaris’ attitude on Life? And after the week I’ve had, I ask myself, and we should all ask ourselves not as 1A students but as people living, now alive in a life so brief, “WHAT DO WE WANT?” What will make us happy? How do we want to be remembered? What impression do we want to leave? What has Sedaris left for you, so far?
He laments a distinct relationship with his readers, through his topic addresses and his narrative fluidity. But again, so what impact does his development through these pieces, his evolution as a person? Do you see any progress? No? Then ask yourself, ‘what progress have you made as a character?’ [Self-Analysis…]

In you journals, while we’re here, examine and evaluate your evolution, your maturing as a character.. strengths, weaknesses.. wishes and regrets, aims and falls; successes and succumbings. We have to know ourselves before we can invest in other characters… If we’re ever to have true “character”…..

Look up in the sky, or around you, and record what you see.