Thursday, December 05, 2019

Uninterrupted Ambiguity

Two things happened to me today which have nothing to do with radio.

One, I met my first Jehovah's Witnesses.  I enjoy talking to religious folks & would've talked longer but my oven was beeping because lunch was ready.  The truth is, I think they realized I was not going to be someone they could convert, & were glad to leave.  The most interesting thing (to me) was that they both carried iPads with them & I could see one of them marking my address as the equivalent of "lost cause."

Two, I just read a comic book to my wife.  It's very hard to share with someone the love of & obsession with comic books, but this came up because I've been loving the show Watchmen & my wife is confused by it.  I thought if maybe I could familiarize herself with the comics, I could lead her into what I like about the show & to liking it herself.  She remains unconvinced after issue # 1 but was impressed with the excerpt from Hollis Mason's book in the back.  She didn't know they included stuff like that in comics.

Among the things she doesn't like: busy backgrounds & lettering.  She doesn't like that she has to pay attention to both the words & the pictures, & even more the lettering - like when Rorschach talks - isn't clear enough for her to figure out what it's supposed to sound like.  I told her that didn't matter - it was just designed to denote difference - but she has qualms.

Tomorrow - or soon enough - we'll try another issue & if she hates it, I'll give up.

One thing that's fascinating - I haven't taken my copy of Watchmen # 1 out of its sleeve in probably two decades - maybe even three.  But it is well-worn.  I must've read that over & over & over.  It certainly was far more familiar to me than I thought it would be.  It's as familiar as some songs that I haven't heard in as long, but know the words immediately.

Other things happened today - but these two stand out somehow.

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