Sunday, July 10, 2011

Whither Espionage?

Can I say at the outset that this blog entry is a cheat? I didn't have time to write it on Sunday, so I am writing it very early Monday morning, though I am pre-dating it so it appears to have been written on Sunday. You might never have actually known, since you probably don't even read this blog, but I had to confess. I'd make a terrible spy.

I was more charmed when I was a kid by superheroes than spies, although I guess I thought James Bond was pretty cool, & enjoyed cheesey sixties spy stuff when I saw it in repeats on the TV. I took everything like that very seriously, & in ninth grade I wrote the first few chapters of a "spy book" in which I & my nerdy friends were all characters. One of those friends - we were probably never friends, but I suppose he tolerated me - was downright offended by my characterization of him, though I thought I was being flattering. Nerds! I swear.

I do think his code name was "Egghead." Tee hee.

I wrote it in pencil & I still have it somewhere, though time has smudged it a lot. I don't really want to reread it. I am happy to have the past fade away as most of it is meant to do.

Um, I'm supposed to be talking about espionage. I'm not much of an expert on it. I prefer mystery novels to spy novels, & much of the tongue in cheek of the Bond movies or the Avengers feels very dated to me now, although, as I mentioned above, as a child it wasn't kitschy or silly to me, I took it very seriously. Perhaps that's why I find the music so compelling - I'm not looking back with a smirk but taking it seriously.

I don't know. Hey, do you know the best way to find out if the FBI has a file on you?

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