1. February Sucks for Walter Mitty


    Date: 1/23/2024, Categories: Loving Wives, Author: bybruce1971 

    Here are a few warnings before we begin:

This is a departure for me, but--like so many other readers--I've struggled withGeorge Anderson's February Sucks. I have a theory about why it hits us all so deeply: Anderson starts with a grown-up version of a little kid's nightmare. All the elements are there--betrayal, public humiliation, shitty friends, and a big bully stealing your favorite toy. All that's missing is Jim having to read a report in front of the class without his clothes on.

The thing about nightmares, though, is that they don't survive the light of day. We wake up, or discover a magical sword, or fly away on the back of a mythic beast. We never have to fight our nightmare monsters with real-life tools.

And that's where George Anderson switches lanes--and, in the process, makes this such a hard story to deal with. He forces Jim to handle his nightmare with the tools of real life and the maturity of a responsible adult. Which means that, even from the start, Jim is playing against a stacked deck.

I think that's why so many writers try to balance the scales for poor Jim--and why it's become the Loving Wives equivalent of a comic book multiverse, in which an infinity of Jims and Marcs and Lindas and Dees play out the events of one terrible night in a multiplicity of ways. In hisoutstanding take on the story, Cockatoo hints at that: "I'm sure that there is at least one Possible Reality out there somewhere in which we'd somehow stayed together...But that ...
    ... reality wasn't this one."

I hope this version works as tribute to the canvas George Anderson created, and a tip of the hat to the Rohrshak test for that February Sucks has become for some of the writers who have taken it on.

I've tried to dial down my literature geek tendencies. Well, tried and failed. The title comes from a Walter Thurber story about a guy who daydreams. It's a short read if you're interested; if not, the Ben Stiller movie is worth a peek...

I hope you find this amusing... or at least interesting enough to read through to the end. Regardless, thanks--as always!--for the support, the interest and the feedback!

February Sucks for Walter Mitty

Copyright 2024 by B. Watson

Winter 2021 came in soft in Buffalo, with only a few inches of snow in November and December. Seduced by the mild weather, my neighbors and I speculated that perhaps the scourge of global warming had finally defeated the brutal lake effect that shredded us every year.

It was wishful thinking.

In January, we got hit with subzero temperatures and over 50 inches of snow and sleet--overwhelming evidence that, at least for the time being, Jack Frost was still kicking the shit out of Al Gore's inconvenient truth.

Buffalo's good about getting snow off the streets, but driving was still harrowing for much of that winter. As the owner of my own company--Jim Carlisle Marketing--I had it easier than most: I was usually able to work from home, a privilege that I extended to my ...
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