Rish's Ramblings: January Sweeps

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

January Sweeps - Day 361

I fell asleep for a few minutes this afternoon while audio editing (I finished "Never Let Him Go" and now am going on to the next "Delusions of Grandeur" episode), and was deep enough in it that I had a vivid dream. Then I woke, my laptop still glowing on my chest, to discover only a half an hour had gone by. That was neat.

I loaded up my coat and self and got to the library with time to write . . . which I'm spending blogging. Whoops.

College is back in session and of the twelve booths directly in front of me, ten of them have people in them. I don't remember when it was that busy. Most of the people I see here are young woman, undoubtedly students, and it makes me wonder if there are way more girls attending colleges than guys. Of the ten in front of me, seven are female and three are male. Just an observation.

I'm reminded of how Big Anklevich said that more and more books are written for women and girls every year "Because guys don't read." There's got to be truth to that, and increasingly so. I read in public two days a week, and occasionally someone will ask me what it is I'm reading, and it's nearly always a girl. Is that because I'm attractive and they're trying to make conversation? Oh, eff no. It's because guys don't read. Maybe it's good that more than half of the protagonists in my stories are female now.

Sit-ups Today: 100
Sit-ups In January: 3109

My niece is moving out of my sister's house this next week, having either gotten sick of living under my sister's rule, or simply wanting her freedom and independence. Her boyfriend is moving out of his grandmother's house too . . . on the same day. Coincidence? Anyhow, it's possible that, with Cathexis living five minutes from me instead of twenty-five, we can get together and watch "The Twilight Zone" again. But I ask her pretty much every time she's in town if she wants to do an episode, and she always says she's too busy, so you never know. As a matter of fact, I do feel like the guy who asks the waitress out every time he comes to the restaurant, even though she told him no the last five times (and I've never been that guy, to my regret).

That reminds me, in the bit I was editing of "Never Let Him Go" yesterday, Natalie Whitmore turns Mason Bradley down the one time he musters up the courage to ask her out. And then, when he never asks again, she is disappointed, despite not being interested in him. That's probably the most realistic thing that happens in that story, even though it makes no logical sense to me.

Push-ups Today: 50
Push-ups In January: 2336

Before I start writing, I also want to mention that one of my podcast listeners said my story "Roll with the Changes" is his favourite story that I have written. I never thought much of it, but it just goes to show that one man's "Cardigan" is another man's "Bad Blood."

However, the theme to the story is one that I'm very interested in, and would like to either write a story like it with a male protagonist ("RWTC" originally had a male main character reunited with his estranged wife) or write a story about Capgras Syndrome/Delusion, which is a psychological disorder where someone is convinced that a loved one has been replaced by an imposter or exact double. Heck, if my career had been successful instead of wildly un-so, I'd compile an entire anthology made up of short stories involving exact duplicates.

Originally, the delusion was known as "l'illusion des sosies" which means the illusion of lookalikes. I think, if I sit down and write another story about it, I'll have the character's last name or the town they live in be Sosies.

I've mentioned my friend Kayla (or acquaintance, if you want to be mean about it) who is an identical twin and how much I love to ask her questions about twinship.* I haven't spoken to her for a week or so, but maybe I could take the two ideas for a story and smash them together. What if you had a twin sister you were extremely close to . . . and then one day, she didn't act like your sister anymore? What if you started to suspect that this wasn't the girl you'd spent every day with your entire life, but was an exact duplicate? What if she started to notice little differences . . . meaning, it wasn't an exact duplicate at all? After all, I imagine that my friend knows her twin's face intimately, because she sees it every time she interacts with her, but also every time she looks in a mirror. Wouldn't you notice changes or slight alterations before anybody else did?

Man, this sort of thing gets me excited.** Right now, I'd like to abandon the novel I'm writing (only got 321 words on it today) and write a little tale about Danielle Sosie (or Alexandra Capgras?) and her sister. You've got to give Danielle/Alexandra a minor head injury early on, minor enough that she pays it no mind, but there so a psychiatrist or doctor can point to that as the source of her imposter fantasy.

I wish I had a twin. I wonder if I would be jealous of him/her. I wonder if he would be a happier person than me. I wonder if he would dig my stories. What if he was a much more successful writer than me? Now I'm getting morose.