Sunday, January 28, 2007
i've got it. at least i think so. for now, anyway.
I've never really been much of a Ernest Hemingway fan, but one of my favorite literary moments of all time comes from the final scene of The Sun Also Rises. Brett and Jake have tried and failed innumerable times to be together, and yet one last time she looks into his eyes and laments that they "could have had such a damned good time together." Jake, ever the pessimist, looks at her and says one of the best lines in American Literature: "Yes. Isn't it pretty to think so?"

I've always loved this quote. In fact, it's been written on a post-it note on my computer at work on and off for over two years. Every now and then dust will get on the sticky strip of the paper and the note will come falling down, but I'll eventually write it down again and stick it back up. I don't know why I keep replacing it, but I do. I just like it. And when I think about it, it sort of fits who I am perfectly - hopelessly romantic, yet thoroughly pragmatic - wanting to be optimistic yet frustratingly grounded in reality.

And so this is why I've decided on this line for my new blog title. True, they're still someone else's words, but at least these words are a better fit for me. Plus, like my URL (which I've decided not to change since I can't bear the thought of losing over a year's worth of posts, even if only a handful of them were any good) it's still a literary reference so it won't clash too much, which was a concern.

So there it is, my new blog title. (At least until I decide to change it again. So fickle.)

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4 Comments:

Blogger paul said...

I was a bit morosely obsessed with Steinbeck for awhile in highschool and there's a line that ends a chapter in The Winter of Our Discontent that has always stuck with me and helped me stay out of other people's business: "Nobody wants advice, only corroboration."

Irrelevant to your new title (which is very nice by the way) but relevant in that it also occupied my life in postit form for quite some time.

Blogger JMW said...

Nice choice, and nice explanation.

Blogger Carrie said...

I like it, my dear.

Blogger Mrs. White said...

Thanks to everyone who offered advice and/or humored me and my narcissism. (The name change, of course, but during so many other times too.)

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