Lorraine Says: Storytellin'

I've given a lot of thought lately to storytelling: what makes a good story, who tells a good story and when it's time to shut up. I've thought a lot about where to draw the lines on this blog, and when a story isn't mine to tell.

I think we're all story tellers in our own way. In conversation, we all craft tales with beginnings, middles and ends. We think about punch lines and climaxes and conflict. We highlight what we think is important and gloss over what we think is not.

There is a lady at my job who wasn't blessed with the gene that tells her when a story is over. I sit across from her, so I have the pleasure of watching as person after person tries to slowly walk away from her desk. Sometimes they shuffle nervously as she babbles on. Sometimes they back away without turning their backs or breaking her gaze. Sometimes they pretend to hear someone calling them. And yet, she doesn't seem to notice. I, on the other hand, suffer for her.

As for me, I have the awesome habit of inserting hypothetical conversation into my real life conversations. In fact, during a break from writing this post, I was chatting with Sara and this happened:

me: That's so cute. I love little kids who I can return after a few days.

Sara: Totally. They're fun to play with but when the crying starts, I hand them over.

me: "Oh shit. Some thing's wrong with her eyes. Take her."

Sara: "They're...... leaking. Ew."

 

Hypothetical conversations within a conversation, everyone.

Roxanne is a sound effect maker.

Venus is a person imitator. A very, very good one.

La Madre is a dramatic pauser, and also an exact.same.story. repeater.

Fetus is a "get to the point!!!!"-er

Vyelit is a less of a story teller and more of a fact mentioner.

I amazed myself by knowing all of this. I like that I've noticed this and filed it away in my brain. I would also love to know what my friends would say about my storytelling style. I might cry though if the words "awesome" and "amazing" aren't used.

I especially love those moments when I reach the end of a story and realize it wasn't what I imagined it would be. Those usually end with, "... I just thought it was funny."
I had one of those moments last weekend as I was trying to explain my fascination with the Honey Badger.







It's fine, though. Honey Badger don't care.

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Vyelit, Rox, Penny and I went to dinner together last night for the first time since my birthday. I could make an observation about how little I've seen these girls lately, but then again my birthday tab was... a lot of money. Let's say we were recovering.

We went to a place that recently opened up near us, BJ's Brewhouse. With a name like that, you can imagine what our topic of conversation was.... beers! Just kidding. It was bj's. It's not as terrible as you are thinking, though, because it all started with discussion of one of Penny's favorite phrases:

Penny: $10?! Does it come with a BJ???

"Brother": ...is $10 the going rate for a bj?

Penny: You're my brother. I can't talk to you about this. I gotta go.

You can imagine that at that exact moment all of our minds thought the same thing: Hahahahah LOL. Ahem. ... What is the going rate for a bj?

Other highlights:

Vye: I got a compliment today on my complexion.

Lor: I love getting compliments on things I have no control over.

Pen: Me too! "You've got a great nose."

Lor: Oh, this nose? I put it on every day.

Rox: Yeah, I hand picked it. ... ha. Hahahahaha. Hand picked it.

And this:

Oh, and the leftovers I'll be eating for lunch. Economical, yo.

In blogging news, I decided I'd keep up with this whole twice a week thing. I rewarded myself for making that decision by not posting on Monday. Hey, we all have to know when to take a storytellin' break.

Thank you guys for all your comments letting me know you aren't, you know, dead. I was worried for a while.

I would've missed your faces a lot if you all up and died,