Love in the Remains

If you stay true to the blog and write what’s in your heart, this is the man you’ll see upon entrance into Blogger Heaven:

-Miles

I hate to be braggadocios, but…
In the midst of a rather dreary, lackluster day, I gingerly opened my email account only to find a great beam of luminous light surrounding my body. The great shaft of light nearly blinded me, and through squinting eyes I was able to ascertain the source of the radiating brilliance: an email from my hero and mentor, Miles.

Indeed, it was none other than the articulate author of Godinthedeatils, the blog to which I owe my own online tutelage in the delicate art of blogging.

The following comment, although void of capitalization and rather truncated, should be read only if you are of good health and have a pair of sunglasses at hand…

i think we're miserable because we listen to pop music. this is great. i'll be back.
-Miles

This gift, this nugget of flattery, was in response to the question John Cusack posed in High Fidelity: “Do we listen to pop music because we’re miserable or are we miserable because we listen to pop music?”

Miles answered the question with bold swiftness (he cut Gordians knot!), and we can all finally breathe a collective sigh of relief. For Miles is our young Oedipus answering the modern day riddle of the Sphinx. Needless to say, the blissful jubilee that pervades my heart at this moment is uncanny, and dare I say Christmas came early this year!

Moving on…
I’ve been spending quite some time constructing a succession of satellite blogs for my family. The home page, Resoundingechoes is the first stop and offers links to a string of separate blogs. It seems to be a great vehicle for sharing thoughts and memories of the past, as the blog is quite conducive to crystallizing these stories, allowing them to eternally float through cyber space. My Grandmother today posted the most interesting story about getting right in the face of the Queen and snapping a picture only to meet John Wayne later that night, all in London… (Follow link to resoundingechoes and click on Judy McCoy-Stories). I’ve also posted a slew of recent photos of my little sister Madelline for those of you with either a) too much time on your hands or b) a natural curiosity about my life or c)both.

I could write about a thousand words about the last couple of days, in which there has been an emotional dissolution not unlike the fall of the Soviet Union. Instead of satellite nations struggling to create new identities we have disbanded relationships and I’m left feeling as though the earth has yawned, only to swallow me whole. This ill-conceived political analogy is a perhaps a bit melodramatic (and I have nothing but kindness in my heart for these people and the botched relationships) but there is undeniably a part of me left wandering through the wreckage asking, “My god, what happened here?” All is not lost, however, as there is love in the remains.

All things considered, spirits are high and temperatures soon to be low. Mother and I just spent time considering the not-so-unrealistic scenario of a white Christmas in Louisiana (where Miles is from…we will be sharing the same state for St. Nicks Day! Yes!). Boy oh boy…

Smoldering in the wreckage,
Michael.W.Rice

Even walls fall down...