2 posts tagged “words”
As we all know, I'd rather hang myself than go to Wal-Mart. I'd rather shoot heroin into my eye than go to Wal-Mart.
But sometimes I go to the bookstore instead of being alone. I love to be around all those words. I like them much better than idiots who shop at Wal-Mart.
I was reading last night and came across the following line:
"You are haunted by language."
And I never really thought about it, but I am haunted by language. Words have always been my life. I don't see things in pictures, or visuals or snapshots. I remember things by words. Every memory I have might be fuzzy on the visuals, but I can remember what was said word for word. I can remember tone. Volume. The sound of a voice. Words haunt my dreams and keep me up late at night.
I learned to read when I was 3. I don't remember not knowing how to read. I have been voraciously consuming words for 28 years. Words have always been there.
I had a toy typewriter when I was 7. I spent hours in my room typing stories, plays, poems, mock news articles. Words. Words were my friend.
I've been playing with words for a living for 14 years. Words are my livelihood.
My obsession with words and my photographic memory have not been a blessing. I can remember word-for-word conversations I had 10 years ago. I am an idiot savant of conversations. I never forget words once they've been cast out into the open.
Whoever said "Stick and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me" was wrong, wrong, wrong.
Not to say that all my experiences with words has been terrible. I seem to have a knack for remembering the hurtful words more than the pleasant words. But words can bring me bliss. Words can make me think. Words make my little heart skip a beat. Words can make me smile like a lunatic.
I'd be a little lost lamb without words, even if they haunt me.
