I'm realizing that I need a way to sign off emails to professors and non-intimate friends. I used to use "Peace" but that sounds cliche, but really besides that all I have is "Love" and that just doesn't work most of the time. Closing words are almost like signatures, people choose one and go with it for all their professional correspondence. There are the "Regards" people, the "Best" people, the "Take Care" people. How does one choose one of these words to represent herself? They all seem to throw off the whole tone of my email. They come right at the end and they say "oh yeah, I don't know you very well and I'm trying to sound acceptable while keeping my distance." And I know that's a perfectly appropriate thing to say in an email to a professor. I just hate formality.
And along the same lines of presenting myself, I put all my books and CDs and DVDs on shelves yesterday in my livingroom. I like having them on shelves. I just wish there was some way to introduce myself to people solely through the books I have on shelves. "Hello, this is me: Harry Potter, Madeleine L'Engle, Anne Lamott, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Robin McKinley, Edmund Spenser, E. Nesbit, Susan Cooper, St. George and the Dragon, Edith Hamilton . . ." I hate having to explain myself, casually dropping allusions, as if wanting to have the same tastes as someone else was something to be ashamed of. On the other hand, if I only had friends with the same tastes as me that would be stupid. I need my friends to say crazy things like "the new Justin Timberlake album is amazing" so I can become who God wants me to be. I don't know if that makes sense, but it makes sense in my head.
Posted by linnea at January 14, 2007 7:16 PMI am a fan of snooping people's bookshelves when I visit their houses, because I think that what we like is a clue to who we are.
And since I think that most people when asked "who are you?" probably don't have a coherent answer at the ready, I turn to their books instead.
I understand this sentiment, Linnea. This year has been filled with many Justin Timberlake supporters, and it is teaching me alot. But I miss Cov and I miss you.
Posted by: Keri at January 24, 2007 12:59 PM