Chasing the Elusive Dream
Viewing comments for Chapter 32 "Selective Amnesia"A southern couple's journey in the 60's,70's & 80'
45 total reviews
Comment from adewpearl
meager antidotes should be meager anecdotes
skeletons they drug from our closet should be dragged
I remember your earlier vacation story :-) I wonder why he only remembers the bad stuff - that is so so sad. I am the other way - much better at remembering the good stuff though I remember the bad stuff also if push comes to shove. Your concrete examples are fascinating and really hammer home your point. Brooke
reply by the author on 22-Mar-2009
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meager antidotes should be meager anecdotes
skeletons they drug from our closet should be dragged
I remember your earlier vacation story :-) I wonder why he only remembers the bad stuff - that is so so sad. I am the other way - much better at remembering the good stuff though I remember the bad stuff also if push comes to shove. Your concrete examples are fascinating and really hammer home your point. Brooke
Comment Written 22-Mar-2009
reply by the author on 22-Mar-2009
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Brooke, Thank you, for reading and reviewing. I will see to the corrections. I appreciate you giving me five stars in spite. Don't feel to sorry for him. He isn't quite as bad as I make him sound.
Comment from yachtworknz
Beth-Nice work. Yes, we men have that kind of memory.
Slingshot persuring your husband? That is a bit funny for sure.
Glad you posted and thanks.
Scott
reply by the author on 22-Mar-2009
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Beth-Nice work. Yes, we men have that kind of memory.
Slingshot persuring your husband? That is a bit funny for sure.
Glad you posted and thanks.
Scott
Comment Written 22-Mar-2009
reply by the author on 22-Mar-2009
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Thank you for the review and comment. I glad you found a bit to laugh about.
Beth
Comment from jlsavell
Beht Shelby, you are so funny and clever. Your writing are so very entertaining.I can see you doing commentaries Erma Bombeck style. Who would not want to read things such as this. Oh how well you put life into perspective. once again well done..jlsavell
reply by the author on 22-Mar-2009
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Beht Shelby, you are so funny and clever. Your writing are so very entertaining.I can see you doing commentaries Erma Bombeck style. Who would not want to read things such as this. Oh how well you put life into perspective. once again well done..jlsavell
Comment Written 22-Mar-2009
reply by the author on 22-Mar-2009
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Thank you, Your comments are delightful and tend to inflate my ego but I certainly appreciate them.
Beth
Comment from tati
Dear friend,
I enjoyed my journey through your "Selective Amnesia"; I thought this was a well written and engaging story. I liked it immensely. Very picturesque and matter-of-factly. In my opinion, you could widen this story in so many ways for so many topics, at least I found seven of them.
1) ... the pain of being teased about the hole in the seat of your pants at a tender age of five.
2) He hasn't forgotten the time he was late for class and nearly decapitated himself by running into a clothes line.
3) He also remembers the time he ran half a mile home, fleeing the slingshot hanging out of his back pocket while thinking he was being pursued by a deadly rattler.
4) ... when "I'm going to count to ten" stopped working and he occasionally managed to subdue them by threatening to stop the car.
5) Pain, from the inescapable migraine that follows a day of driving and listening to me yell at four hyper children who are attempting to destroy each other in the back seat
6) Central to all is his creative, but paranoid, imagination which convinces him that I once deliberately (intentionally, purposely) set out to cause his demise (death, termination, end, fall) by nearly running out of gas in the middle of the scenic route and then choosing not to find a motel room instantly when he informed me that his head was bursting and he didn't think he was long for this world. Even Alfred Hitchcock couldn't have devised such an ingenious (clever, creative) murder plot.
7) Since that time, every year when vacation rolls around, we've had to deal with the resurrection of this cerebral demon of his which threatens to call a halt to any plans I might have for getting away for a few days.
My favorite part was the last line: /So be it. Perhaps I have my own brand of selective amnesia./
It's original and funny, Beth. Best regards, tati (220309)
reply by the author on 22-Mar-2009
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Dear friend,
I enjoyed my journey through your "Selective Amnesia"; I thought this was a well written and engaging story. I liked it immensely. Very picturesque and matter-of-factly. In my opinion, you could widen this story in so many ways for so many topics, at least I found seven of them.
1) ... the pain of being teased about the hole in the seat of your pants at a tender age of five.
2) He hasn't forgotten the time he was late for class and nearly decapitated himself by running into a clothes line.
3) He also remembers the time he ran half a mile home, fleeing the slingshot hanging out of his back pocket while thinking he was being pursued by a deadly rattler.
4) ... when "I'm going to count to ten" stopped working and he occasionally managed to subdue them by threatening to stop the car.
5) Pain, from the inescapable migraine that follows a day of driving and listening to me yell at four hyper children who are attempting to destroy each other in the back seat
6) Central to all is his creative, but paranoid, imagination which convinces him that I once deliberately (intentionally, purposely) set out to cause his demise (death, termination, end, fall) by nearly running out of gas in the middle of the scenic route and then choosing not to find a motel room instantly when he informed me that his head was bursting and he didn't think he was long for this world. Even Alfred Hitchcock couldn't have devised such an ingenious (clever, creative) murder plot.
7) Since that time, every year when vacation rolls around, we've had to deal with the resurrection of this cerebral demon of his which threatens to call a halt to any plans I might have for getting away for a few days.
My favorite part was the last line: /So be it. Perhaps I have my own brand of selective amnesia./
It's original and funny, Beth. Best regards, tati (220309)
Comment Written 22-Mar-2009
reply by the author on 22-Mar-2009
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tati, Thank you so much for reading and reviewing this story and for your comments. I do plan to expand on all those things you mention but in short essays like this
one and possibly putall of them into one book. If you look in my portfolio you'll find "Everyone Has a Breaking Point which covers 5,6 and 7. I am so glad you liked the piece.
Comment from Marjorie D.
Welcome to FanStory, Beth. It's nice to "meet" you. I love your story. Oh, yes. A lot of men have "selective" hearing, but your husband has developed a new branch of that disease. The two of you are like Jack Sprat and his wife, only he only remembers the "bad" and you remember the "good." Your writing style made this a genuine pleasure to read. It's smooth, coherent and very, very funny.
XO
Marjorie
reply by the author on 21-Mar-2009
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Welcome to FanStory, Beth. It's nice to "meet" you. I love your story. Oh, yes. A lot of men have "selective" hearing, but your husband has developed a new branch of that disease. The two of you are like Jack Sprat and his wife, only he only remembers the "bad" and you remember the "good." Your writing style made this a genuine pleasure to read. It's smooth, coherent and very, very funny.
XO
Marjorie
Comment Written 21-Mar-2009
reply by the author on 21-Mar-2009
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Marjorie, Thank you for reading and commenting. I am enjoying FanStory.
Beth
Comment from MaureenC
Once again Beth you have kept my interest right through this piece. You have such a wonderful way of expressing your stories and keeping the reader's interest.
Selective amnesia - hearing - and all the other 'selectives'. I think we could all have something to say about it, both negative or positive. I have no doubt though that they would not be as entertaining as yours in the telling.
Kind regards
Mauseyc
reply by the author on 21-Mar-2009
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Once again Beth you have kept my interest right through this piece. You have such a wonderful way of expressing your stories and keeping the reader's interest.
Selective amnesia - hearing - and all the other 'selectives'. I think we could all have something to say about it, both negative or positive. I have no doubt though that they would not be as entertaining as yours in the telling.
Kind regards
Mauseyc
Comment Written 21-Mar-2009
reply by the author on 21-Mar-2009
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MauseyC, Thank for your review and your nice comments. I do appreciate it.
Beth
Comment from Rain Chapman
I enjoy reading your work so much, your memories always make me smile if not laugh out loud. I sometimes feel bad that I don't help out with SPAG stuff but if it is there I never see it past your wonderful stories. Have you considered making a book of your memories? I'd buy it. Great work!
reply by the author on 21-Mar-2009
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I enjoy reading your work so much, your memories always make me smile if not laugh out loud. I sometimes feel bad that I don't help out with SPAG stuff but if it is there I never see it past your wonderful stories. Have you considered making a book of your memories? I'd buy it. Great work!
Comment Written 21-Mar-2009
reply by the author on 21-Mar-2009
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Thank you Lorraine, I do appreciate it. I've thought about putting the short essays in a book if I get enough of them.
Beth
Comment from barbara.wilkey
I'm positive men have selective amnesia. I enjoyed your short story.
I have retained bits and pieces of almost everything of any significance that happened to me from age three on and some things earlier than that. This sentence may sound better something like this: I have retained bits and pieces of almost every significant event that happened to me from age three on, and some earlier.
reply by the author on 21-Mar-2009
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I'm positive men have selective amnesia. I enjoyed your short story.
I have retained bits and pieces of almost everything of any significance that happened to me from age three on and some things earlier than that. This sentence may sound better something like this: I have retained bits and pieces of almost every significant event that happened to me from age three on, and some earlier.
Comment Written 21-Mar-2009
reply by the author on 21-Mar-2009
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Thank you Barbara, I appreciate you review and comments and your suggestion.
Beth
Comment from DecrepitOldBag
Ha! All men have 'selective' amnesia, just as all children have 'selective' deafness. This is a wonderful account of your husbands' foibles. Your stories are so cleverly written; they always make me laugh.
I noticed one typo: "....usually when we've traveled to (too) far to...."
Lovely story Beth, great writing.
Warmest wishes
Kat
reply by the author on 21-Mar-2009
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Ha! All men have 'selective' amnesia, just as all children have 'selective' deafness. This is a wonderful account of your husbands' foibles. Your stories are so cleverly written; they always make me laugh.
I noticed one typo: "....usually when we've traveled to (too) far to...."
Lovely story Beth, great writing.
Warmest wishes
Kat
Comment Written 21-Mar-2009
reply by the author on 21-Mar-2009
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Thank you Kat, I think you're right. Everyone is telling me my husband isn't alone. Thanks for catching the typo.
Beth
Comment from laurelp
Ah, selective memory. Why is it that women remember the good and men remember the bad. I think it is something men are born with. Their hormones or something. Very well written piece.
reply by the author on 21-Mar-2009
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Ah, selective memory. Why is it that women remember the good and men remember the bad. I think it is something men are born with. Their hormones or something. Very well written piece.
Comment Written 21-Mar-2009
reply by the author on 21-Mar-2009
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Thank you for reading and commenting. I think you are probably right. Maybe it's most men and not just mine.
Beth