Comments on: THOMAS SULLIVAN: STRIVING FOR IMPERFECTION

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:09:47 +0000

“Life and literature through a wide-angled lens.” Oooh. I like that. Coming from you it’s a prized credential.

– Sully

By: Janet Berliner

Janet Berliner — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:30:09 +0000

Plimpton it was. Great essay, Friend. Life and literature through a wide-angled lens. Thank you. –Janet

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Fri, 16 May 2008 21:31:56 +0000

Yeah, I remember “Paper Lion.” I think it
was George Plimpton who made a career of short stints in glamour occupations and was the author of the book. Both Joe Schmidt and Mike Lucci were
featured in the movie “Paper Lion.”

– Sully

By: Robert Jones

Robert Jones — Fri, 16 May 2008 21:30:24 +0000

Regarding the angled Lion, I believe I read about him in a book (Paper Lion???) written by a writer who went through training with the team and actually snapped the ball during a game for a few not-too-swift handoff plays. I can remember only bits and pieces of the book, but I do recall the player who tried to explain to the writer how he played his position by observing angles.
Amalgam

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:38:04 +0000

Going to shortcut something here, if I may. Getting a ton of e-mail this morning from my newsletter, which links to this column and goes out to hundreds of the same readers. I mentioned in the newsletter that I had run into a construction bobcat while biking in the parking lot at Wal-Mart and a lot of e-mails are asking about that. Appreciate the concern, but I’m fine, thank you very much. Here’s an excerpt I sent one of the e-mailers and which I hope allays concern:

Hahahahahahahaha. Believe me, when the bike stops instantly, anything
that’s loose (including the bod) will keep on going. I was looking down at
the gear chain — which was hung up — and not moving fast at all, and glanced ahead just in time to preview my fate. A
little higher on my trajectory over the handlebars, and I would have cleared
the Bobcat. Alas. Splat! But I was able to pick what part of my anatomy
to hit first. Worst of it was having to joke it off for the construction
crew that was working there at Wal-Mart. I think they were fearing lawsuit,
and it was all my fault, so I had to postpone complaining about my bruises
while we kibitzed about it. Exit laughing, as they say. Next day I roller
skied through the Wal-Mart parking lot and new construction people knew all
about my misadventure from the day before. Encore laughing. Now that hurt.

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:10:27 +0000

Once again you’ve given me reason not to slash my wrists for at least a couple of hours. Always great when someone picks up on something you thought you didn’t express well enough. Thanks, Amalgam. That’s fascinating about the Detroit Lion player. Trying to think of who that was — Barry Sanders? I used to hang out with Lion hall-of-famers Joe Schmidt and Mike Lucci, so I’ve heard a zillion stories (most of them unprintable) but that one doesn’t ring a bell.

– Sully

By: Robert Jones

Robert Jones — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:50:45 +0000

I also meant to add that your special person status should be “indubitably special.”
CONGRATULATIONS!
Amalgam

By: Robert Jones

Robert Jones — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:46:44 +0000

Your gradually developing preference for patterns at least as well as facts reminds me of a former Detroit Lion player. He came to see his domain on the football field as a world of angles: angles of pigskin flight, angles of interceptions, angles of receiver’s paths with respect to his own, angles of blocker’s paths with respect to his own…. Contemplating angles told him where to go and how best to get there. In fact, it melded the two.

As always, your philosophy provides not only a deep and personal glimpse into your own central processor, but also offers useful patterns for true success and satisfaction in a largely artificial and plastic-becoming world.

Great stuff!

Amalgam

By: Thomas Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan — Fri, 16 May 2008 06:34:48 +0000

Thanks, Edwin. I guess communication is always limited by who it aims for and how hard it tries to be accessible. That’s the author’s great prerogative. But that takes the reader off the hook. The writer either fails or succeeds reaching one pair of perusing eyes at a time, and the owner of those eyes is the judge.

– Sully

By: edwin mcrae

edwin mcrae — Fri, 16 May 2008 06:20:20 +0000

Communication must communicate. I love it. I wish the literati of the world would take that on board, as I have come away from many a literary piece completely none the wiser as to what it was saying. Lovely writing, but it might as well have been in Pictish. Or perhaps I’m a little dense and should stick to my genre novels.