Sunday, August 30, 2009

The facts, embellished


Yesterday some one left a comment on an old post about the Ikea mattress fiasco that accused me of "slandering" the company, and then went on to advise me "to keep it real and stick to the facts." I'm not bothered by someone leaving this comment. The truth is that I find it rather amusing.

I suppose my use of the word "fiasco", above, could be seen as not sticking to the facts. There was no fiasco in the true sense of the word. I was not sued. No Ikea employees came to my house and burned it to the ground. I didn't go ballistic and threaten to shoot anyone. In the end, everything worked out fine. 800 miles of driving and lots of complaining - we got our money back and now have a fine mattress.

The truth is a slippery thing. I write honestly and say what is my truth, but I tend toward hyperbole, no doubt about it. There's nothing wrong with that, in my opinion. My aim is not a dry reporting of the facts and just the facts ma'am. Often the facts are boring. This blog was not meant to be a repository of consumer reports. I'm a storyteller (at my best) and storytellers embellish, or at least they try to make things interesting.

I say "everything is interesting" but even the most interesting things can be made boring in their re-telling. I wrote a review for a book about exorcism ("The Rite"). I believe I entitled the review "how could anyone render a book about exorcism so boring?" Now, many people don't like my review (and that's fine), but I was amazed at how dry this book was. But, in the author's attempt to not sensationalize an already sensational topic, he went overboard in writing without any feeling. Others do not agree; the book is well-liked. Well, that's people for you. We all have our opinions, including me (obviously).

Now, this may be a boring post. I've really not much to say. I've been tired and head-achy for a few weeks now, and there's been so much I've felt like blogging about, but every time I start blogging, I get sleepy and put what I've written aside as a draft, never to be looked at again. I also would prefer to be knitting, and my clothes dryer just beeped and I need to attend to that. On top of that, I haven't felt like analyzing much of anything that I've been doing, and some of what I've been doing is best shared in photographs. Right now, quite frankly, I'd rather be knitting than writing, so after I'm done folding my laundry that's what I'm going to do. And after that, I'll probably watch an episode of "The Sanctuary", a show I've been enjoying quite a bit. Now, that is a surprise to me. I normally don't go in for television shows about the supernatural, but there's something about this show that makes me feel relaxed and even happy. A smart 147-year-old woman scientist, her gold gun toting daughter, a gentle werewolf, and a young psychiatrist who seems to always have his hands in his pockets are the main characters. The rest? Monsters of all kinds and a very simple good vs. evil vibe where everything always always resolves itself well. I feel the same pleasure I once got reading Spiderman comics. Hey, sometimes one needs to just veg out.

Photo note: "Done Roving" yarn. Since I didn't write about my last two days working at the yarn shop, I figure I should show you some of my current favorite yarn company's yarn. When I'm "selling" yarn, I might pick up a skein of something like this and say "this has got to be the most gorgeous stuff I've ever seen." Hyperbole? Not at the moment I'm holding it in my hands or laying it on the floor to see how the colors interplay. . .at that moment, it is the most gorgeous thing I've ever laid my eyes on.

1 comment:

BitterGrace said...

Now you know where the money Ikea should be putting into customer service is going. Clearly, someone is being paid to trawl the Web and flack for the company. Not surprising--they've gotten some lousy press lately and I'm sure they're in damage control mode.

Happy knitting!