Catch 22 Randomness

Ever since I saw an interview where Valerie Pringle (or was it Pamela Wallin?) went on a rant about how everybody always misuses the phrase catch 22 I've wanted to read Joseph Heller's Catch-22. It's a permanent fixture on my list of books to pick up but always seems to get bumped by something else - something more current, something less about war, something more suited to an afternoon of escapism. I will have to make sure to read it while on maternity leave. Not only will reading Catch-22 likely be enjoyable because people who have bought it from Chapters obviously have good taste since they've also purchased Vonnegut and Salinger, when I finally read the book I'll be in on the joke and will be able to sit back and act superior when others misuse the phrase, or better yet go on my own rant about how people always misuse it. The perk of not having read it? I can still misuse the phrase in blissful ignorance (almost, that interview will gnaw at me a little bit).

Anyway, as it turns out this post has nothing to do with the phrase or the book beyond the first paragraph, but this way I will have to read that book so that I can follow up later. While there is no reason, sometimes there is a method to my madness :)

What I love about blogging is that it's (like W says) like going for coffee with one of your friends when you read their posts and comments. It gives you a little bit of insight into what is going on in their world for that moment and lets you share a little bit of what's going on in yours. I notice when I talk to friends on the phone that read my blog (or those that have one that I read) that we sometimes have a bit less to talk about because we've just gone for coffee (to make further use of the analogy) and already know what's going on. What makes it different from sharing a nice warm cup of coffee (or lemon tea with honey) with a friend, though, is that our conversations might be in completely different places - I might be droning on and on about something trivial like catch-22 (see how it all pulls together?) only to surf over to a friend's blog and see that something life changing is happening in her world. I would never monopolize a conversation whining about how I'm struggling to decide what colour to paint my spare bedroom while my friend sat there with tears running down her cheeks because her sister just lost her baby. But that's exactly what happens sometimes in blog world - I'm sitting here indulging myself while someone else is pouring their heart out. I almost feel like a jerk for my trivial post until I remember that if they are reading it they are probably looking for the distraction - just like at coffee when they ask about what paint colours I'm considering for my spare bedroom. Any suggestions?