A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away (of course you know I exaggerate slightly) there were several silly teenage girls who formed a fast friendship during their high school years. (Of course you know I was one of them.)
They did lots of things together, were involved in a few extracurricular activities together; each was part of the others' everyday school day. One of the fun things they did was to write notes to each other during the day (when they should've been concentrating on things that their parents were paying for them to be in school -- notably, schoolwork).
The notes were nonsensical, but they were hilarious. Each one would pretend to be something she was not: a business magnate, a world-famous writer, a contessa. The writer of the note would disparage the recipient in not-so-subtle ways.
For example:
Note 1: Darling, you simply must visit my milliner in Paris, when you scrape up money for your airfare. She makes the most delightful peignoirs! We sure as hell didn't know then that milliners, Parisian or otherwise, did NOT make peignoirs, nor did we care. It just sounded so snooty to use the words "peignoir" and "milliner" in the same sentence.
Or it went something like this:
Note 2: The new bath oils Philippe gave me are simply divine! It was so difficult to try not using it all in my marble bathtub. Naturally we took it for granted that no Philippe existed in her life. But we were a tad chagrined to see for ourselves in time that the note-sender DID have a humungous marble bathtub at home. We knew that her family was loaded and that she lived in a mansion, but somehow it never entered our minds that she was telling the truth when she mentioned having a marble tub.
We outgrew the derisive notes, but not the friendship. One of the girls in the group, with whom I've been friends since we were seven or eight years old, and who's godmother to my son and I to one of hers, is particularly special.
She's marble: perfect, imperfect; malleable, sturdy; cold, warm; classic, modern; silly, profound; fragile, eternal. She is soft and sensitive, yet possesses extraordinary inner strength.
When we were younger, she was many things that drove me up the wall. We went through much of elementary, high school, and college together (we were dormitory roommates in college too). Still, I wouldn't change anything about her if I could. She knows much of the inner me. She used to be my nemesis in addition to being my friend; today she's my nemesis no longer. I love her dearly, and one of the myriad reasons for this is because she doesn't make fun of me when I'm this close to peeling from beach UV ray overexposure syndrome.
I'm no sculptor, but the memories of times with her (and I'm sure memories to be made) will be forever engraved on my consciousness.
Visit Manic Monday maestro Morgen at It's a Blog Eat Blog World to read other uses of this week's theme word, marble.
They did lots of things together, were involved in a few extracurricular activities together; each was part of the others' everyday school day. One of the fun things they did was to write notes to each other during the day (when they should've been concentrating on things that their parents were paying for them to be in school -- notably, schoolwork).
The notes were nonsensical, but they were hilarious. Each one would pretend to be something she was not: a business magnate, a world-famous writer, a contessa. The writer of the note would disparage the recipient in not-so-subtle ways.
For example:
Note 1: Darling, you simply must visit my milliner in Paris, when you scrape up money for your airfare. She makes the most delightful peignoirs! We sure as hell didn't know then that milliners, Parisian or otherwise, did NOT make peignoirs, nor did we care. It just sounded so snooty to use the words "peignoir" and "milliner" in the same sentence.
Or it went something like this:
Note 2: The new bath oils Philippe gave me are simply divine! It was so difficult to try not using it all in my marble bathtub. Naturally we took it for granted that no Philippe existed in her life. But we were a tad chagrined to see for ourselves in time that the note-sender DID have a humungous marble bathtub at home. We knew that her family was loaded and that she lived in a mansion, but somehow it never entered our minds that she was telling the truth when she mentioned having a marble tub.We outgrew the derisive notes, but not the friendship. One of the girls in the group, with whom I've been friends since we were seven or eight years old, and who's godmother to my son and I to one of hers, is particularly special.
She's marble: perfect, imperfect; malleable, sturdy; cold, warm; classic, modern; silly, profound; fragile, eternal. She is soft and sensitive, yet possesses extraordinary inner strength.
When we were younger, she was many things that drove me up the wall. We went through much of elementary, high school, and college together (we were dormitory roommates in college too). Still, I wouldn't change anything about her if I could. She knows much of the inner me. She used to be my nemesis in addition to being my friend; today she's my nemesis no longer. I love her dearly, and one of the myriad reasons for this is because she doesn't make fun of me when I'm this close to peeling from beach UV ray overexposure syndrome.
I'm no sculptor, but the memories of times with her (and I'm sure memories to be made) will be forever engraved on my consciousness.
Visit Manic Monday maestro Morgen at It's a Blog Eat Blog World to read other uses of this week's theme word, marble.
25 comments:
I just love the word chagrined and combined with tad, 'tis perfect. Now what was the blog about, I got completely diverted.
Glad you enjoyed the word dance, DaddyP. The blog post is about...umm, errrr...artichokes. Yep, that was it.
I think you are a sculptor--you use words instead of marble--it's lovely how you create .
Smooch
You and your friends remind me of the book, "Ann of Green Gables." SIlly, precious and wonderful.
LOVE IT!! Discovering the power of words is such a great thing for a kid :-)
What sweet and funny memories!!!
You're very blessed to have such a dear friend.
Peace
damn you TURN.... damn you... that was what i wanted to say.... sheesh...anyway Lizza....I said it to myself before Turn wrote it here.. you are a sculptor of words...
Ooooh soaking in that tub looks luscious ... you can leave the guy.
what a very cute post. I remember those child, note passing days :) Have a great MM.
I think that the size of that dude's bathtub, is masking a much deeper problem. Cheers!!
What a great story. Thanks for a look at your childhood (growing up years). Have a great MM. :)
Stories of true friendship are like artist's renderings in marble - stuff that lasts through the years.
Oh, and that bathtub is just divine!
That is quite a bathtub ... also, I enjoyed your story about your childhood friends and some of the things y'all did together. Great MM post!
My Manic Monday post on the Electronic Village takes the marble theme into African American history.
Happy MM! Villager
If I could only do one thing to my condo is change the tub to something like where that guy is in the pic.
-N
what a nice story about friendship! I am blessed to have some great lifetime girlfriends too!
marblous baby ... simply marblous
hmmm that didn't translate as I thought it might.
but too late now!
girlfriends...what would life be without them. nice post, again.
I love your description of marble itself, and then the way you use it to describe your friend.
Excellent post!
These words and notes remind me of Agatha Runcible in "Vile Bodies". You are a savage wit!
Turnbaby: Why thank you very much, you sweet thing. Smooches back at you.
Nancy: Haha, yes. The silliness makes for some fond memories.
the108: Yes, even if the words are used quite erroneously. :-)
Odat: Thanks! You know, seeing your avatar always gets my hips swaying. :-D
Bond: Thank you! And so are you.
Jamie: He's all yours!
Tegdirb: Thanks! Hope you had a happy MM too.
Matt: I think the problem is he's sitting in the bathtub fully clothed!
Sandee: Thanks! It was fun remembering those things.
Morgen: Indeed they are. Thanks for visiting.
Villager: Happy times, glad to share the memories.
Natalia: Nothing like a bit of decadence at home. :-)
Lisa: How different we'd be without them!
T.A. Negro: You made me chuckle nonetheless. Thanks for dropping by.
Photo: Exactly. It's great floating on the waves of goodwill they make.
Travis: Thank you very much! You always have something nice to say, and it's much appreciated. :-)
Migs: I love that description, savage wit. You flatter me. :-) I hope I don't end up delusional like Agatha, though!
Yep. 'savage wit' is just the loveliest, deadliest compliment ever.
:-) and perfect.
And isn't it obviously girlfriend week ALL over the world!
Very very nice to read about your dearest friend.
The nooooootes! we used to pass notes too. Some really fun ones. But they were very very primitive in their use of language and imagination. certainly not as sharply witty or sharply snobbish or sharply sharp as these!
And this is the first time someone's managed to breathe life into marble.
Such marbellous... erm... marvellous childhood memories - thanks for sharing. I can see little Lizza when I closing my eyes =)
H: Blush, blush, blush. My cheeks are all rosy now.
But I wonder what said the notes that teenage H used to pass around, hmmm?
Sanni: I'm sure your childhood memories are equally fab! *I'm rocking to When Doves Cry now. :-)*
Next week I'll be staying in a hotel that boasts marble bathrooms. I'll have to remember to take a picture. ;)
Going on a trip, are we? Have fun! And have a luxurious soak or two in your hotel room's bathtub. :-)
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