March 2012 – Kari Neumeyer

Katniss, the best thing since Buffy

In my earlier post, Girls who kick ass, I disclosed my attempts to impersonate female superheroes. Last year, Rob and I listened to the audio book for The Supergirls: Fashion, Feminism, Fantasy, and the History of Comic Book Heroines, and actually, that’s when I decided to dress up as Wonder Woman for Halloween. But it depressedContinue reading “Katniss, the best thing since Buffy”

Girls who kick ass

Rob and I like to dress up as superheroes for Halloween. In 2004, we were Rogue and Wolverine. From the X-Men movie, not the comic, because Rogue’s comic book hairstyle doesn’t translate so well to real life. The next time we dressed up was in 2008, and I was Elektra. In 2009, Rob wanted toContinue reading “Girls who kick ass”

Anakin Skywalker: It’s Complicated

The original Star Wars movies are so firmly enmeshed in my childhood that I cannot write about them objectively. Generations of film geeks already have analyzed the series on so deep a level that nothing I can say could possibly be original. As Luke Skywalker says at the end of Empire, “It’s ImPOSSible!” Rob andContinue reading “Anakin Skywalker: It’s Complicated”

Scents Memory

While I was having my twice-weekly massage (I know, you feel really sorry for me after my accident, don’t you? But honestly, the aches and pains in my head and neck have been so bad the massage is necessary medicine.), the therapist asked if I’d like to try some aromatherapy. She said she had aContinue reading “Scents Memory”

Legends of the family

Our latest assignment in memoir class is to take a well-worn family story, told so often it has a punchline and fits neatly into a little box, and upend it by asking questions, giving more context and unraveling all the threads that made it fit so nicely into that little box. The challenge is thatContinue reading “Legends of the family”

For the memoirists

Last night I finished reading Ann Patchett’s memoir Truth and Beauty, about her long friendship with Lucy Grealy, author of Autobiography of a Face. During her book tour, a fan asked Grealy about the process of writing about her childhood battle with cancer: “It’s amazing how you remember everything so clearly…All those conversations, details, wereContinue reading “For the memoirists”