Letters from the Inside, Michael Swango, #69

Ed.: I suppose it is appropriate that in his 69th letter he get sort of pervy.

Hey Kelly---

With you leaving for Japan in (I'm guessing) about a week, this will probably be the last letter with a chance of reaching you before you sojourn in the Far East. Even if it doesn't....the New Year begins...So--what I didn't get to from your last letter:

>OK-in high school & college (not so much after) you have your "Quinns" and your "Rachels". I agree, Quinn is stunning. She represents the blonde cheerleader type that always seems to "have it all" in school. See also: "Ten Things I Hate About You:" where Bianca is the cute blonde & Katerina is the disliked non-conformist (played by Julia Stiles). Rachel is the usually brunette, not-so-cool, non-conformist, usually more intellectual, non-cheerleader type.

"Quinns" attract the men early, but we all know it is the fiery "Rachels" who are smoldering volcanoes of brilliance, passion, & raw sexuality!

Anyway-that's how Hollywood & TV see it. There is some truth to it--although we're not talking about en exact science here.

>Most interesting that you shy away at least a little from "depressing films". You & I differ significantly in that area. Iwould must rather see a "White Ribbon" or "Precious" or "Antichrist" than a cookie-cutter romantic comedy, or mindless action-adventure. But I know you are an aficionado of the dark & complex and offbeat. You'd see "Precious" or "White Ribbon" or "And the Band Played On" with me, wouldn't you?

>Given my circumstances, you know you can't use the phrases "too long to get into" or "too long and strange..." to avoid describing your relationship with someone at work--and the ending which was the "strangest experience you have ever had." THAT is saying a lot, given your quite remarkable and dramatic life. Would love to hear it in detail. Can I tell you a similar story?

You say you "miss him still" .. Here's a question for you, KK: Before I went to Africa, I was with a young widow, who had lost her husband to a terrible illness two years before...When you got past the platitudes she had to use with her relatives, do you know what she missed--truly missed far & away the most? Think about it, and you know what I mean by the "usual platitudes". What she said and why and my comments in the New Year...

>NoteGuy. No passion. That says it all. You must have heat and passion and intense desire early on. He needs to want her in every possible way sexually, and emotionally--and she needs to want him inside her everywhere. Can't say more without getting into those topics which you shy away from--but there is more, much more, KK.

>Sorry, Actually this time I had no intention to be cryptic. If and when we do read a book together--whether it be Bernard/Homolka--or any other one of your choice---by discussing & analyzing in such detail you inevitably learn far more about each other. This I know to be true, KK.

However, it is not easy, to be sure.

The truth is that it's not in our DNA these days to do so. It is slow and tedious and takes a long time. But is does work, amazingly.

i.e.--Go through CLOSER by Patrick Marber, line by line, and we will learn so much about how we feel and think about relationships, toxic and otherwise...Go through a Bernard/Homolka book, and we learn how we think about sociopathy and very toxic relationships--and much more.

The truth is---you write so much with your blogs, etc. I don't know if you have time, period!

>Reviews of a Single Man and Lovely Bones from USA Today.

>Comments on "The Good Wife". It's a good show, period. Chick TV or not.

>A brutal cartoon, but it says exactly what I think about those ridiculous new guidelines for mammograms. Deadly too.

Go wild on your trip to Japan...or welcome back, Kelly. Write again soo. I will hope to have a few letters waiting for you when you return... You know you love me, XOXO Gossip Girl. (It also returns in January!)

Yours,

Michael