34 Comments
Oct 3Liked by Laurie Stone

"Actually, I could know. I could read old notebooks. Am I going to do that? I am not going to do that." Appreciating this piece very very much, and those lines in particular.

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author

So pleased. Me, too! :)

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Oct 3Liked by Laurie Stone

earthly (and unearthly) delights indeed. i love that both your piece and richard's end on thoughts about the dead. and i love how forthright you always are about giving compliments to strangers. i see how you see the beauty in things.

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I think you do as well. It's part of our bond. xxL

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"When people talk about 'facing reality,' they mean the things that give you pleasure can kill you." Amazing.

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Ha! Let me know if you would ever like to come to a Zoom conversation, and I can explain how such sentences get formed.

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I'll come to the next one!

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It's on October 19 from 3 to 4 EST. Would you like to be on the list for that?

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Your writing fills my brain up to the very top. Stunning.

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Thanks, dear friend. xxL

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Oct 3Liked by Laurie Stone

Like skipping a rock on a body of deep water.

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I love that! Thanks

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i love this so much, all of it. and i relate.

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This makes me happy. I can't tell ahead of time if a post will click with readers as this one appears to be doing. But even if I knew how to bake a cake well, it wouldn't come out the same way each time. Or there wouldn't be "A Great British Baking Show." xxL

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Oct 3Liked by Laurie Stone

I loved both pieces. Richard I related to as well as I spent my childhood going to Bolton to visit my family and Ansdell in Lytham. It all felt very familiar.

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author

Happy you liked both of our pieces!

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What a joy to read.

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That's what I was hoping for! It will be a joy to spend time together. xxL

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Yes!

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So beautiful to read ❤️

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I can't help but think that Sally Rooney has immersed herself in your literary essence, absorbing the very marrow of your word style. She's then taken that foundation and, with a deft touch, added her own idiosyncrasies to craft something uniquely hers. Rooney's work, no doubt, entertains brilliantly. But you? You possess a rare gift. Your words don't just entertain - they gently pry open the shutters of our souls, coaxing them to unfurl and blossom in the warmth of understanding. Where she captivates, you transform.

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Well that a truly generous comment. It makes me happy!

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Laurie, your writing is always mesmerizing, and today Richard’s gave me goose bumps. Kudos to you both.

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How fab to hear!

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Wonderful, thank you!

“Everyone could see in the dog a kind of longing not to carry around the stupid waste of being human.” Love that.

Really enjoyed Triangle of Sadness, which gets more OTT as it goes on, but I thought pulled it off.

Plus, enjoyed the mention of northern towns as that’s what’s been on my mind this week. (In amongst the jumble of the rest of life, of course.)

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Thanks!

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Oct 3Liked by Laurie Stone

Wonderful

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Actually, yes. For me, earlier in my life I did not judge my choices that way, feeling about them as you suggest. But then some outside influences invaded my mind and I am having to re-learn not to judge myself/my choices. It’s like I’m trying to build myself back up to the person I was when I was younger. But your piece is a reminder for me.

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That's great. xxL

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Laurie, I absolutely love this piece. Much I can relate to, and somehow comforting that we make it through those early days and flawed choices and come to be the women who can sit in a bar sharing margaritas with a new friend, and talk about lost loves. (And still be present enough to make the waitress feel better about herself.) Thank you.

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I love your comment except for one thing. I don't view the early choices as bad at all. They gave me my life. I am the dog at the party in the guise of a woman who is shorter than I used to be, not that I was ever very tall.

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The mushrooms and the dahlias, holding on for you. Oh, yes.

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xxL

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