When is enough too much
I don't know if this will make sense but I've come across two examples of overkill lately and wondered if anyone else would agree.
Example 1: I was wasting time on Facebook when I came across a post about how to avoid the stomach flu. Now I don't like to vomit anymore than the next person so I followed the link looking for the silver bullet cure to forever banish the hurl fest. The link contained well over three pages of tips and how-to's on fighting the flu. Well to put it mildly, the lady who came up with the anti-barf tips has ABSOLUTELY NO LIFE. The lady detailed step by step how to disinfect EVERY and I mean EVERY surface, including her children, in the house. Did you know that the average anti-bacterial wipe does not kill the flu virus or rotovirus more specifically? Me either! I think that all this lady does is go around with a squirt bottle of bleach solution spraying everything in her path. I'm sure she has no fingernails because soap, water, and bleach have eaten them to the quick. I'm not sure how she cooks a meal what with spraying and washing and spraying and washing. I'm pretty sure any pesky flu virus would be afraid to land in her vicinity. As I said earlier I don't like making offerings to the porcelain god anymore than the next person but I also want to live my life. When does vigilance about germs become OCD and just too much?
Example 2: I found a blog about writing a novel. It has some very detailed ideas for planning out the story. Basically it details the author's writing process. I'm always interested in writing and helping my students develop their own writing process so I read the blog with interest. The back story of the novel: the lead singer of an indie band called Ludo wrote a rock opera called "Broken Bride" about a guy who time-travels in order to prevent his wife's death. The singer/author decided to write a novel of "Broken Bride." But not just the basic story; he plans to write the back story of the time traveler from the beginning of time until the end of days apocalypse. He has literally planned out every day of the time traveler's life from 1979 to the present. As I was reading about his attention to detail for the novel I was reminded of bleach lady. Reading about his writing process was interesting and informative. Very soon in his planning stages, he realized that the novel he was planning to write would likely end up being 1,700 pages easily. HOLY COW! So he decided to trim things up a bit. OK. . . now we're down to 1,000 pages. Well I guess if Margaret Mitchell did it, he can too! But upon further review and research he decided to write the Broken Bride trilogy. I admire his ambition and plan to continue to follow his progress but I have to wonder if details from the beginning of time to the end of days are really that necessary for a novel. I've read bits and parts of Moby Dick but mostly skipped the extensive whaling chapters. Maybe I'm unique (well of course I am) but I want enough detail to give me a good picture of a narrative but I don't really want detail overload. I don't need to know that in 1979 it was Lou Brock's last MLB season to appreciate a time traveler story. This guy is really talented. I'm not much into indie bands but some of Ludo's songs are really fun. My favorite is Topeka. With lyrics like "I found God in a catalytic converter in Topeka on a Monday night," how can I not be entertained? But again I have to ask, do I really need to know that Bob Dylan proclaimed his Christianity in order to further this story? So when is enough too much? Maybe Ludo and bleach lady should get together--that would be the cleanest, most detailed novel EVER!
Example 1: I was wasting time on Facebook when I came across a post about how to avoid the stomach flu. Now I don't like to vomit anymore than the next person so I followed the link looking for the silver bullet cure to forever banish the hurl fest. The link contained well over three pages of tips and how-to's on fighting the flu. Well to put it mildly, the lady who came up with the anti-barf tips has ABSOLUTELY NO LIFE. The lady detailed step by step how to disinfect EVERY and I mean EVERY surface, including her children, in the house. Did you know that the average anti-bacterial wipe does not kill the flu virus or rotovirus more specifically? Me either! I think that all this lady does is go around with a squirt bottle of bleach solution spraying everything in her path. I'm sure she has no fingernails because soap, water, and bleach have eaten them to the quick. I'm not sure how she cooks a meal what with spraying and washing and spraying and washing. I'm pretty sure any pesky flu virus would be afraid to land in her vicinity. As I said earlier I don't like making offerings to the porcelain god anymore than the next person but I also want to live my life. When does vigilance about germs become OCD and just too much?Example 2: I found a blog about writing a novel. It has some very detailed ideas for planning out the story. Basically it details the author's writing process. I'm always interested in writing and helping my students develop their own writing process so I read the blog with interest. The back story of the novel: the lead singer of an indie band called Ludo wrote a rock opera called "Broken Bride" about a guy who time-travels in order to prevent his wife's death. The singer/author decided to write a novel of "Broken Bride." But not just the basic story; he plans to write the back story of the time traveler from the beginning of time until the end of days apocalypse. He has literally planned out every day of the time traveler's life from 1979 to the present. As I was reading about his attention to detail for the novel I was reminded of bleach lady. Reading about his writing process was interesting and informative. Very soon in his planning stages, he realized that the novel he was planning to write would likely end up being 1,700 pages easily. HOLY COW! So he decided to trim things up a bit. OK. . . now we're down to 1,000 pages. Well I guess if Margaret Mitchell did it, he can too! But upon further review and research he decided to write the Broken Bride trilogy. I admire his ambition and plan to continue to follow his progress but I have to wonder if details from the beginning of time to the end of days are really that necessary for a novel. I've read bits and parts of Moby Dick but mostly skipped the extensive whaling chapters. Maybe I'm unique (well of course I am) but I want enough detail to give me a good picture of a narrative but I don't really want detail overload. I don't need to know that in 1979 it was Lou Brock's last MLB season to appreciate a time traveler story. This guy is really talented. I'm not much into indie bands but some of Ludo's songs are really fun. My favorite is Topeka. With lyrics like "I found God in a catalytic converter in Topeka on a Monday night," how can I not be entertained? But again I have to ask, do I really need to know that Bob Dylan proclaimed his Christianity in order to further this story? So when is enough too much? Maybe Ludo and bleach lady should get together--that would be the cleanest, most detailed novel EVER!
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