Edward Albee came to town one day, on the dime of a local university. A friend of mine was his general dogsbody for the duration. We did Albee in high school in competitions. We loved it. He manuevered for the privilege. Who knew?
I played Mommy in "The Sandbox." Trying very hard to remember, I can't conjure up any of the rest of the cast. I see Rocky Horror in his gold bikini, when I think of the young man, but my memory is chancy and I'm sure it's just cross wired somewhere.
It felt the same way today when I read on this site that Bristol Palin was pregnant. Brave Mommy.
I looked for the </snark> tag. I skimmed most of the text. I checked the headline again for the big BREAKING. And then I did what I always do when the news hurts my head, I called for my husband.
He was outside mowing.
Edward Albee drinks. A lot. Or he did then. He apparently quit when he found out he had diabetes. He did not behave well, and my friend despaired. He wasn't an absurdist. He was absurd. My friend, who loved "The Zoo," who had lobbied to meet and host this venerable theatre denizen, who expected so much, spent a weekend keeping him from pawing pretty young things and standing watch while Albee puked in the bushes.
"You'll never guess who'se pregnant!" I exclaimed. (You can tell because of the exclamation mark. I'm usually so cool about politics).
He shed his twelveth pair of filthy socks this week on the floor of the kitchen. "Palin?" he said. He didn't miss a beat.
"No, Bristol," I called as he wandered out of the kitchen and down the hall peeling off his sweaty tee-shirt. He peeked back in. "Another one?" he said.
And I knew I'd entered into an Edward Albee play, one he hasn't written yet. And then it was like a dream where you get shoved out on stage and you don't know your lines, and the chorus is commenting from stages left and right.
"Just leave her aloooooone."
"So, now's she's a GILF?"
"Alaska wants to secede."
And what runs through my head is Jerry in Albee's "The Zoo" impaling himself on the knife held by Peter, finishing his story, "Could I have planned all this. No... no, I couldn't have. But I think I did."
And so here is what I have to say: When you bring absurd to the table, there it is. And if people notice, and comment, and digging a little deeper notice more, well, we are all gossips. It is the human condition. After all Albee did have a drinking problem. He puked in the bushes when at a local university for a paid appearance. You can believe me because I know someone who was there.
It's absurd that McCain aides would blame liberal blogs for spreading a rumor that's been on the books in Alaska for months.
It's absurd that anyone should have to create the political equivalent of a potholder to handle this hot potato of a dismal pick, whose only compelling virtue appears to be a foolishness so overarching, so outrageous that reasonable people can't even discuss it without appearing fools themselves.
"First Dude," the chorus sings from the wings on the right.
"Hey they made her take down her hair," echoes the left.
I feel for Sarah Palin, who in her hubris actually believed that belief was qualification enough.
I feel for Bristol, who is too young to understand that the world doesn't revolve around her, as she stands by watching it rotate indeed.
I feel for us, made foolish by this cynical choice.
But this is a foolishness that is not of our making. Who cares if there is backlash. This is absurd. How is one supposed to take the news of a VP chosen as a standard bearer for the Dominionists? It is absurd. What is one suppored to do when Very Serious People talk about what issues are now on or off the table. This is absurd.
Daddy didn't go to the beach today. He mowed the grass. Mommy is surfing the Internet. The young man is not an Angel of Death, and Grandma is laughing at us all.