tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post8564339773099721179..comments2023-10-25T05:30:54.507-04:00Comments on Oh Get A Grip!: Too Many Homes or No Homes at AllAshe Barkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03390519279886657608noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-38550265492939761162015-02-12T09:46:38.374-05:002015-02-12T09:46:38.374-05:00Thank you, Lisabet. You've been quite a travel...Thank you, Lisabet. You've been quite a traveler yourself. I'm sure you know the bittersweet value of experience. I wouldn't change anything. :) Whenever you talk about a post of mine being great, I always want to thank you in return. The Grip has been a uniquely fulfilling writing outlet for me over the past year. If not for you, I wouldn't have it. Annabeth Leonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455191827664110878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-67542192865849478722015-02-12T09:45:02.091-05:002015-02-12T09:45:02.091-05:00High praise coming from you, Jean. I hope you know...High praise coming from you, Jean. I hope you know that I respect your opinion a great deal. I'm looking forward to reading what you've done with this topic (which I'll be doing in a few minutes...) I'm so glad this spoke to you. Annabeth Leonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455191827664110878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-25071466201999021272015-02-12T09:43:41.905-05:002015-02-12T09:43:41.905-05:00Thanks so much for your comment, Fiona. Your story...Thanks so much for your comment, Fiona. Your story about your father describes it exactly, and thanks for sharing that. It's a very weird feeling to not be at home anywhere (Eddie Huang's awesome memoir, Fresh Off the Boat, describes it really well, too--he talks about feeling most comfortable in the Taiwanese airport, because it's a place designed to be in between). <br /><br />Glad you liked this take on the topic of homelessness, too!Annabeth Leonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455191827664110878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-70379533487644253662015-02-12T09:41:26.542-05:002015-02-12T09:41:26.542-05:00Adaptability, absolutely. That knowledge gives me ...Adaptability, absolutely. That knowledge gives me hope that I could handle big changes if I had to. I am luckily far more comfortable now. I can tell from your posts that you've got many similar skills and are clearly a smart cookie as well. :)Annabeth Leonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455191827664110878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-76876813283533751522015-02-12T09:40:30.919-05:002015-02-12T09:40:30.919-05:00Thanks for reading, and for the vote of confidence...Thanks for reading, and for the vote of confidence generally, Spencer. :) The way I write on the Grip is particular to the Grip, I think. I'm more honest because I trust you guys. I'm not sure I could transfer the vibe of it to any other place... I'm happy the Good Men Project is speaking to you, though!Annabeth Leonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455191827664110878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-28317598024489821792015-02-12T09:39:15.901-05:002015-02-12T09:39:15.901-05:00Thank you, Sacchi! I imagine for many of us that w...Thank you, Sacchi! I imagine for many of us that we wind up separated from our homes--by time, if not by place. I am always jealous of the depth of place I sense when I read about a person who's been on the same land for a lifetime. But I think your point would probably still stand. Maybe they miss the home created by a particular person's laugh...Annabeth Leonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455191827664110878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-4911672628749934452015-02-12T09:37:58.441-05:002015-02-12T09:37:58.441-05:00Jeremy, thank you as always for reading. I'm s...Jeremy, thank you as always for reading. I'm so happy that this moved you. I'm not sure anymore if it even makes sense for peace to be a goal--but I would do everything again for the interest of it. <br /><br />Despite my late response, I deeply value that you read and comment. That goes for everyone below, as well. Annabeth Leonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07455191827664110878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-59432786069834285452015-02-01T05:04:10.000-05:002015-02-01T05:04:10.000-05:00What can I add that others haven't said, Annab...What can I add that others haven't said, Annabeth? This is agonizing to read and yet you've expressed yourself so well that it's still beautiful. <br /><br />If it were not for all these voyages, all these roofs that were not homes, all the strange, sordid knowledge you've accumulated, you would not be the astonishing writer that you are. We don't choose our lives, but you've shaped yours into something of unique value. Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-69109383127387856892015-01-30T23:44:05.752-05:002015-01-30T23:44:05.752-05:00This is beautiful, Annabeth. I couldn't possib...This is beautiful, Annabeth. I couldn't possibly write such a moving a post on the subject, so I haven't tried. You touch on so many themes I've heard from other people (the unsettled childhood, the widespread availability of terrifying men, the experience of cultural exile and consequently feeling not really at home anywhere). I don't think I've ever seen these themes expressed so well. Jean Robertahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08805088081675965859noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-53748016126544165292015-01-30T18:32:19.128-05:002015-01-30T18:32:19.128-05:00"This is the land that knows my blood. This i..."This is the land that knows my blood. This is the place where people look like me, where there are people who can tell stories about what I was like as a child, where I can go to breakfast and everything available on the menu is something I want to eat. This is where people's voices sound right, where the music is familiar, where I move like I belong.'<br /><br />What a perfect encapsulation of what it means to have left the area you were raised in, to live somewhere else. Not everyone leaves due to violence, but many do. My late father, from Glesga, used to complain that when he went back across "the pond", he reveled in hearing English spoken "the right way." But folks there would call him a "Yank", and taxi-drivers took him on circuitous routes to ring up a larger fare. He'd tap them on the shoulder and say, "You're not on, laddie. Sod off! I was walking these streets afore you were even a glint in your daddy's eyne." He also said that when he got back here to Chicago, his friends would tell him that he "talked even funnier than usual." He'd sigh and say he "dinnae belong anywhere anymore." Like what you put so much more eloquently.<br /><br />How sad that the land that represents paradise to so many, symbolizes the pain you lived through. But how powerful a testament to the strength of your spirit and your soul, that you can put that pain into words so moving, that we all feel as if we lived it with you. Let my voice be added to the chorus that hopes you find the peace you seek, and a home to finally belong to.<br /><br />And might I add, what an interesting take on the homeless topic. Bravo! Fiona McGierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13495707848048468428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-55009746601212597632015-01-29T18:44:02.907-05:002015-01-29T18:44:02.907-05:00What a disturbing story, Annabeth. Your take on wh...What a disturbing story, Annabeth. Your take on what machinations it takes to get by speaks to humans' greatest strength. Adaptability. It helps to know how to get by poor. Hoping things are more squared away now. Damn, you're smart!Daddy Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12927663248424944119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-16875033981807435682015-01-29T15:04:25.013-05:002015-01-29T15:04:25.013-05:00Mostly repeating what Jeremy said. There must be m...Mostly repeating what Jeremy said. There must be many countless people who've had your experience but don't have your voice. Lately I've done lots of reading and some writing for an on-line salon called The Good Men Project. The mission there is trying to understand what it means to be a man in the 21st Century. Twenty percent of the articles are written by women and the CEO is a woman. It's not Penthouse. A lot of the articles are relationship psychobabble but many are about deep emotional pain and the path to recovery. I think it would help a lot of men to hear your story. http://goodmenproject.com/<br /><br />Thanks for at least sharing it here.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15484640447109164744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-50313083879550642542015-01-29T12:43:03.217-05:002015-01-29T12:43:03.217-05:00Beautifully written and deeply touching. Even in l...Beautifully written and deeply touching. Even in lives without much drama the disconnect between the home(s) of our early years and the home (if any) we feel connected to now is unsettling, but the complexities of your journey, so vividly portrayed, go far, far beyond unsettling. I hope for happier times for you, but can't help feeling grateful to have read your account of your past. Sacchi Greenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10801164916418570059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9156334464585894857.post-9203082689676708052015-01-29T11:12:39.985-05:002015-01-29T11:12:39.985-05:00There must be countless people walking around with...There must be countless people walking around with similar backgrounds and similar feelings; but it takes someone like you to really give those types of feelings full expression, in all their complexity and conflictedness, so that others can understand at more than a superficial level. Thank you for sharing your story with such tangible psychological detail. I feel it has added to the depth of my understanding not only of you, but also potentially of other people I might cross paths with us. <br /><br />I hope that soon you'll somehow find a path to the kind of peace that's been eluding you, dear A.Jeremy Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01980177431018869829noreply@blogger.com