Monday, September 29, 2014

Ingrid Meinz Syndrome

So there I was, feet marinating in a puddle, bicycle turning to rust and I said WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE SUMMER, ARE YOU GOING TO GET SOME SUN? and she said, No I'll be working at home, I have six deadlines for articles I'm writing and twelve books on my shelves I haven't glanced at and a major deadline for a peer reviewed journal so I guess I'll have to open a tin of soup and spend the summer on an uncomfortable chair at my desk with my head down. And I thought, you know Ingrid Meinz THIS IS REALLY NOT VERY SEXY. You are intelligent and this should make you sexy, you are an independent attractive woman earning your living and this should make you sexy but you are not. How are you ever going to grab your self some LOVE with that tone of voice and that tin of soup. How much SEXIER if she had said, even though it might be impossible... OH YES I WANT TO GO ON HOLIDAY MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, I WANT TO TAKE OFF ALL MY CLOTHES AND LIE IN THE SUN... now that's better, she might even stand a chance of someone saying gosh can I come with you? She could have said, I CAN'T GO TO THE SUN THIS YEAR BUT I WILL BE GOING TO KEW GARDENS TO MASTURBATE IN THE ORCHID HOUSE, now that would be evidence of some humour lurking inside Ingrid Meinz, or EVEN if she'd said, I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT CATCHING UP ON THE BOOKS I HAVEN'T HAD TIME TO READ - that would have been an improvement. But as it was she stood there SO INVOLVED WITH HERSELF she did not even notice I was soaked and by this time I was shivering and had lost the momentum that helps a girl cycle the last four miles in the rain so I said good bye and good luck with her deadlines and slowly turned the pedals up the hill, and I thought I will have to call this encounter the Ingrid Meinz Syndome. [...] The Ingrid Meinz Syndrome describes an illness that means every time you open your mouth to speak the world turns grey.
                                                                                                                                            - Deborah Levy, "Conversations with Famous Artists"