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Tuesday, April 19, 2016

P IS FOR WHERE ALL BAD AMERICANS GO WHEN THEY DIE

"Freud's attitude always seemed to say: 'If they don't understand me, they must be stamped into Hell.'"
 - Carl Jung of Freud

{Freud's famous sofa which was a gift from a patient, 
a Madame Benvenisti. 
She told Freud that if she was going to have her head examined, 
she might as well be comfortable, 
 so she bought him a plain beige, divan-style sofa—
what some people might call a “swooning couch”—
which Freud covered in exotic red Persian carpets 
and piled up with velvet pillows.}

Freud answered my question of what the next letter was to be in my Free Association exercise, "P."

"Paris," I said quickly to keep Mark Twain from being himself and driving Freud to ghost-icide.

"Why Paris?" asked Freud.

"It is one of the destinations in my new Steampunk novel, The Not-So-Innocents Abroad:
 http://www.amazon.com/dp/1530302722/


He nodded.  "So this city is much in your thoughts, is it?"

Freud actually smiled,

" The creative writer does the same as the child at play. He creates a world of phantasy which he takes very seriously—

that is, which he invests with large amounts of emotion—while separating it sharply from reality."

"Oh, yes, Paris," moaned Mark.

"Anywhere is better than Paris. Paris the cold, Paris the drizzly, Paris the rainy, Paris the damnable. 

More than a hundred years ago somebody asked Lucanus, 'Did you ever see such a winter in all your life before?'

 'Yes,' said he, 'Last summer in Paris.' 

Let us change the proverb; 

Let us say all bad Americans go to Paris when they die. 

 No, let us not say it for this adds a new horror to Immortality."

Freud looked dourly at the ghost of Mark Twain.

"If I promise to miss you, would you go away?"

"Naw, you'd enjoy it too much."

25 comments:

  1. I'd love a 'thinking' couch like that.

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    1. Doesn't it look comfortable? I would have fallen asleep on poor Freud laying on that! :-)

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  2. So much to enjoy in this brief post, Roland. 'If I promise to miss you, will you go away?' Now there's a line to remember to use! I love the persian rugs on the couch... I have a weakness for them. And you've sparked memories of Paris too. Wonderful.

    Susan A Eames from
    Travel, Fiction and Photos

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    1. I envy you your travels. Perhaps that is why I travel in my novels from Cairo, to Paris, to India. :-)

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  3. This is just getting better as you go along Roland. Thanks, as these have been a real treat to read, and I'm finding myself staying up til 3-4am just to read the new entree of the day. Best story of the day; to begin my day the proper way.

    These are quotes, that tickle my entertainment: "ghost-icide".

    And- "Let us say all bad Americans go to Paris when they die".

    "No, let us not say it for this adds a new horror to Immortality."

    Indeed it does. LOL. Thanks for everything, laughs, thought provocation included.

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    1. Robert, you make me feel guilty keeping you up so late! :-) Mark Twain, of course, thinks he's worth it! :-)

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    2. No need to feel guilty my friend, I don't get out of bed until afternoon. LOL. Your read then a sunrise, can't beat it....

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  4. Bad Americans go to Paris? Is that what's wrong with the place?

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    1. It has been invaded once too often I am afraid. And too many ugly Americans have trod its streets. :-)

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  5. Hi Roland - I'm surprised you haven't been guillotined by the Parisians for suggesting all bad Americans go there ... and frankly it's bit too near our chalk cliffs across La Manche!

    A couch on a Persian carpet would be perfect ... the velvet cushions I could handle ... but these couches/divans were so fashionable - Kipling had a daybed for himself .. it looked quite uncomfortable - being stuffed leather ..

    I need a lie down now! Cheers Hilary

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    1. Just looking at that couch makes me want to lay down on it!

      I didn't know that about Kipling. Yes, Parisians might want to guillotine me if they read this post!

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  6. I can't think of any other word beginning with P, so you chose the one I would have.

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    1. Hibbs, the cub with no clue, suggested I use "Poop." But this not being a children's book, I thought I'd pass!

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  7. Have you read Twain's book on Joan of Arc? 12 years researching, 2 years of writing. I bet he spent some time in Paris... :)

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    1. That book is on TBR list. Twain patterned Joan's personality in that book on his beloved daughter, Susy. Susy is a major character along with Mark in my novel, THE STARS BLEED AT MIDNIGHT.

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  8. Now I want to know what "ghost-a-cide" is? Sounds like something I could make use of.

    @Kathleen01930
    Meet My Imaginary Friends
    #AtoZchallenge

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    1. Only if you have trouble with ghosts! I am accused of it in my fantasy, GHOST OF A CHANCE, where I am accused of killing the ghost of Ernest Hemingway. The ghost of Mark Twain, in fact, helps me all through that book -- along with the ghost of Marlene Dietrich. It was fun to make myself the protagonist! :-)

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  9. I'm enjoying the interplay between Freud and Twain.

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    1. As much as possible, I am using direct quotes from them both to give an accurate rendering of what their banter might be like. :-)

      I am glad you are enjoying their exchanges. Hopefully, it will not end in blows!

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  10. Don't blow my fantasy of Paris. I dream of visiting there! LOL Such a great piece. Love the swooning couch! The banter between these three is priceless. Well done!

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    1. Twain went there for the Paris Exposition and said good things about Paris ... and some strange things like the morgue being a browsing exhibition for the Parisians!

      That swooning couch certainly looks comfortable, doesn't it?

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  11. I've only ever heard good things about Paris. Of course, I've never been, so Twain might be right.

    Liz A. from
    Laws of Gravity

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    1. D.G. Hudson loves Paris but Twain sometimes is a bit of a grouch. :-)

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  12. I have a couch that is similar, but not covered in carpets... mine all mine, no-one else but the dog is allowed here with me, Im a bit Sheldonesque... ~Liz http://www.lizbrownleepoet.com

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    1. Of course the dog is allowed. He's your best buddy. :-)

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