Hello everyone,
We driving around the other day, through the lovely, clogged streets of London, Ontario, when a stupendous realization hit both of us simultaneously. We realized we were driving around London, Ontario in a school bus, a school bus we bought, a school bus we chose to buy, despite any reasonable arguments against it, and that we had been driving around in it for nearly half a year. Our brains’ desire for normalcy is strong. Even in the weird world of arts and culture both of us look for patterns, routines, so that the unexpected can live in a recognizable framework from day to day. Yet here we were in a school bus, a school bus we gutted, painted and turned into a bookmobile. Seriously, what normal person does that? And it hit us, at the same time, how utterly ridiculous that decision was. And we laughed. We laughed hard. It was like all of those little decisions finally caught up with us and the totality of their consequences finally gathered together. It was like our brains found all of the socks in each corner of our house and did some major laundry. And the good news is it was incredible. Not only did we we find we have all sorts of pairs of socks we didn’t know we had, but we also discovered that we own a bookbus. We are ‘free,’ as the hippies say, to travel and buy and sell in whatever way we pleased. We can’t express how valuable that is.
Not that we’ve escaped life’s larger consequences or anything. We’re ridiculous but not delusional. Larger, more consequential, decisions made by much more powerful people affect our lives A LOT. The cost of living is a regular topic at our book stops, both between ourselves and with our friends and customers. But there’s a relief, at least, that comes from driving down Oxford and getting honks from the LTC drivers. People roll their windows down and give us a solid THUMBS UP. We take this very seriously. Not only do we have to drive a lot nicer now that our business name is plastered across the side of our vehicle (we knew a bookdealer who refused to put his shop name on the side of his van because it would mean he could no longer drive like an asshole) we seem to be offering a mobile surprise around London. We count how many people we see silently mouthing the word “BOOKMOBILE” as we drive by. Kids in school yards literally cheer. Like, what world is this? And despite the fact that our grocery bill is FOUR TIMES MORE EXPENSIVE then it was in 2019 there is a provable delight in driving around fraught London, Ontario sparking confusion and glee in pedestrians. We saw a friend standing at the Wharncliffe bus stop the other day and did what any decent person with a bookmobile would do. We pulled over, opened the doors, and gave him a ride.
Both of us are GenX. We are anachronisms to our younger friends. Our jokes are a little off colour. Our love of smoking is repulsive. Yet there’s a distance we take from life that is purely observational and ironic. We have yet to fully embrace the post-irony of earnest relationships. Our causes may be in line, but we’re a minor chord to their major one. However, even two eye-rolling souls like ourselves are not immune to the clear and present dangers of honest happiness. Sometimes it just takes something so ridiculous and big to crack our gothy hearts. Perhaps this is the key. We need to take that simple, well-meaning desire and crank so big that a new kind of happiness can be found there. Swing that rocket past the dark side of the moon right back into the sun.
Just the other night, Jason was making dinner in his Ghostbusters cooking apron. Lenore was in her high chair bouncing away to Ray Parker Jr. and Jason was making pasta. He was explaining the detailed ins-and-outs of pasta making to her, and she looked up at him with her big, googly eyes, fascinated. Jason began singing the recipe to her along with the song. WHO YA GONNA CALL? LASAGNA!!! And he caught her gaze, her big, unblinking eyes boring into his, this beautiful, little weirdo and her complete dedication to the moment. It all came together like that afternoon on the book bus. This beautiful ridiculous moment took his brain for a spin. THERE’S A LITTLE PERSON IN MY KITCHEN!!! And he started to laugh. And she laughed. And he laughed. And it blasted his GenX heart to smithereens.
Here’s to the ridiculous choices we make and their blisteringly awesome, unexpected results.
Much love,
Jason and Vanessa
