{"id":6302,"date":"2014-06-21T05:15:50","date_gmt":"2014-06-21T12:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michellejolin.com\/wordpress\/?p=6302"},"modified":"2014-06-21T05:14:54","modified_gmt":"2014-06-21T12:14:54","slug":"its-the-end-of-the-road-as-we-know-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=6302","title":{"rendered":"It’s the end of the world as we know it…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cNot only are there no happy endings,’ she told him, ‘there aren’t even any endings.\u201d
\n–Neil Gaiman\/American Gods\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Is it really that there are no endings, or is it just that you really don’t know when something has really, truly, definitely ended until you yourself have ceased to be?<\/p>\n

In the book American Gods (which you all should read, because it’s wonderful in nearly every way a book can be wonderful) the goddess Bast tells the newly dead Shadow this as he hopes to be able to choose a happy ending to his life once he has been judged. A goddess knows.<\/p>\n

She knows that even death may not be final. <\/p>\n

Shadow already knows this, as he had accidentally resurrected his own dead wife earlier in the book. I hate it when that happens.<\/p>\n

I suspect some things are final. About as final as death, anyway. There are some people I fully intend and expect to stay dead to me even though they are probably still alive. I have been wrong about that in at least one case, so I do wonder. If you can forgive what previously seemed unforgivable, I suppose it leaves an entry for a non-ending. Whatever that looks like.<\/p>\n

With a long enough time frame, does everything and everyone come back around to pop out at you like the hand coming out of the grave at the end of Carrie? I suppose it could be more of a happy non-ending, which is really what we mean when there’s a happy ending. Unless it’s a happy ending like in horror movies when people just stop getting eaten by zombies.<\/p>\n

Do I even have a point here? I am not at all sure I do.
\nIt’s the cat’s fault. He won’t let me sleep.
\nHaving a crispy fried brain is not conducive to such things as coherent thought and logical writing.<\/p>\n

Or maybe it’s more like jelly…
\nStill.<\/p>\n

I suspect Bast was probably not entirely correct. Some people never look back. Never think of the people, places, things they leave behind. Or so I hear. If you still think about something or someone, can you really say it has ended?<\/p>\n

Maybe.
\nMaybe not.<\/p>\n

I used to be so decisive about this sort of thing.<\/p>\n

Black and white.<\/p>\n

Now?
\nFull spectrum color.<\/p>\n

Except my hair, which is starting to be gray.
\nIs that an ending of my brown hair or a beginning of a new color?
\nHmmm?<\/p>\n

Summer is starting today. Is that a beginning of a new season, an end to the old one, or simply a continuation of eternal time?
\nAll of the above.<\/p>\n

It all depends on your perspective, doesn’t it?<\/p>\n


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\u201cNot only are there no happy endings,’ she told him, ‘there aren’t even any endings.\u201d –Neil Gaiman\/American Gods Is it really that there are no endings, or is it just that you really don’t know when something has really, truly, definitely ended until you yourself have ceased to be? In the book American Gods (which … Continue reading It’s the end of the world as we know it…<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-words"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140620-181722-65842051.jpg?fit=454%2C313&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7lr3R-1DE","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9065,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=9065","url_meta":{"origin":6302,"position":0},"title":"Death, cat pee and ink stains","author":"Michelle","date":"January 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Not only are there no happy endings,\" she told him, \"there aren't even any endings.\" --Neil Gaiman The notice that the divorce was final came in the mail on the same day she faxed in the paperwork to have her father cremated. There were technical difficulties, and she got ink\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8638,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=8638","url_meta":{"origin":6302,"position":1},"title":"Bad experiences as a catalyst for good","author":"Michelle","date":"December 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"and I... I love it when you read to me. And you... You can read me anything. --The Magnetic Fields\/The Book of Love \u201cNot only are there no happy endings,\" she told him, \"there aren't even any endings.\u201d --Neil Gaiman\/American Gods In an imaginary conversation the other day, I mentioned\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6319,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=6319","url_meta":{"origin":6302,"position":2},"title":"Ordinary things","author":"Michelle","date":"June 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"They had an ordinary life, full of ordinary things-if love can ever be called that. --Leigh Bardugo\/Ruin and Rising This was the happy ending of a book in which two people with extraordinary abilities lost nearly everything except love. No, I am not going to talk about beginnings and endings\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140622-133748-49068136.jpg?fit=454%2C313&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5160,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=5160","url_meta":{"origin":6302,"position":3},"title":"Polysyllable girl","author":"Michelle","date":"May 12, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"If I had a baby She'd have a thesaurus Instead of a rattle And a dictionary Instead of silver spoons She'd read books in the womb Crying at sad endings Lusting after vampires While learning to speak French Even before she's born She could out-curse sailors On any continent Polysyllable\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/michellejolin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/20140511-151652.jpg?fit=300%2C207&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7364,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=7364","url_meta":{"origin":6302,"position":4},"title":"That’s how I knew…","author":"Michelle","date":"September 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm getting ready to go 'Cause baby, that's all I know How to open the door And though the exit is crude It saves me coming unglued For when you're not in the mood For the gloves and the canvas floor That's how I knew this story would break my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":432,"url":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?p=432","url_meta":{"origin":6302,"position":5},"title":"What’s Your Favorite Book?","author":"Michelle","date":"July 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cPicking five favorite books is like picking the five body parts you'd most like not to lose.\u201d --Neil Gaiman \u00a0 Seriously. \u00a0 It's hopeless. For one thing, there's the sheer number of books that are wonderful. People have been writing them for a long, long time you know. The end\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Words"","block_context":{"text":"Words","link":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellejolin.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}