Not a Fan of Fiction But Could Not Ignore This From The New Yorker Magazine of October 25, 2021; Helga and Her Umbrella and a Man by the Name of Egan; Crazy Endlessly Defined and Illustrated at the Request of Grandson; Packing Up all My Cares and Woes; Listen to the Miles Davis Version; Photograph of a Batty Mover

Faithful readers will know that I am not a fan of fiction, which is unusual for a woman. Women statistically prefer fiction, men prefer nonfiction. London Lover was a fiction fan and I would joke with him about his addiction.
Me: Who is the man and who is the woman around here? You prefer fiction and I prefer nonfiction. That is role reversal.
He: Yes, I know. I have always preferred fiction.
Me: That is because you live vicariously through the stories. You do not live your life – you read about others. I live my life.

Needless to say that relationship was doomed but it did take a long time to die. I do wonder if he reads my blogs. No way to know, we ceased correspondence some time ago. He probably stopped reading the blogs because this is a nonfiction blog dealing only with reality and real life. Although the things that happen in my life are most unusual. (And continue to be). Truth is stranger than fiction. Type truth is stranger than fiction into the search engine of this blog and you will be rewarded by a wealth of material. The topic has been explored extensively.

This fascinating piece of fiction from which I quote was written by Tove Ditlevsen and is entitled The Umbrella.
“Helga had always – unreasonably- expected more from life than it could deliver. People like her live among us, not differing consciously from those who instinctively settle their affairs and figure out precisely how given their looks, their abilities and their environment, they can do what they need to do in the world. With respect to three factors, Helga was only averagely equipped. When she was put on the marriage market, she was a slightly too small , slightly two drab young woman, with narrow lips, a turned-up nose and – her only promising feature- a pair of questioning eyes, which an attentive observer might have called “dreamy” But Hela would have been embarrassed if someone had asked her what she was dreaming about.”

This begins the second paragraph. “She had never demonstrated a special talent of any kind. She had done adequately in public school and had shown goon longevity at her domestic jobs. She didn’t mind working hard; in her family that was as natural as. breathing.”

Do you not love this Helga? I do!! The story continues, Helga goes to dance halls with her girlfriends who were so eager to dance that they would “dance with anyone, even a man with a hunchback.” But Helga held out for a man always with dark hair and brown eyes. She would refuse others, a pair of brown eyes would observe this and say to himself: “Here was a girl who who wasn’t going to fall for the first man who came along.”

The story continues. She does take some men home but only indulges in close-mouthed kissing and the men drift away. But along comes a man whose name is Egan, at the age of 23 she meets him. “He fell in love with her singularity – that indefinable quality which only a few people noticed and even fewer judged as an asset.”

The couple became engaged but she was disappointed in their love making – yearning for an umbrella that had previously always been denied her. (Hence the title of the story.) Her constant dreams of an umbrella filled Egan with jealousy and irritation, it was as if she was being unfaithful.
He: What are you thinking about?
She: I am thinking about an umbrella.
He: You’re crazy!

He fell out of love. Oops. I am jolted out of the story, back into my rather unreal life, remembering a conversation that took place a few days ago between Grandson and myself.
He: You are always using the word crazy – in all sorts of situations. Everything to you is crazy but what does it mean.
Me: It can mean many things. I will blog about it and explain the meaning.

Now the only problem is this – I have no idea whether or not he reads by blogs. We have talked of so many things but never whether or not he reads my blogs. I come upon a magical solution. I will define crazy in the blog, text him telling him to read the blog. He does know about the blog because he helped me order a supply of new blog cards and made a helpful suggestion which facilitated their prompt delivery. So here goes, see that crazy has three distinct meanings with three distinct sets of synonyms .
The definitions shall begin.
Probably the most common use of the word is as a noun. mentally deranged, especially as manifested He went crazy and assaulted a visitor Its synonyms: insane, out of one’s mind, deranged, demented, not in one’s right mind, crazed, lunatic, non compos mentis, unbalanced, unhinged, unstable, disturbed, distracted, mad as a hatter, mad as a March hare, stark mad; mental, off one’s head, out of one’s head, off one’s nut, nutty, nutty as a fruitcake, off one’s rocker, not (quite) right in the head, around the bend, raving mad, stark raving mad, bats, bonkers, cuckoo, loopy, loony, bananas, loco, dippy, screwy, with a screw loose, touched, gaga, not all there, off the wall, out to lunch, not right upstairs; barmy, batty, crackers, barking, barking. Antonym: same
Another version is contained in these synonyms: absurd, preposterous, ridiculous, ludicrous, farcical, laughable, risible; idiotic, stupid, foolish, foolhardy, unwise, imprudent, ill-conceived, silly, inane, puerile, infantile, fatuous, imbecilic, harebrained, half-baked; unreasonable, irrational, illogical, nonsensical, pointless, senseless, impracticable, unworkable, unrealistic; outrageous, wild, shocking, astonishing, monstrous; unbelievable, incredible, unthinkable, implausible; peculiar, odd, strange, queer, weird, eccentric, bizarre, fantastic, incongruous, grotesque; cock-eyed; barmy, daft, potty; wackadoo, wackadoodle. Antonym: sensible
Crazy can also mean extremely annoyed or angry: The other drivers when they tailgate at great speed drive me crazy.

Crazy can also mean foolish. It was crazy to hope that good might come out of this mess.
A more obscure definition when used as an adjective is (of an angle) appearing absurdly out of place or in an unlikely position. The monument learned at a crazy angle. Then, (of a ship or building full of cracks or flaws; unsound or shaky.
Crazy can also mean very enthusiastic about, passionate, fanatical, excited; very keen on, enamored of, infatuated with, smitten with, devoted to, fond of; wild, mad, nutty, nuts, gone on; potty; sweet on. Antonyms: apathetic, indifferent
Crazy can be an adverb in which case it means extremely:. A sentence: I’ve been crazy busy. Then it can be used as a phrase, like crazy which means to a great degree. . Used in a sentence. I was laughing like crazy with synonyms: enthusiastically, energetically, madly, with a will, for all one is worth, passionately, intensely, ardently, fervently; like mad, hammer and tongs; like billy-o.
Perhaps the last version of like crazy is furiously, as fast as possible, hurriedly, quickly, rapidly, speedily, hastily; like mad, hammer and tongs.

Believe me, when I begun the quest for the various and sundry meanings of the word crazy I had no idea that it would lead to such complexity and effort. It was #7 complicated. At this point in time it seems loopy, bananas, off one’s rocker and dippy to have attempted this. I can see now when I might have used the word #3 as Grandson and I sped along the freeway between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. But it was #8 fun to do. By posing the question, Grandson exhibited such extreme intelligence and sensitivity, adding to the depth of conversation between the two of us, so it does make me feel #6 toward him. That means I feel devoted to, fond of, potty and sweet on him. It is #2 as I just met him – on October 20, 2021 when he gave me a ride of the Grand Mosque to commemorate the first anniversary of my conversion to the Islamic faith. The other day he undertook to correct my pronunciation of Muslim – some fifty miles later perhaps I can say it correctly in the Arabic, not USA fashion. Of course, we were laughing the whole time as I am absolutely terrible with foreign language pronunciations. Devotees of the faith urge Arabic pronunciations of prayers and other means of addressing Allah. I view such with disdain saying:
Me: Allah is all knowing. Therefore, he knows English and could not understand my Arabic pronunciations.

Yesterday was in many ways a difficult day but made so very enjoyable, fun, spirited and laughable by the four superb movers that came to pack up all my possessions. It does remind me of that song Bye Bye Blackbird, about packing up one’s cares and woes. Here are the lyrics of the song.

No one here can love or understand me
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go, winging low
Bye, bye, blackbird
Where somebody waits for me
Sugar’s sweet, so is she
Bye, bye, blackbird
No one here can love or understand me
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
Make my bed and light the light, I’ll arrive late tonight
Blackbird, bye, bye
Bye, bye, blackbird
Where somebody waits for me
Sugar’s sweet, so is she
Bye, bye, blackbird
No one here can love or understand me
Oh what hard luck stories they all hand me
Make my bed and light the light, I’ll arrive late tonight
Blackbird, bye, bye

There is a great version of the song by Miles Davis. Google it for yourself please.

The photograph is of one of my precious movers, He definitely looks deranged, demented, not in one’s right mind, crazed, lunatic, non compos mentis, unbalanced, unhinged, and unstable. But did we ever have fun performing such a bats, bonkers, cuckoo, loopy, loony, bananas, loco, dippy, screwy, with a screw loose, touched, gaga, not all there, off the wall, out to lunch, not right upstairs task. Packing up my stuff, putting it in storage but not quite sure that I will ever return to claim it. One step at a time, with me one never knows.

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