Whole As Sum of Parts

On the way to soccer practice last week, Risa and Vida engaged in a serious debate about...me.

Vida's stance: the three of them are my life.

Risa's quote: "We're not her whole life, Vida. We're PART of her life."

In trying to figure out why Lea wasn't involved in the back and forth, I realized that she believes SHE ALONE is my entire life, and it's simply not open for discussion.

I didn't say anything because it wasn't my conversation, but I've been mulling it over ever since. And I'm grateful because it's the perfect path into an essay I've been trying to write for a new antho project.

In other news, I am truly enjoying my online class (via Stanford Continuing Studies). In these first five weeks, we are reading tons of stories from The O. Henry Prize Stories 2008, The Best Nonrequired Reading 2007, Best of the Web 2008, and the summer reading issue of Tin House. As I've pointed out many times, I am terrible in off-the-cuff exchanges about all things literary. But because the discussions are taking place in an online forum, I don't have that problem! I can take my time and respond the way I respond/think best: in writing. One unexpected plus is that there are students from all over the country and the world (I think only 3 of us are Bay Area folks), including Italy, India, and Norway.