Sarah Layden thinks there are compelling reasons to speak of yourself in the third person. In terms of point of view, it's a distancing mechanism, a means to evaluate and take a breath outside of the self and turn the subjective into something objective. In third person, one need not take any sort of real ownership over a statement. After all, Sarah Layden said the thing. Not "I," said the fly. But you still get credit, even if you're quoting a song or a movie, even if you're getting messy and incorporating second person, which you and your second cousin know can bring a reader close while pushing him away; bit of a tease, second person.
Sarah Layden will stir fry you in her wok.
Sarah Layden observes that the social networks are like the high school auditoriums of nightsweat dreams, where everyone you've ever met is in the same echoey chamber, commenting on various aspects of your life as presented by you or others. Sarah Layden considers the addictive quality of this experience. Like. Dislike. Become a fan. Start a war.
Sarah Layden wants to throw all the cell phones in the river.
Sarah Layden didn't mean your phone, silly. She knows you need it in order to text important messages to God in a desperate prayer to save you from an inevitable car accident while swerving into her lane. Hello! That was close. Sarah Layden currently contributes to the public record with full knowledge that someone, a reporter, will dredge this blargh up when she is maimed or killed by a driver who is texting. Or WORSE: Sarah Layden will text while driving.
Sarah Layden rages against her own machine.
Sarah Layden's parents tell her things about herself she never knew.
Sarah Layden does and does not want to tell you things. About herself, but also her observations about you. Big things, little things, medium-sized things. Mountain-sized things. Some nights, she thinks about the next morning's coffee. She has had some houseplants for a decade. Facts can take the place of feeling. We all need help; we don't all get it.
Sarah Layden drove her car into the navy yard just to prove that she was sorry.
Sarah Layden should give Sufjan Stevens credit for the above line, a line which runs through her head often, o the beauty of music. O the beauty of distance, words on a screen, the power to push the button that turns off the power.
Whenever I think of the third person, I think of Ignatius. He was always one step outside of himself despite being the slowest person in history to ever lean against a food cart.(His mother, by the way, was clearly stuck in the 2nd.)
ReplyDeleteJenny Montgomery loves Sarah's observations and promises to not text while driving.
ReplyDeleteJoe said brilliant.
ReplyDeleteKatie thinks it's fabulous she has such a witty sister.
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