Modern-day Commentary
As with nearly every reflective essay I’ve highlighted on my Rewind series, this one stretches truths nearly to the limit.
The first paragraph-sentence starts the ball rolling nicely. I wonder if it’s a record for me in its length, and garbled complexity. I love long sentences, but even I disapprove of this one. Looks like it went through the censors fairly unscathed though. Nice back-patting there, proving to the teacher how much I value my schoolwork. (I seldom have time to watch Dennis the Menace!)
This red blanket I mention is really being elevated to a position higher than it deserves. It was one of those ultra-scratchy blankets you find on the top shelf of a hotel closet, covered in little pills, and never washed. It smelled terribly of smoke and dust mites and would make you sneeze just to gaze upon it. Furthermore, it had a satiny ornamental hem at the top, which I would remove stitches from, effectively making a noose for anyone who might be able to fall asleep under its dusty coverage.
Sounds like I had three tapes back then of ALF and Dennis the Menace. In truth these were a few of my favorite shows at this period in time, but we definitely wouldn’t have been watching my antenna-snowy tapes during prime-time viewing hours, all gathered around a warm fire, ostensibly with hot cocoa, and crudite.
One thing I sincerely enjoy about reading these old papers is that in each one, as far-fetched as it might be, there are often glimmers of the person I’ve become, and this essay is no exception. Most notably, as an adult, I love evening, and from the sound of it, that has been the case since as early as middle school. Even now, one of my greatest comforts of the day comes when I sense it is time for pajamas, and ask my wife “Am I in for the night?” Funny that a similar sort of ritual would go through my mind back then, as this blanket, whether true of not, would represent a just reward for a long day’s work. Secondly, to this day, I love re-experiencing comedic media over and over again, seeking “non-stop hilarity”.
The tag is ever so maudlin, as my “buddy” ALF would say, but also very true, and I feel the same way even today.
The Primary Source
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Rick Seaholm
English
September 29 (,1989)
Mr. Luzi
When I have any free time, which isn’t usual considering I give top priority towards my schoolwork, I thoroughly enjoy curling up in my blanket, while laying on the couch, in front of a fire while watching either my Dennis the Menace or ALF video tapes on a cold night.
My large red quilt is just wonderful because it gives me a complete feeling of warmth and security. When I lay in it I know that I won’t be going out of the house again that night, and I know that I have been working all day and it is time to finally get some rest.
Dennis the Menace and ALF my two favorite television stars and most importantly when I watch my two buddies on video I get a full eighteen hours of non -stop hilarity to relieve my worries and create new light-hearted feelings.
When we have a fire in our living room I automatically feel, at the same time, warmth and love. Love, because our whole family enjoys these fires so we all gather around which produces an ideal feeling of acceptance and peace, warmth is self explanatory.
With feelings of security, warmth, relief and love, could anyone ever ask for more?