All The Ingredients for Disaster
July 23, 2008
The cast of my real-life “The Shining” is my brother, the rage addict, and his wife, the alcoholic, myself–admittedly addicted to martrydom, and the three animals, George– my cat, WiddoKiddy– the bitchy Himalayan cat-in-law, and Cody– the pomeranian I refer to as The Motivational Speaker, as he is the only one in the house who’s ever glad to see anybody. Our correlation to the characters in the novel aren’t so clear and defined. I’m usually Danny, but sometimes I’m Dick Halloran. And other times, my co-dependant Lloyd (the bartender) streak appears. When I’ve reached my limit, I’m Delbert Grady. My brother and his wife are interchangably Jack and Wendy.
Then there are days when we’re all either Baby Jane or Blanche–sisters in another tale of dysfunction.
How you’ll know you’re not actually in the Overlook Hotel at my house: It only has three bedrooms, one bath, and there’s nowhere to cruise on a Big Wheel.
Why you’ll think you’re at the Overlook Hotel in spite of the obvious differences: You’ll be caught up in coversations about whether murdering a spouse might be more expedient than divorce.
Room 237
July 23, 2008
Stephen King’s novel The Shining is a fictional account of a man and his family fighting the demons of alcoholism. My life is a real account of the same struggle. More to come.
