Thursday, October 7, 2010

Same as the Blues?

"She was still hugging the cat.
'Poor slob', she said. 'Poor slob without a name. It's a little inconvenient his not having a name. But I haven't any right to give him one, he'll have to wait until he belongs to somebody. We just sort of took up by the river one day, we don't belong to each other: he's an independent, and so am I. I don't want to own anything until I know I've found the place where me and things belong together. I'm not quite sure where that is just yet. But I know what it's like. [...] It's like Tiffany's', she said. 'Not that I give a hoot about jewelry. Diamonds, yes. But it's tacky to wear diamonds before you're forty; and even that's risky. They really look right on the really old girls. Wrinkle and bones, white hair and diamonds: I can't wait. But that's not why I'm mad about Tiffany's. Listen. You know those days when you've got the mean reds?'
'Same as the blues?'
'No', she said slowly. 'No, the blues are because you're getting fat or maybe it's because it's been raining too long. You're sad, that's all. But the mean reds are horrible. You're afraid, and you sweat like hell, but you don't know what you're afraid of. Except something bad is going to happen, only you don't know what it is. You've had that feeling?'
'Quite often. Some people call it angst.'"

(Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany's)

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