The Butler & Me

Many years ago, my writer friend, Martha, told me about the website Head Butler.  “You’ll like it,” she said.  I did and started following him.

The Head Butler is Jesse Kornbluth and he reviews books, movies and music.  Off the radar kind of stuff, and my fondness for him and what he writes is because he never……….and I mean never………..dumbs anything down.  He always assumes his reader is intelligent, well-read and curious.

In this world we live in where everything is dumbed down, I am hopelessly devoted to Mr. Head Butler.  About once a year I send him a quick email to tell him that I love what he does because when it’s just you and a keyboard and a cursor it’s hard to know if anybody is out there.

This year when I saw Anne Lamott she said the same thing.  Am I reaching anybody?  Am I any good at this?  Anne Lamott said that.  Oh yes she did – the woman who packs a room when she’s in town, so self-doubt must be the oxygen of most writers.

Sunday morning when the whole house was a quaking shitstorm, I decided to read a couple of weeks of posts from My Butler and once again he blew me away.  So I sent this…………….

I am spending Sunday a.m. catching up on The Butler.  While paint cans stare at me and demand I finish the job I started, I choose to steal some time to be enlightened by your fabulous site (which I bring up to friends about ten times a week).  Enjoy your week……….I will enjoy mine being a tad smarter thanks to you.

He sent this…………

So I like praise.

But this a bit….beyond.

You fog my head.

Do we know one another?

XXX

JK

I wrote back (with a plug of my own blog and the post I wrote about Will)……….

J………..No, I don’t know you, but I’ve kind of made it a point in the last couple of years to send an email of thanks to people/places that make my heart go pitter-pat.  I have worked customer service jobs in the past and I now have a couple of kids doing that.  It is rare that they hear words of thanks, appreciation or kindness, and so I do what I can to spread the love.

I am also a writer (http://aspeckledtrout.blogspot.com/2013/05/coming-out-pursuit-of-happiness.html) and appreciate the work that it takes to convey one’s thoughts.

Carry on and I shall do the same…………………k.

He wrote back……………