"Only minutes before the whole thing began, I was seated at a table near the cafe door and wearing a mood that would stop traffic had there been any."
Those words opened a post I wrote several months ago, illustrating what P. G. Wodehouse (yes, him again) calls “buzzing.” I’ve always felt a kinship with one of his characters, a certain Ronald Eustace Psmith, known as Rupert in many of the novels. He explains that the ‘P’ in Psmith is silent, as in Psummer and Pshrimp. Wodehouse calls Psmith a “buzzer,” a label that fits me, too.
“You talk too much,” my business partner once told me—ironically proving my point. I never imagined then that I’d use his words in a blog post.
“Yes, I know,” I said, and I meant it. Why deny something that could so easily be proven against me in court?
It wasn't one of my best replies, but I’m sure you’ve noticed how difficult it is to come up with just the right comeback when you're put on the spot. Planning is of the essence in tight social situations.
Some people think I buzz just to be the center of attention. And really, who doesn’t? But that’s not the full story. I buzz to spark amusing conversations and liven things up.
After all, you always “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” as Michael Jackson made perfectly clear in 1983.
Buzzing doesn’t require planning—just loud, non-stop talk. Throwing words and metaphors together in odd smashups will reliably stir people up, no matter the circumstance.
Adding humor to the buzz can be a powerful way to blow your boring life sky-high on those occasions when you've had all you can take. And yet, it’s perfectly harmless, inconveniencing no one, and doesn't leave a mess for you to clean up later.
Brian Green, the author of Until the End of Time, is convinced that all human behavior is driven by our realization that life comes to an end. That's simply not true for the Genomes.
Although I experience the full spectrum of emotions ranging from depression to high anxiety to hypo-mania, it's not because I know I'm going to die one day. It's really because I know that life can become boring, and it often happens without warning.
The most important practice I've adopted to keep life interesting is to talk early and often. Sometimes I assume facial expressions and adopt body language that augments my speech, but there are times, like writing The Circular Journey, when I only have words.
In these blog posts, I resort to jumbling words and mixing myths and metaphors. I mangle common expressions and misquote authors, poets, and songwriters. Anything to get people's attention.
Another example of the buzz in my writing comes from that same post referenced in the first paragraph of this one. It reads like this:
“It was Princess Amy who loves to arrive in a whirlwind of drama. Amy wasn’t literally driving a van. An almond-shaped cluster of brain cells can't get a driver's license in the Carolinas. You know that.”
It may seem to those who don't know me well that my verbal slips are the result of not paying attention in class, but regular visitors know that, in truth, it's all intentional.
Some writers stick to the facts and dig deep into life, unearthing hard truths and not giving a damn. Not me. I approach writing the same way I approach life: as a musical comedy, cheerfully ignoring physical reality altogether.
What I write is always true, if not strictly factual. My words carry meaning, although you may have to hunt for it. I write to make people smile, and even my occasional drivel (yes, it happens) is chosen to lighten the mood.
"Genome always gets lost in public when we're on business trips," my manager explained to our client host.
"We usually find him talking to a complete stranger in the hotel lobby, in a coffee shop, out on the street; you never know where he'll be, but it's guaranteed he'll be talking to someone.”
So there you have it. The 'P' in my approach to life is silent, and like Psummer, life arrives whether you're ready for it or not. And so, I’ll continue to say far too much to people I've never met, cheerfully ignoring physical reality altogether. After all, you Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'.
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