[joe-frank-list] 'Dear Annie'

[rbell at alumni.caltech.edu]

	Joe tells of his relationship with a woman 15 years younger,
his misgivings.  (Joe was 15 years older than the woman he had a
relationship with in 'Karma part 1') She acts childishly, gets carried
away by stray animals, animals dead in the street, in movies.
	4:00: They're friends with a married couple Joe's age, the
Barnwells, whom they visit often.
	5:50: Joe tells Annie she'll outlive him by 30 years because
she's younger and healthier.  She can't take it seriously.  Joe
describes himself being dead.
	8:40: Joe tells of his birthday celebration at the Barnwells'.
Joe acts out a heart attack.
	10:00: Joe narrates writing a letter to Annie telling her that
their relationship must end, over the sound of, and in sync with, a
typewriter.  Joe says he doesn't want them to end up a
bitterly-unhappy couple like their parents.  (He says 'our parents',
not 'my parents', which indicates he knew about Annie's parents.)
	12:20: Joe describes habits of hers that annoy him: using too
much toilet paper; driving in the passing lane; driving too fast up to
red lights and turns, having to brake sharply; not wearing a seat
belt; parking too far from the curb.  Annie's unsympathetic.
	18:00: Waiting for friends at a restaurant, Annie objects to
the way an old couple has dressed 2 young girls.
	18:50: Joe visits Annie in California where she's relocated
for a year.  They drive down US 1 (Joe must mean California 1; US 1 is
a highway along the east coast, from the Key West to Fort Kent, Maine,
at the Canadian border.) to Malibu (xAnnie's in Ventura County?  Santa
Barbara?)
	19:20: They eat at a buffet in a club, where they stuff
themselves and complain about how narcissistic Californians are about
their looks.  It's New Year's Eve.  Joe tells her about 2 old lovers
of his.  She cries.
	23:20: Joe narrates writing a letter to Annie telling her that
their relationship must end, over the sound of, and in sync with, a
typewriter.  Joe says he doesn't want them to end up a
bitterly-unhappy couple like their parents.
	25:40: A married couple, the man, a colleague of Annie's at
work, has invited them to dinner.  On their way home Joe comments on
the man's effeminacy.  Annie chides Joe for his competitiveness.
	26:20: Annie wakes up after an erotic dream about Jim, a man
she knows at work.  She wants to make love to Joe; he demurs.  They
drive into town to visit thrift shops, but they're closed.  Browsing
in a used bookstore Annie sees a bakery, wants a cookie, Joe wants to
wait until they go back to the car; the bakery is closed when they get
out.  When they get to the track (Why are they going to a track?  It
has cinders, so it seems to be an athletic track.) she sees she's low
on fuel, will have to drive back to town for diesel.  She's
frustrated.
	28:20: Their love-making has begun to suffer.
	28:50: Joe imagines coming home to find her hanged from his
chinning bar.
	30:20: Joe describes their early relationship, when she lived
in graduate student housing, how he felt out of place with people so
young.  She spent weekends at Joe's.  She wanted Joe to visit at her
housing, come to their parties.  Joe didn't because it would have made
him feel uncomfortable.  They argued.
        33:40: Joe narrates writing a letter to Annie telling her that
their relationship must end, over the sound of, and in sync with, a
typewriter.  Joe says he doesn't want them to end up a
bitterly-unhappy couple like their parents.
	35:50: Joe tells of being in a restaurant with a friend, who
tells of her ex-boyfriend, starts crying, leaves.  Annie tells Joe he
wants to kiss him goodbye.
	36:30: Joe imagines breaking up, the pluses and minuses of
solitude.  Joe tries to store up reasons to break up, but forgets
them.
	38:20: Joe lists all the reasons why now isn't a good time to
break up.
	39:20: Joe recalls the time he wanted to run away when he was
7 or 8.  His parents had the grace to help him leave and gave him a
face-saving way to stay.
	40:50: Joe tells of being self-conscious when eating alone in
a restaurant, is sure the other single men he sees in restaurants
aren't happy about it.
	42:20: Joe notices Annie circling apartments for rent in the
paper, can't imagine her living in a seedy building, tells her to
stop, takes her out to dinner.
	43:20: Joe lists the various feelings he has about her,
positive and negative.
	44:20: Joe ruminates on the nature of love, how others use the
word, is unsure he has ever felt it.  He and friends argue about it.
	46:20: Joe says he used to think that the women he enjoyed
talking to on the phone were the ones he liked best, but discovered he
often didn't like them in person.
	47:30: Joe imagines grieving Annie's departure.
	48:30: Joe tells us what he likes about a woman, how he feels
about her when he watches her sleeping.
	49:40: From the window of their hotel room Joe watches Annie
at the pool.
	50:40: Joe narrates writing a letter to Annie telling her that
their relationship must end, over the sound of, and in sync with, a
typewriter.  Joe says he doesn't want them to end up a
bitterly-unhappy couple like their parents.

	https://jfwiki.org/index.php?title=Dear_Annie

russell bell