Mackler, Merrill Ashley, and a bronze medal!

I re-read The Earth, My Butt and Other Round Things by Carolyn Mackler last night. The first time I read it, I raced through - I thought it was an interesting plot. This time, I was slower, and - wow, Mackler has a tin ear! The main character talks to her dad about how they should "communicate" more (for the record, the only other time I remember a teenaged character using "communicate" instead of talk was in L'Engle's A Ring of Endless Light, a great book but hardly in touch with the modern teen). It was like a lite version of Paula Danziger - not quite as preachy, but close. I'm not as surprised now that I didn't care for Mackler's other books (which I've blogged about elsewhere).
I haven't been reading much this month - between fascinating (to me) work stresses, watching all 27 episodes of The O.C.'s first season, and, well, having a life, I've been busy. On Tuesday night, I went to San Francisco to listen to a talk by Merrill Ashley, a recently retired NYCB dancer. It's interesting, because I've heard her speak twice now, and some of her stories are remarkably similar to those in her autobiography, Dancing for Balanchine (one of my absolute favorite books, by the by). It makes me wonder, in a general way, if autobiography is an aid to memory. You'd think it would be, but isn't it possible that it's making that particular version of the memory solidified? I mean, if I think back over the years, I remember events differently now than I did five years ago. Of course some of that is because of memory loss - some things are less distinct - but in other cases, I have a better understanding of surrounding events. Should that color my memories? That's a interesting question, but the important thing is: if they were codified (so to speak) in a book, I think I'd be less likely to think about my memories in different ways. I'm not accusing Merrill Ashley of letting her autobiography make her memory rigid - I'm just sharing (even if ineptly) something I thought about while I listened to her talk.
Must dash home to see Evan Lysacek win a bronze medal at Worlds! It's on ESPN now.