Sallie Tisdale, a Portland mother of three, is the author
of several books, including Talk Dirty to Me. She's
also a columnist for Salon and a contributing editor
for Harper's. Her upcoming book, Pigs in Blankets,
explores the complexities of our relationship with food. It
will hit the shelves early next year.
WW: What exactly is up with your love of filberts?
Sallie Tisdale: Well, have you ever had one?
No, that's why I'm asking.
Then you can't even ask the question. Go out and eat a
handful of fresh-roasted filberts and then ask me. I don't
just love filberts for their taste; aesthetically it's one
of the most pleasing crops I think I've ever seen grow.
When you dieted in the past, was there one part of your
body that you most wanted to lose weight from?
Yeah. I'm not going to tell you, though. I'm still trying
to cure my head from this. Dieting is a form of insanity,
and it's also like a drug. You just have to quit. You have
to quit thinking about it; you have to quit talking about
it.
I just finished a whole book about our relationship to
food. I think we approach food with an incredible amount
of ambivalence and fear--guilt over our own appetite, guilt
over the abundance and plenty that we're surrounded by,
terrible confusion about having so many choices and not
knowing how to manage our relationship to choice. We're
also a culture that is very afraid of death and sickness.
Have you ever thrown anything at a movie or TV screen?
Oh, sure. Haven't you? Let me clarify by saying I've never
thrown anything hard, never thrown anything that could actually
break the television. I'll throw popcorn or something perhaps.
What makes you throw popcorn at the television?
Stupidity.
What is Victoria's secret?
Really good marketing.
Shifting gears pretty suddenly, who would you rather
go to bed with...
I'm not going to answer that question.
Even if I give you three names and you can pick one?
That's right. I'm not going to answer a sex question. It's
been years since I wrote [Talk Dirty to Me], and
I'm reeeaaalllly tired of answering sex questions. It's
an interesting cultural phenomenon that when women write
about sex, it is assumed that they're giving permission
for their lives to be examined, and it's not true. I mean
I've had people kiss me, strangers come and kiss me, without
permission. So I have no interest in pursuing that any further
in my life. Nothing personal.
Do you practice any kind of formal religion?
Yeah. I've been a Zen Buddhist for 15 years.
What do you think of the rise of Buddhism in popular
culture?
Obviously I think Buddhism is a good thing. It has been
a very good thing for me. I think a real religious practice
of any kind is demanding and will inevitably change you,
so I am struck by how much the presentation of Buddhism
in popular culture is about a spiritual past being easy
and simple and something that you can define for yourself.
That I tend to doubt. I think to the extent that you work
at it, it will reward you.
Finally, let's imagine they've just completed shooting
the movie of your life, and the only thing left to do is
name it.
Am I dead?
No, no, you're alive, and in fact they've come to you
to help name the movie. What should it be called?
Let's call it Not Dead Yet. That's not a bad title,
you know?
No, that's kind of catchy, actually. Not Dead Yet.
Not Dead Yet, subtitled: Second Chances [laughs].
Have you had many?
Second chances? Oh, every second. Constantly. I'm not dead
yet, so I keep having them.
That seems good. I'd go see the movie...
Oh, you would? It's going to be really pretty boring. In
terms of dramatic,narrative devices, it's going to be pretty
dull.
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Willamette Week | originally
published May 5, 1999
|
