Ask Marilyn

A couple of weeks ago, Come in and Cover Me got a nice mention in Parade Magazine (that super thin insert that comes with some Sunday papers).  It read, “Part love story, part field guide, this beguiling novel charts the excavation and restoration of a damaged soul.”

That’s may be my favorite sentence in a review, largely because it has the word “beguiling.” Great word.

But thumbing through Parade reminded me that I used to love the Ask Marilyn column in it while I was growing up. I thought that would be an amazing job–just to answer people’s random questions by accessing the power of your genius intellect. A lot of times the column ran math problems that I had no interest in, but plenty of time the questions were more interesting.

The one I remember most clearly is when a reader asked Marilyn what one food she would take with her if she were going to be stranded on a deserted island indefinitely.  She gave two answers, with the first being what she would choose if the reader just wanted to know her favorite, tastiest food. Her second answer was what one food she would choose if she were picking solely based on nutritional value and keeping herself alive and healthy for the longest time. The food? Dog food. It has all your nutritional needs, apparently.

You learn important things from the most interesting places. I learned that the sun sets in the west on an episode of Hart to Hart. That knowledge alone made me feel like I was–at six years old–prepared to survive being lost in the jungle. I felt similarly about the whole dog food revelation.