I had to post about this immediately, because I knew that all of you would want to know it. That it would mean more to you because you’re rooting for me, not that intelligence is your special interest as well. This is a text message between my dad and Jonna Mendez, who I think walks on water (mostly because I’ve met her several times and she is the real deal. They say “never meet your heroes,” but I did and not only does she have the outgoing personality of a spy, she has the introverted personality of a writer. We’re so much alike and yet different:
I love that my dad just assumed I was going to the book talk, and so did Jonna. They don’t know me AT ALL. 😉 I’m proud that I’m known by a CIA employee because it’s just too much fun. I’m also glad that I have multiple friends who have worked for the agency in the past, and it was really funny. At Zac’s Christmas party, I met someone and her husband who both said they were “recovering CIA” like “recovering Catholic.” I laughed very hard at that one, because if you read John le Carré’s work, you are very familiar with why they would say that. MI-6 is the same culture as CIA, and he doesn’t brag about it.
It’s more interesting that all three spies- Jonna, John, and (Jonna’s late husband), Tony- write about their agencies the same way. The agencies are different and their personalities are the same. Jonna and Tony decided to come out as spies and write non-fiction. Carré didn’t let anyone know he was a spy until very late in his career because he hid it in fiction. But you always wondered how he knew so much.
And because I’ve met Jonna and read John, I know I would get along with all the writer spies, Ian Fleming included. There’s just a rhythm to writing about intelligence, because it has to be about balance if you want to show the true picture. People are James Bond-level happy at their jobs, but you can’t ignore the fact that they’ve done wild, crazy, dangerous, horrible, obnoxious things to other countries, either. You take the good, you take the bad. You take them both and there you have… the facts of life.
The funniest thing is that my dad also got me an umbrella. This will not make sense to you, but I laughed because I lived in Portland, Oregon and all Portlanders go apeshit if they see umbrellas because we don’t believe in them. It is offensive in our culture. Portland’s rain is a wet blanket most of the time. It’s not a big deal to walk from the car inside a building because it’s not “really coming down out there.” Then, you move to another city that has toad stranglers and you’ll die before you break down. I really did need a good umbrella, but it would be a cold day in hell before I’d consider purchasing one for myself.
The only gift I didn’t get was Bluetooth cans, and I have found that those are invaluable, so I ordered them with Christmas money. I would have put them on my list, except that they didn’t break until after it was published and I’d already gotten the packages they sent. Luckily, though, my dad thought it would be sweet to buy Christmas dinner and I was able to get what I wanted at both the grocery store and buy my earmuffs. They’re so much better when they come with a ton of bass standing on the Metro platforms outside in 20 degree weather.
Cold weather is one of those things I love until I’m either extremely cold or burning up due to adding more layers than I need. I love being outside, but the trick is being dressed for it. If you just move around enough to create body heat, you can re-start the insulation process. Most of the time, when I’m not warm enough, it’s because there’s not enough body heat for my clothes to absorb. I wear a puffy vest under my pea coat, and if it’s really cold, a complete set of thermal underwear from Uniqlo where both top and bottom are rated for extreme cold. If I know it’s going to be too cold for my arms, I will wear a hoodie as well. One of my Christmas gifts was a glove and scarf combination that I put together as separates because I wanted tech gloves that could stay on with my phone and tablet.
My e-mail just dinged, and it was from someone I desperately wanted to hear from this morning.
If you know me, you jumped to Supergrover, because I’ve thought I’ve wanted an e-mail from her for months, and what I’m learning is that she got the message to put up or shut up. I’m happier now, and have standards on what it would take to resolve our conflict. It is not “go back and do the same thing,” and I wish our pattern was good for both of us, but I can’t maintain a good one all by myself.
It was not Supergrover. It was from Zac. He read my Facebook post and it was a calendar invitation for the Mendez book launch. I cannot even describe how I feel about that.
He remembered that I wanted to go, because several weeks ago I told him that Jonna was probably going to be giving a talk for “In True Face” at the Spy museum and invited him to go with me. I also said, “she doesn’t have a date for it yet, I just know for sure that there’s a 95% chance.” I invited him because he works at a smaller intelligence agency than CIA, but is familiar because they’re one of his clients. Therefore, I knew that he would be the only one of my friends who wouldn’t be bored by the talk. I needed someone who would actually enjoy it rather than fidgeting and asking questions. I require quiet to process auditory information, which is why I like lectures and sermons.
The two most important men in my life gave me the best Christmas ever, because it was completely tailored to me and my special interest. It was so thoughtful, and so appreciated.
I hope you got a fat stack of presents, too.
Stories That Are All True 