I made a joke to my wife, and got a good gratifying laugh out of her for it, which after eleven years of marriage is not bad odds. Unfortunately, looking into it I found out the thing wasn't a legitimate joke.
It was technically illegal.
My joke, which I've been casually doing for a number of years in fact, is about J. Mascis as he is now, with his long white hair and his paunch. My wife said, "Have you seen him now?" I said, "Yeah. He looks like Susan Sontag."
I said it tonight, as I mentioned, and got the good laugh. I thought, "I should set this gold down in writing for future generations." I thought I'd do a picture comparison. I found pictures of J. Mascis with long white hair and a fat face, although I think he's lost weight since, easily enough.
But when I tried to find a picture of Susan Sontag looking like J. Mascis, no such thing existed on the internet. Either I was completely mistaken and she never looked like Mascis, or that particular look of hers has not been documented on the internet.
I put in, "Susan Sontag with white hair" and up comes a picture of her looking slim with short white hair. She looks more like John Updike.
Where did I come up with this misapprehension? I've been dining out on that joke for years.
