The Fredösphere

Via ArtsJournal:

* I'm glad I never got one of those lousy MacArthur Genius Grants.  Glad, I tell you!  MacArthur geniuses are losers!

 It took you 10 years to complete "Almanac of the Dead." Did you feel an obligation to make it very ambitious because of the award? "No, it already wanted to be the way that it was. That's why it was so wonderful that the MacArthur came along. When the MacArthur ran out and the novel wasn't done, I felt pressure, but it wasn't pressure because I had won the MacArthur. It was pressure because I had finished the MacArthur and I still didn't have the novel completed."

Any downside to winning the award? "My ex-husband decided to come back after me to try to get some of my MacArthur fellowship money."

* Your musical tastes predict your tastes in illegal drugs.  The corn may be as high as an elephant's eye, but fans of Oklahoma! aren't.

* We find the answer to that variation of the chicken-and-egg question.  It's the celebrity-and-narcissist question.  The answer:  narcissists turn themselves into celebrities, not vice versa.  Meanwhile, we can be thankful for small graces:

Musicians — who have the highest skill level — are the least narcissistic celebrity group, while reality television stars — the least talented or skilled group — are the most narcissistic.

So, there's no talent to being a reality TV star?!  I'm dumbfounded!  Furthermore, Dance Fever!