An ode to Cecil Vyse on Daniel Day-Lewis's birthday
No one in their right mind would admit to seeing themselves as Cecil Vyse - Daniel Day-Lewis
Between the ages of fifteen to seventeen, too deeply depressed to undergo any kind of emotional maturation, my half-hearted attempt at forging a personality relied on my being utterly contrarian.
As such, in conversation or indeed conversazione, my only contributions would be a noticeable lack of eye contact and a prominent, anxiety-induced speech impediment whenever I attempted to say something that I thought bore resemblance to a quip.
Once at dinner, I had finished stammering through my latest nonsense when a parent, I forget which one, looked at me quite levelly and said, “Lily, don’t be such a Cecil.”
Several years B.B. (Before Beaton), there was only one Cecil they could have been referring to; Cecil Vyse, Esq.
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