Snoopy types: It was a dark and stormy night.....
I have had some great outings on dark , moody days. I have missed the sun lately. The sun has snuck out now and then in the past couple of weeks but not when I had an opportunity to see it.
I have tried lying on the beach because this is supposed to be appealing. Umm, for me its not. Dang, someday someone has to explain lying, laying, lie, and laid to me. There is something about a chicken and an egg. Never mind, to continue…
I don’t get soaking up the sun on a beach. Then again, I don’t get meditation. My mind is a meat eater, a real carnivore.
At last Monday’s general committee of the City of Cambridge Council a well-known developer appeared as a delegation. In front of council and forty of the general public he described Mr. Bob Paul as ruthless. This was the joke all day on Tuesday and continued all through the week. Now the gentleman that called me ruthless, I admire very much. His description of my actions was an honest opinion. An accurate one too I think.
But it adds to a myth, a myth that I encourage. Now the gentleman in question, lets call him John. Why?… because his name is John. He is a man of action. John doesn’t wish to be told that things can’t be done. That is a waste of his time. If you wish to speak with him come armed with solutions and not problems. He is a good man with a wonderful heart. People don’t get him. I do.
John isn’t a sun soaker. There is nothing wrong with being a sun soaker. He ain’t one and I ain’t one.
There is the diver and the dive. One is an action and the other is a person. When I coached diving I ‘d tell the diver how they might improve their dive. I would praise the attempt and give constructive advice. This is the way we learn. When I bring writing to the editing circle, I thrive on opinions on how I may correct and improve my writing. And I soak up being the centre of attention for a few minutes. Last editing circle… blew me away. Everyone’s writing and the story telling was mesmerizing. I comment on story because honestly I am a poor editor. I would not be the type you wish to proof read. And comments on my writing... well I am not there to soak up the sun… Any attention to my writing is sunshine
Bob
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Monday, October 24, 2005
freestumbling
niagara falling
leaves fallingczars falling
angels falling
dominoes falling
walls falling
stars falling
trees falling
pillars falling
hopes falling
wishes falling
like niagara leaves czars angels dominoes walls stars trees pillars hopes wishes
have I forgotten any
will I remember when wishes fall like niagara
when niagara falls like leaves
when leaves fall like czars
like angels
like dominoes
like walls
behind stars
behind trees
behind pillars
beyond hopes
above wishes
larry
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Further on freefalling...
Leslie said....
I am not quite so excited about going fearward as Bobby Bacon but I think there is wisdom to it. I also hope to experience some of the exhilaration Marianne mentioned without having to actually jump out of a plane. I am much too cowardly for that. Brian was very brave. I wish I had known him. By the way for those who are interested, you can visit Barbara's website at www.freefallwriting.com
I am not quite so excited about going fearward as Bobby Bacon but I think there is wisdom to it. I also hope to experience some of the exhilaration Marianne mentioned without having to actually jump out of a plane. I am much too cowardly for that. Brian was very brave. I wish I had known him. By the way for those who are interested, you can visit Barbara's website at www.freefallwriting.com
Of boats and poetry...
Why are some days like this and others not? Today, poetry is everywhere. I actually hear the words spoken aloud in my head when I walk the dog, when I clean the kitchen, when I bid for yet another kayak on eBay.
For Netty and Dianne and Janet when they come kayaking with me next summer, I tell myself when I justify the eBay bidding, four kayaks and a canoe already in the garage, and then a poem speaks in my head about it, a "kayaks in the garage" poem.
You can never have too many boats, kayakers are fond of saying. Other kayakers understand immediately. Non-kayakers just look at you as if you're nuts, an "Imelda Marcos" with too many shoes. Not a bad analogy, shoes and boats. You wear a kayak, rather than ride in it like other boats. There are different boats for different occasions, different weather and water conditions, different levels of expertise. You wouldn't wear sandals in the snow in winter, although sandals are perfect for the beach in summer. I don't want my friends to tip in the Grand River, nor to have to lug a 50 pound boat up and then off my car and to the launch point. The little eBay kayak, brand new and located in my hometown so I don't have to pay shipping, will be just the right fit.
It is a wet cold October day. Drearily ordinary in many ways. Yet poems speak in my head in loud whispers. I actually hear the words. Everything is a poem, and it is exhilarating. You can never have too many poems, a poet might very well say. And kayakers would understand...
-Marianne
For Netty and Dianne and Janet when they come kayaking with me next summer, I tell myself when I justify the eBay bidding, four kayaks and a canoe already in the garage, and then a poem speaks in my head about it, a "kayaks in the garage" poem.
You can never have too many boats, kayakers are fond of saying. Other kayakers understand immediately. Non-kayakers just look at you as if you're nuts, an "Imelda Marcos" with too many shoes. Not a bad analogy, shoes and boats. You wear a kayak, rather than ride in it like other boats. There are different boats for different occasions, different weather and water conditions, different levels of expertise. You wouldn't wear sandals in the snow in winter, although sandals are perfect for the beach in summer. I don't want my friends to tip in the Grand River, nor to have to lug a 50 pound boat up and then off my car and to the launch point. The little eBay kayak, brand new and located in my hometown so I don't have to pay shipping, will be just the right fit.
It is a wet cold October day. Drearily ordinary in many ways. Yet poems speak in my head in loud whispers. I actually hear the words. Everything is a poem, and it is exhilarating. You can never have too many poems, a poet might very well say. And kayakers would understand...
-Marianne
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Freefalling in Fall
I am about to Freefall!
Barbara Turner-Vesselago was one of the speakers at CanWrite in June. I had the pleasure of hearing her session and was impressed. She talked very little; mostly she read examples of what students in her Freefall writing courses have written. Some of the writing was memorable, all of it was compelling and all of it rang true. Freefall Writing is a little like the Wild Mind writing of Natalie Goldberg but different too. Freefall writing can be broken down into four basic decisions:
1) I will write down what comes up for me
2) I won't change anything
3) I will give all the sensuous detail
4) I will go where the energy is, i.e. go "fearward"
Barbara teaches Freefall Writing workshops around the world. She also offers on-line sessions. In one format, a general subject is suggested (like 'write about a scene from childhood with a specific smell attached to it') and the writer Freefall writes about it once a month. This material is not submitted to or reviewed by Barbara. In another format, called a Correspondence Course, a general subject is suggested once a week for eight weeks and the writer submits up to 16 pages to Barbara for editing and comments.
Holding my breath regarding the time and monetary commitment, I have just signed up for Barbara's correspondence course which starts next week. I will be freefalling for the rest of the fall, until mid-December.
You may hear some Freefall writing of mine in future, we'll see. Wish me luck!
Leslie
Barbara Turner-Vesselago was one of the speakers at CanWrite in June. I had the pleasure of hearing her session and was impressed. She talked very little; mostly she read examples of what students in her Freefall writing courses have written. Some of the writing was memorable, all of it was compelling and all of it rang true. Freefall Writing is a little like the Wild Mind writing of Natalie Goldberg but different too. Freefall writing can be broken down into four basic decisions:
1) I will write down what comes up for me
2) I won't change anything
3) I will give all the sensuous detail
4) I will go where the energy is, i.e. go "fearward"
Barbara teaches Freefall Writing workshops around the world. She also offers on-line sessions. In one format, a general subject is suggested (like 'write about a scene from childhood with a specific smell attached to it') and the writer Freefall writes about it once a month. This material is not submitted to or reviewed by Barbara. In another format, called a Correspondence Course, a general subject is suggested once a week for eight weeks and the writer submits up to 16 pages to Barbara for editing and comments.
Holding my breath regarding the time and monetary commitment, I have just signed up for Barbara's correspondence course which starts next week. I will be freefalling for the rest of the fall, until mid-December.
You may hear some Freefall writing of mine in future, we'll see. Wish me luck!
Leslie
Mavis Gallant's Advice to Short Story Readers
Stories are not chapters of novels. They should not be read one after another, as if they were meant to follow along. Read one. Shut the book. Read something else. Stories can wait.
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