Tues. was a lunch picnic trip to NY State to visit a friend and her son. We walked the trails and grounds of the Stony Kill Farm Environmental Center, and we checked out the Common Ground Farm. It was a gorgeous sunny day, made me feel as if I were a million miles from my normal life. Chestnuts, wildflowers, cows, fieldstones, bluebird houses, turtles, milkweed pods. I realized how long it had been since I'd been out somewhere new and connected to nature like that. This connection is essential for my personal writing, and I need to make it more often. The trip made for a good 100 Words post, so that's a start.
Wed. I visited other friends and their son. K told me about her new devotion to Terry Pratchett. Her favorite of the 11 she's read so far is Small Gods. I have never read anything by him. Somehow I doubt I'll start reading him, but you never know. Stranger things have happened. Then E and I made a plan to "prep," even if only for the briefest moment, before approaching things, a la TNH's mindfulness at the sound of a bell. We think this step back, reflection, positive adjustment will keep us better aware and happier in our next move forward, help us keep things simplified and clear. It's all in the practice, and my practice has been inconsistent.
Yesterday was a day exploring the state. We spent some time wandering around two bookstores, and of course we bought books although we desperately try not to anymore. *sigh* We have no room but I can't help myself. I came away with, in order of selection
* The Disappointment Artist: Essays by Jonathan Lethem (2005, Vintage). I have never heard of this book or author, but I am fascinated by personal essays and often wish I would seriously try writing them. Probably never will, but I can wish it.
* The Year's Best Australian Science Fiction & Fantasy, ed. B. Congreve and M. Marquart (2005, Prime). I'm a sucker for Australian anything, and I'm dying to read more good SF. And I need shorter pieces for my crazy life.
* The Orion Book of the Written Word by Etiemble (1961, The Orion Press). Apparently Etiemble was a "celebrated philologist" who wrote this hardcover "investigation into the origins and development of the written word." Just looked like something I should have on the reference shelf. I hope I read it one day.
* On Writing Romance by Leigh Michaels (2007, Writer's Digest). Just felt like reading more guidelines on this stuff. I think it will help, but the point size in the book is tiny and I might be in for a long read.
* Joan of Arc: In Her Own Words, trans. W. Trask (1996, BOOKS Inc.). Of course one of my heroines; a clear, well-organized selection of her words from the transcripts.
* Dance With Me by Luanne Rice (2004, Bantam). I bought this at the last minute before leaving, thinking I wanted something that could help as an example of the level of novel I am going for. Not sure if her writing style will help.
Got home, bags in hand, then I rushed out again to meet with the madrigal group I've joined. I am so excited to be singing again, thinking about breathing, sight reading, meeting new people -- it's good to reawaken a part that's been dormant. Now if I can jostle the poet awake ...
1 Comments:
At Sun Oct 07, 12:06:00 PM,
Schizohedron said…
Sounds like a wonderful, restorative week!
Common Ground looks beautiful. Oh, those veggies in the farmer's market picture section!! I suspect I know the person with whom you went; if I'm right, I hope she's doing well. What a great place to bring a young child. There's a book out, Last Child in the Woods, that documents the retreat that American children have made from the natural environment, and its effects on physical and mental health, and how some folks are trying to reverse it.
I read Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn, which I enjoyed, and a segment of his follow-up, Fortress of Solitude, which did not inspire me to get the full novel. I believe I've read one or two of his essays, possibly in The New Yorker, and I don't recall disliking them, so you might be in for a treat. Essays, well executed with the right blend of facts and the author's unique voice, are gems. (My blog is mostly cubic zirconia.)
I honestly thought you had purchased the Onion Book of the Written Word!
I rue the lack of good used-bookstores around here.
Currently wrecking my sleep schedule (and increasing my stomach-acid production) is Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush. Possibly not the wisest follow-up to the infuriating (in content, not quality) House of Bush, House of Saud. I applaud you for choosing books far less likely to cause the gnashing of teeth.
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