I just finished a beautiful memoir titled Dreaming In Hindi by Katherine Russell Rich. I'm not a person with a tremendous interest in foreign languages or other cultures except as metaphors I can use in writing which I'm sure the other cultures appreciate tremendously. But I am interested in words more than anything else and Katherine (as I call her in my mind as I'm certain we will become fast friends)writes elegantly about the way words shape our reality. As one linguist she quotes points out, If you speak one language, you have a certain reality and if you speak another language, your reality changes. Her first memoir (The Red Devil) is about another foreign country, a harsh terrible terrain no one goes to unless forced -- the land of cancer. My mother died of it, and I have many friends who are contending with various incarnations of the disease. I appreciate the frankness with which she writes, the self-deprecating humor and astute observation.
I'm in the homestretch of revising my big project (and yes, Mark is right -- it's the revising that's a bitch). It's something that hasn't been easy at all. I had to put the project away a few times before seeing it clearly. Which is the way Katherine describes learning Hindi -- hitting walls, letting it go, coming to a new understanding when she quits trying. It's kind of like the old chestnut about getting a boyfriend when you're not looking. Effort is everything until you hit the wall. Then you must wait. Which I guess is okay. After all, in VBS ever so long ago, we all had to pick a fruit of the spirit out of a hat. I got long suffering, which made everyone laugh. Even then I looked the part.
Michelle's Spell of the Day
"I am not going to die, I'm going home like a shooting star." Sojourner Truth
Cocktail Hour
Drinking jewelery suggestion:
www.jewelryartdesigns.com
Benedictions and Maledictions
Largely pleased by the Oscars awards. I really liked The Hurt Locker. Sad that A Serious Man didn't win anything (I thought it was pretty brilliant and tons better than No Country For Old Men). Yay for Jeff Bridges -- the dude most certainly abides! As do I -- I'll be with all the Motor City Burning Press people as soon as I put the last page of this awful revision to bed.
10 comments:
yeah the oscars were cool, yo read my poem. More where that came from. pce
Like my dress?--C. Theron
Cancer to me is a nature and nurture question. My theory is that burning the candle at both ends for unreasonable amounts of time causes cancer. Or sloth, also.--Einstein Bagels
I hear that part about languages & reality. When I was self-learning Welsh via book & tape, I was struck by the difference in the basic thought processes. It's hard to explain...
Are the revisions ever done? F. Scott Fitzgerald and Walt Whitman never thought it to be a completed task. I thought my last body revision would be my last but later today I go and get another revision done so I am thinking that today you may be satisfied with the edit but tomorrow comes a new day with another language and more nuance of words and you will find some section in need of a new edit.
See you soon til then be well PD
No problemo.--Rex
How gay is K the choice?--GWB
Sounds good to me.--Mr. Pimpmobile
I'm Belgian!--Marcel VanCoopens
Coop?--JLCGULL
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