I always pause over the word to think about spelling
I always remember that the rule is ‘i before e except after c’
and I always think this one is the exception
but it isn’t.
|
|||
|
And so the words roll around and the sounds form in rhythm and melody and eventually it’s written
You have reclaimed the language for your own. Congratulations. Be proud, you’ve earned it. Just the other day I overheard one angry kid call another ‘a farmer’. And last week that teen insulted his buddy by exclaiming ‘You’re so gay!’ Why even at the dinner table yesterday the grade school teacher patiently explained that I was being ‘retarded’. I was so moved I was unable to even consider a second helping of dessert. Ah, such freedom. The air is clear again, and we can speak however we like instead of being constrained by ignorant people who actually think kindness is something you can build into a language. Just imagine the kind of mental case who puts thoughtfulness above freedom of expression. What retards. It may seem amazing to some that the job was done so efficiently and success came so quickly. Such is the power of the moral majority unleashed. But now, friend, while all that positive energy is still fully mobilized I’d like you to consider putting that same energy into other areas. Just think of how quickly and completely the entire world could be changed. Imagine. There’s a thought I always associate with my dad, he being an engineer, and a practical man. And so, a simple one today, that somehow speaks of experience. Measure twice. Cut once. You’re welcome.
It’s a pretty basic concept, isn’t it? Warm up. Get the body and brain in gear first. Begin the hard work once you’re truly present. Not a difficult thought to grasp. So you’d think it would be a no-brainer. But time after time I’ve been part of some unit directed to jump immediately into the hardest material. Which usually sets the tone for an absolute grind of a rehearsal. After watching folks flounder around for a few sessions, as a fellow player I’ll make the suggestion that maybe we could begin with something straightforward, mostly so I can remind myself what playing with these people is like. But I can’t count the number of times that the leader has growled at me that I don’t know what I’m talking about, and that playing a warmup would just be a waste of our very limited time. And so we return to their idea of saving time–hours and hours and hours of grind that could easily be avoided by simply remembering that musicians are people, and should be treated as such. Come to think of it, there’s maybe the problem, eh? Mind you it also looks to me like they’ve simply forgotten that when it comes to music the verb we use is very specific. Play. Let me say it again so we’re clear. We play music. What’s so hard about that? Now excuse me, I’m gonna go warm up.
So it seems it’s been a year, I guess we’ll keep going for a while longer then, shall we? Okay, I’ll write again when I get a minute, although of course I never know when that might be. In the meantime, as always, I hope this finds you well.
“a new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.” I remember when I was a kid I read somewhere about writers putting away something they’d written for a while so they could look at it later with fresh eyes. The term they used was ‘putting it in the icebox’. Although it was the seventies I had actually seen an icebox not that long before, so it was a very real image for me. Somehow the idea stuck. I’ve been writing on and off since then, mostly on, with a bit of off when life demanded. For years I wrote mostly for use in performances. I never bothered to tell people I’d written those bits, and I think most of the time folks assumed I was riffing off the cuff. I suppose that’s a compliment to my delivery being fresh and spontaneous. Although could also mean that I never sounded like I knew what I was talking about. I’ll have to think about that. Having been at this for a few years now, I’ve got this odd little collection of pieces, some finished, some started, some scraps, some huge chunks. I don’t look at them often, I’ve noticed that once you’ve got a body of work it’s far too easy to start thinking that your best stuff is behind you. And if that’s so in my case I’m in big trouble. So mostly I leave things be. But I’m working on this odd little tone poem and thought I remembered something from years ago. I worked my way through a bunch of stuff and found it. And that was good. But something else happened. You see, years ago I’d started writing a long story, it was probably going to end up being novel length, although I didn’t start it out with that in mind. Somewhere along the line I started to get intimidated by the sheer volume of the thing, and more than a little doubtful about whether I was wasting my time. So I printed off what I had and showed it to a few people. And got no response. I mean none. You could hear the crickets. Ah, I figured, there’s my answer. So I dropped it. Didn’t burn it, just stopped. Well while I was looking for the other bit for the tone poem I noticed a paper copy of the long story. So I brought it along. And later I sat down and started to read it just for the heck of it. I guess I’d been away from it long enough, it’d spent enough time in the icebox, that I had some kind of perspective on it. I was fully expecting it to be awful. Sure, I can tell it’s a first draft, but I read a few pages and started howling with laughter. Finally I said to no one there, ‘Y’know, this is actually pretty good.’ So I guess I learned two things. First, it was foolish to depend on others for support during the creative process. And also, apparently I think I’m pretty funny And I’m not sure that’s a good thing. Hey friend, how’s your day? I hope there’s been some kindness in it. And maybe a bit of sunshine, too. It’s funny how much a bit of sun can make even a cold day bearable, eh? And now the sun is arriving earlier and staying later. Most welcome. When I notice the days really are getting longer spring feels just around the corner. And the cardinal who now takes his position in the topmost of the trees every still and sunny morning agrees. We are such optimists he and I. The cold days are sunny, but the grey days are warmer. And that’s got it’s own beauty at this time of year. Around here this winter has been… Well, the comment I’ve heard most from people is ‘we got off easy.’ I can’t disagree. I know there are quite likely one or two more pounding storms coming our way. But in recent years the snow has drifted taller than me, just like it would when I was a kid. And I’m somewhat taller than I was then. And some years it’s been brutal cold for long stretches, even here in the sunny south. Sure this year we’ve had a few days here and there, but nothing nasty and unending. No this isn’t a winter we can sink our teeth into and really complain about. Which disappoints some people. But I’m sure they’ll find something else. In the meantime, there is good news. The daffodils in the back room are huge, and within a few days there will be flowers. And so the year turns, and we have signs of spring. Looks like we made it. Yay team.
You see, the tragedy of ‘onomatopoeia’ is that it doesn’t follow its own advice. So if there was a word which both was it and described it, what would it be? Or maybe better, What would it sound like? |
|||
|
Copyright © 2012 kbrown.ca - All Rights Reserved |
|||
First of all I’d like to take a moment and thank you personally for taking the time out of your busy life to make sure the political correctness bandwagon was completely destroyed. I bring you good news–you have absolutely succeeded. Reports are coming in from everywhere that it is now considered stupid and shameful to be thoughtful about language in a way that is considerate of people who are different from you and your neighbours. Well, aside from those foreign neighbours who bought the place on the corner. But they’re not from around here so they can’t be expected to know any better.
I’ve been at this for so long that some of the basics are such a part of my natural rhythm I don’t even think about them any more. For instance, there’s one small point I was sharing with someone the other day. We were about to start playing and I suggested that before we begin we first wander through something easy as a warm up. They said it sounded like a good idea and so off we went. Turned out to be a great session.
It’s been a while since I first sat down to write, so again I want to thank you for your patience, as well as your gentle insistence that I continue to put down these things. As I do more times than I could say I’m wondering how you’re doing. And I’m glad we manage to keep in touch as well as we do. You’re right, of course, it is a function of aligning orbits, and sometimes that can take a bit of doing. Good that it works as well as it does then. Good, too when I can get here and sketch out a bit of what we were talking about, and sometimes where we seemed to be taking the thoughts. And I know you forgive me my flights of foolishness, and I’m glad you know how thankful I am to have you around to puzzle some of these things out with me, including the stories that you usually know more about than me. Yes, as you’ve gently pointed out, it’s about the music and the thoughts we have around it, it’s about the back and forth and the sound it makes, it isn’t about the healing but there’s been some of that, and it’s not about the hard stuff though there’s been some of that. But mostly it’s not about the waiting and why. And that is probably the coolest thing of all.
Well, I’m sure he had a perspective on things. I was doing some reading and was reminded that