...by an email I wrote to students about their Odyssey erasure / remix / alteration projects to work on an Odyssey erasure myself. I returned to a passage I've erased before, but this time I used a different translation with a very different result. And while I was sweeping the house this evening I thought of a good pamphlet format and binding for it.
8/30: being on sabbatical
Today a particular goodness about being on sabbatical struck me: I'm ill, but because I'm on sabbatical I don't have to worry how I'm going to fare teaching tomorrow. I'll still do work tomorrow, but I'm working on independent projects, so it's easier to adjust as necessary for illness. That takes away a layer of stress when I'm not feeling well.
8/29: taking a turn
...for the better in the second half of the day. The morning and early afternoon held unexpected frustrations. But then I ran some errands, and I think it was good to get out of the house. When I got home I used our immersion blender for the first time and made tofu mousse. And this evening I solved the printer problems that had been part of my vexation in the morning.
8/28: morning, afternoon, evening
Morning: Once again, Quiet Writing time really got me into some good thinking and discovering.
Afternoon: Realizing that one of Trollope's Classical reference had some sexual innuendo for those who recognize its connection to Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis.
Evening: Doing an online painting session and then watching a funny movie with Chris.
8/27: eye and ear
A happy thing that caught our ears today: Tilde the Cat playing with a toy (something she doesn't often do).
And something that caught my eye today: yellow leaves among the green through a rainy-day window.
8/26: remembering and finding
...a poem that I heard out loud one spring in the mid-80s: "The Magellanic Clouds" by Diane Wakoski.
8/25: being the first
...appointment of the day at the doctor's office. It meant getting up at 5:45 in order to be there by 7:00, but it was worth it. It was nice not having to wait long or worry about the doctor having gotten backed up, and I was able to be done and back home before 9:30. I had fasted in order to have blood tests done, so when I got home I broke the fast with a celebratory chocolate spice roll, eating it on the porch with Chris and the cats.
8/24: a good sign for a good day
I saw the blooming lotus flowers on the lake on my way into town this morning. It must have been a good omen for the day. My shopping went pretty smoothly; I navigated the ridiculous number of traffic circles without a hitch (some of them stress me out); Tilde the Cat's vet-visit to get her stitches removed was quick and easy; I made a prototype of a new pamphlet; I wrote a lot of electronic messages and replies (it can be hard for me to overcome my self-consciousness, but I dove in and did it).
8/23: baking
...no-yeast cinnamon rolls again. This time I used cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger, and chocolate chips in the filling.
8/22: looking closely
I bought a deck of OuiSi cards, and this evening Chris and I experimented with them, making connections among the photos. Articulating some of the similarities I saw between cares was harder for me than I expected! Most of the deck's photos were taken in New York City, and a good number of them show wear and tear on metals, so here's some wear-and-tear-on-metal that I photographed on Friday, when Chris and I went to the outdoor range. I was struck by the pealing paint and weathering on some of the targets, so I pulled out my phone and took pictures.
8/21: reading, thinking, writing, talking
I read more of Olga Tokarczuk's Flights over breakfast early this morning.
Sitting on the porch after that I thought and wrote about the visual poetry presentation last night. There was a lot to process, and I kept thinking I was done writing about it, and I'd turn a page and realize I had more to work through. I liked having the time and space and energy to be persistent in following out my thoughts and questions.
When Chris came home from teaching we talked about some of the ideas from a slightly different perspective, sparked by something he said to his students today, and that was great too.
I also had phone calls with my mother, sister, and a friend. That's a lot of telephone contact for me for one day, but I was glad for each conversation.
8/20: Zooming in
...for a reading of visual poetry by five practitioners in the US, Mexico, and Chile. Each had a different way of presenting their work via camera and sound, and I was glad to experience it all. A lot to soak in and think about. (And as a bonus, from the 45-person pool of presenters and audience I've had previous contact with 3 of them; I felt good, thinking that I am somewhat connected to a "community" beyond my sometimes-seeming super-circumscription.)
8/19: hearing an architect
...talk about his philosophy of designing buildings in terms of emphatic solids and emphatic voids. I'm not sure that's how I think about architecture or want to think about architecture, but when I saw photos of his work I could clearly see how he puts his view into practice. And it was interesting to spend some time doodling and designing using his approach.
8/18: walking inside
I loved walking outside this spring, but it's been too hot this summer for daily walks outdoors. Usually I turn to the city's indoor walking track each summer, and though it's technically open for business, they're limiting users (which makes sense) and having to take a bunch of other precautions, so I haven't felt like I should go: why make things harder for the workers and/or take the walking spot that someone else needs more than I do? why spread any germs in the community unnecessarily? Luckily, Chris had bought a streamlined treadmill for the house over the winter. I've been using it almost every day now. I'll be glad when the outdoors and the city track are options again, but in the meanwhile I'm so grateful for the in-house substitute.
8/17: moving on
...to editing/reformatting the commentary for The Small House at Allington. It's made me remember the specific students who wrote the commentary and how fond I am of this book in general.
8/16: admiring
...the drip pan from our toaster oven, with baked-in drips and oven cleaner. It can't be used for food and cooking as-is, but I like the kind of landscape it presents.
8/15: reading
...this sentence in Olga Tokarczuk's Flights, translated by Jennifer Croft: "Constellation, not sequencing, carries truth."
8/14: Venus and Adonis
Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis came up this afternoon as I was writing commentary for Trollope's Can You Forgive Her? (Trollope uses the poem in two consecutive chapters). Reading more of the poem to get context for the bit that Trollope quotes made me want to read all of it, and I suggested to Chris that we read it aloud since we just finished our latest read-aloud project (The Memoirs of Moominpappa). So after dinner we read it, alternating between us stanza by stanza. What a strange poem, an odd and beguiling mixture! When we finished, we talked about the poem and what it could be doing, a conversation which was good, even if we still have lots of lingering questions.
8/13: rescuing the morning
I went to bed feeling out of sorts, and I woke up with some of the same disheartenment. The electricity went out right before Chris and I got up to make coffee--but, happily, I have some Greek instant Nescafe, so I could make an ice coffee with water that was still cold in the refrigerator. Also in the refrigerator: fresh figs which Chris picked yesterday! And then I decided to write about the cause of some of my consternation--a poem and a painting and the way they came up in a writing workshop yesterday--and (hopefully) get it mostly out of my system. It worked.
8/12: the resilience
...of Tilde. She was bright-eyed, walking, and even jumping today even though she had a surgery yesterday. Our vet has told us in the past that cats heal faster than humans, but it still amazes me. And I'm glad that she doesn't have to spend the time laid up that I would have to if I had had a similar operation.
8/11: Tilde et al.
We found out yesterday that Tilde the Cat needed an operation. It wasn't a complete surprise: we had been waiting for two weeks to see if it would be necessary. Once it was a sure thing, Chris and the doctor got her scheduled right away for this morning, and by early afternoon we heard that the surgery was over and that she was awake. She's home now, staying in a little "apartment" we made for her in my bathroom so that she doesn't need to mix with the other cats and can have everything she needs nearby. I'm grateful for Tilde, our vet, Chris, and my childhood best-friend, who texted me throughout the day to check in on Tilde's progress.
8/10: making & baking
Making: a collage for a mail-swap.
Baking: a batch of peanut butter cookies to send to Chris' father.
8/9: cutting through a knot
...of worry/wonderment about which envelopes to order for a new project. And then I realized that I could request a sample of each of the possibilities so I don't have to make the decision without really seeing the options in person. It's difficult to judge color and texture online, and I end up feeling like I'm gambling when choosing. Now samples are on their way, and I won't have to keep my fingers crossed when I make my decision and finally place an order.
I know this might seem like a weird thing to write about as my good thing of the day, but I tend to get wrapped up in worries, so anytime that I can think of a way through or out I'm glad!
8/8: two things
Making no-yeast cinnamon rolls that were really good (recipe here, though I didn't add the frosting).
Finding this sentence in Anna Botsford Comstock's How To Keep Bees: "Keep the cellar dark and the air sweet."
8/7: reading
...a tête-bêche novel (Lauren Oliver's Replica) and thinking about the relation between its form and content.
8/6: remembering
...former students as I edit/reformat their Trollope glosses. Some of them graduated in 2005, but by reading their words I can hear their voices--and that is very nice.
8/5: participating
...in another Crystal Bridges sketchbook workshop, this one run by Ryan Tate. I appreciated his advice that lines are easier to pull than push. This may be obvious to some people, but it was news to me. I "push" lines a lot when I doodle, so it was fun to try a new way.
8/4: small and large
A little bunny hopped past me then paused in the grass as I walked down to the lake this evening. Its eye was so big.
8/3: editing
...and reformatting old Trollope commentary. I had meant to do this earlier in the summer (and had started), but my brain was too blurry from and distracted by other things. Now I'd like to get it all done in the next 2 weeks (or less)--a tall order, but possible, and I'm looking forward to it.
8/2: choosing the verbs
...for the cover of Heron Tree volume 7, one from each of the poems in the issue: begin, cleave, connect, dissolve, eat, fill, find, fly, hear, hold, hum, lift, look, mourn, release, remain, rip, run, shine, snap, step, surround, trace, wait.
I always pick one word per poem for the front of each volume--most often I've done nouns, but I felt like action words were somehow better for now.
8/1: healed enough (I hope)
I hurt my wrist--through a combination of things--and so didn't go kayaking for the past month: I didn't want to make it worse through the motion of paddling. But it seems like it's getting better and tonight looked like it was going to be a nice night on the water, so I decided to give it a go and my wrist held out okay. This is a pixelation of the sunset on the water:
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