i'm actually pretty impressed with myself. i have
been stuffing and stuffing my brain with things (here's the original post). i don't know that i'm
doing it the way in which Mr. Bradbury was suggesting, but i am gorging
myself with things.
and keeping track. i'm one day behind because
i didn't sleep the night before, but really - i'm reading and thinking and
watching and thinking and consuming and thinking. and i'm writing too. .
. not as much as i know i can. but i am writing.
so strictly the numbers, sir. it is day 14 of
the year 2014 and i should have read (until today) 13 short stories, 13
essays, and 13 poems. i should have watched 2 old movies and written 2
short stories. and i should be half way through my first novel. so -
here's the tally (shoulda, coulda, woulda)
Short Stories --> Goal = 13; Actual = 12 - a
little behind
Novel --> Goal = .5; Actual = 2 - HOLY RAVIOLI
Poem --> Goal = 13; Actual = 15 - it's not that
hard
Short Story --> Goal = 13; Actual = 12 - a
little behind
Film --> Goal = 2; Actual = 2 - this is a bit
harder than i thought, but CHECK!
Blog --> no goal. . . weird. . . but i have this
one and another one started. . . maybe they are essays. . .
Written Short Story --> Goal = 2; Actual = .5 -
i working' on it
Play --> Goal .5; Actual = 0. . . but i got time
Show --> Goal = 1; Actual = 1 (i even stage
managed it and had a freakin' blast)
Story Ideas --> no goal - but i got 7. . . so,
i'm getting some great material for going forward.
sometimes it's really easy and sometimes it is
really hard. it's really hard when i'm tired and when i hate what i'm
reading and when i can't seem to get the gumption to open a book or the
computer. . . i get distracted and obsess about whatever it is that i want to
do but can't for some reason instead of doing the thing i SHOULD be doing (or
apparently WANT to be doing). . . i'm so much an enfp
when it comes to that - distracted and can't finish anything.
it's really easy when i'm in the mood. . . but i
don't know what triggers the mood. i am trying to figure it out. sometimes it's
myself forcing me to actually do it because i always thank myself in the end
(you know, like when you don't want to go out, but do anyway and are glad you
did because you had so much fun? yeah, like that). sometimes i can't stop
thinking about the thing i need to write down so i write it down, but then
can't convert (oh, the humanity. . . football references - my apologies. . .)
i want to talk to people about what i'm reading.
but there are things to be done, and order to be followed, traditions to
complete and needs to fulfill. work, outings, shows, cooking, cleaning,
vegging, listening, loving. . . you know the rest of the life you live. so, i
drink deeply when given the opportunity to talk about them. you are my
captives, so i will indulge and share a few of my loves and hates of the last
14 days.
Kurt Vonnegut's Novel MotherNight - beautiful and sad and . . . an honesty you feel yourself but
never reveal. . . that's ok - he did it for you. i hear this is not typical of
his writings. . . which i cannot know is good or bad or sad or just different.
i will have to put another on the list to find out.
I know the Truth - a poem by MarinaTsvetaeva - you get it in so many different translations and luckily
i stumbled upon one of the better ones. this line makes me fall in love
with it each time. "The
starry blizzard soon will freeze into the heaven" - i can see the blizzard
of stars freezing into a beautiful heaven. if only i could find a picture
of how this projects in the theater of my mind. i would let you in
for just a moment to see it - it is more treasured than the locked and
bullet proofed Mona Lisa. oh, to be a painter for this one.
on
the lighter side, there is an essay by MauriceBaring (i actually have to figure out who that is) that is
a letter from one of King Lear's (of the Shakespeare fame) daughters to
her sister. It's an essay (though that seems weird to me), and very funny to
me. . . however, i'm sure, given the King Lear play, the letter is likely not
have been written with the satire i so see it.
another
beautiful writing is an essay by CynthiaOzick called A Drugstore in Winter. i don't know how to
explain, but so . . . how i feel. . . it expresses me and make me love this
woman as a kindred.
and,
though, not keeping with Mr. Bradbury's edict of "the old ones"
because i don't believe all the modern stuff is chum (as VirginiaWoolf begs us to remember in her 1925 essay about critics),
my favorite short story (that i read for this) is that of Neil Gaiman
from Smoke and Mirrors called The Goldfish Pond and
Other Stories. it is a sad recounting of how we can learn beautiful and
wonderful things but forget them so easily because we are lulled into the
banality of life. . . or maybe it is those glimmers we remember that allow him
to weave the tale so we can bookmark it in our brains as something once shiny
and new. i say, favorite story that i read for this because my absolute
favorite story he wrote (in short form - oh so many qualifications) is called
The Price (from the same collection). i didn't think it fair i re-read
something i know i love for this stuffing of my head. but read this thing
called The Price. . . especially if you are a cat person.
it
seems fitting that this is the author i feel i enjoyed most as he is a large
reason i decided do this "challenge." like an omen, i first heard
about Ray Bradbury shortly after i started following Mr. Gaiman on
twitter. and then, slowly, over the next two years, i would randomly hear/see
things about Mr. Bradbury. . . the last straw was when i chose to randomize my
3000 songs on my iPhone and Gaiman's The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury came on first.
i decided to listen to Ray's talk then. and now i'm loving learning and
reading and consuming and feeling. . .so thanks neil.
there
are so many to tell about and to type them all reviews here seems. . . too much
and overwhelming, not only for me, but maybe for you too. i'll have to do
something about that - maybe a page with what i've read and my rating. . . i
don't know - anyway - i love doing this so far.
this
is sort of a check in - i don't think for you as it is for me. . . thanks for
listening
i
know this i'm doing a lot to stuff my brain with reading and writing, but a
while ago, on Facebook there was this "chain letter" of sorts
about art (if you are Facebook, you would remember, but if you aren't, no
worries. . . i don't think it matters) and i was given the artist Rene Magritte and i chose this beautiful painting,
so i'll leave you with this. . .it's beautiful and i'd like to write a story
about it.
