. . . And That's All That I Am

 Tucson Weather Today

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Prologue To A Book Never To Be Written is the title of a piece I just finished reading for the third, fourth, fifth or more times. And still I am as mystified as I was the first time I read it. The mystery is not so much in its elusive meanings as is in the why I feel so earnestly compelled to reread it so carefully and so often. Perhaps it is the suspicion that I am missing the point (or multiple points) of this curious composition.

Although . . . that I consistently miss the point or fail to understand the meanings of (supposed) classics and revered masterpieces written by historically famous authors and deep thinkers has been apparent (to me, anyway) throughout my lifetime.

The Works of William Shakespeare have always been and still remain puzzles to me, and for the most part I am absolutely dependent upon the explanations of teachers and scholars (or Cliff Notes) to gain from them even a modicum of understanding. The characters depicted in Julius Caesar seem to be fantasy figures drawn by some fanciful artist of the times, playing to the expectations of both the elite and the rabble of those times.

And, William Faulkner, whose books and stories I have read time and time again never deign to reveal their oft proclaimed secret wisdoms to me.

So, it is evidently some deficit in my cognition that is at fault.

Why?

Perhaps it is no more than Popeye's self-revelation, "I yam what I yam."

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WORD FOR TODAY

tin god
noun
1. A pompous, self-important person.
2. A person who regards himself or herself as infallible and tries to dictate standards of behavior or beliefs.

BORN ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY


Barbara Bush

Born June 8, 1925

She is 86 years old

Barbara Pierce Bush is the wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, and served as First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993. She is the mother of the 43rd President George W. Bush and of the 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb Bush. Previously she had served as Second Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989.

ALSO


Jerry Stiller

Born June 8, 1927

He is 84 years old

Gerald Isaac "Jerry" Stiller is an American comedian and actor. He spent many years in the comedy team Stiller and Meara with his wife Anne Meara. Stiller and Meara are the parents of actor Ben Stiller. He is best known for his recurring role as Frank Costanza on the television series Seinfeld and his supporting role as Arthur Spooner on the television series The King of Queens.

ALSO


Nancy Sinatra

Born June 8, 1940
She is 71 years old

Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra, and remains best known for her 1966 signature hit These Boots Are Made for Walkin'.

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Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
--Will Durant

No Title Necessary

Tucson Weather Today

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Did not get enough sleep last night and am feeling listless this morning. Hopefully I will pep up later. If so, maybe I can come up with something worthwhile to add to the blog... if not, "Oh well."

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My Word For Today

subsume
to include within a larger class, group, order, etc.
to show (an idea, instance, etc.) to be covered by a rule, principle, etc.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Barbara Feldon

(Agent 99)
Get Smart

born March 12, 1932

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Tomorrow night is nothing but one long sleepless wrestle with yesterday's omissions and regrets.
William Faulkner

One Person's Judgment

Tucson Weather Today

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No legacy is so rich as honesty.
--William Shakespeare

After considering the above statement for a goodly length of time I find that I have failed to grasp the intended meaning of the phrase to a sufficient degree that I am able to agree with it. But, in real life, dishonesty usually triumphs over honesty, and legacies often reflect severe distortions of what were actual truths within most lives.

Especially those of politicians.

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A while back I read an email message that contained the following: "We had 'are' Thanksgiving dinner around noon." -- and this made me think about how often I have heard, in conversations, the word 'our' pronounced as 'are' ('ahr') instead of 'hour' as I pronounce it. I recently heard Hillary Clinton, on TV, speak of "are" troops, instead of 'our' troops.

I have noticed various such mispronunciations often and judged that the speaker had merely heard a word but had never seen it written, such as 'et cetera' pronounced 'EX-Zedra' or 'EK-Setra.' One time I actually heard a woman say, "... farm animals, cows and pigs... excedrin, excedrin."

And that's the truth.

I often ask myself why I have grown to be so judgmental in my old age. Do others also acquire that habit of judging others as they age?

Or just me?

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I recently read a Paris Review interview with William Faulkner:

The Art of Fiction No. 12

The interview was published in The Paris Review, Spring 1956 (when I was sixteen years old) and I read it for the first time a few days ago at age 72.

Better late than never, I've been told.

William Faulkner

September 25, 1897 - July 6, 1962

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Another one of those words I thought I knew the meaning of but actually did not is:

parapatetic
(adj.)
walking or traveling about; itinerant.
(noun)
a person who walks or travels about.

Now, if I can just permanently implant that meaning in memory...


Hitchling is a newly coined word meaning: a child born without religious indoctrination who is encouraged to read broadly and to seek the truth unapologetically.

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Cedric opening one of his gifts
(a manufactured bone)

Christmas Day 2011

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The writer doesn't need economic freedom.
All he needs is a pencil and some paper.
--William Faulkner

To Be Or Not To Be A Writer

Tucson Weather Today

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Writing a daily blog does not make one a writer. Or does it? Opinions vary, of course, but as Plato said: "Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance." So who can say, as a fact, exactly what does make a writer?

I don't know the answer to that. So I have been searching out some opinions on writing from selected well-known authors. Below are a few of the quotations and opinions I found. They do not necessarily point out what it is that makes a writer, but they interested me.

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My stories run up and bite me in the leg -- I respond by writing them down -- everything that goes on during the bite. When I finish, the idea lets go and runs off.
--Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury

1920 --

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At the Daily Beast I recently read a short paragraph presented by Christopher Hitchens about the teaching and the learning of how to write:

"To my writing classes I used to open by saying that anybody who could talk could also write. Having cheered them up with this easy-to-grasp ladder, I then replaced it with a huge and loathsome snake: "How many people in this class, would you say, can talk? I mean really talk?" That had its duly woeful effect. I told them to read every composition aloud, preferably to a trusted friend. The rules are much the same: Avoid stock expressions (like the plague, as William Safire used to say) and repetitions. Don’t say that as a boy your grandmother used to read to you, unless at that stage of her life she really was a boy, in which case you have probably thrown away a better intro. If something is worth hearing or listening to, it’s very probably worth reading. So, this above all: Find your own voice."

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Easy on the Hooptedoodle is a short piece of advice on writing in The New York Times written by Elmore Leonard.

Opening paragraph:

These are rules I've picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I'm writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what's taking place in the story. If you have a facility for language and imagery and the sound of your voice pleases you, invisibility is not what you are after, and you can skip the rules. Still, you might look them over.

Elmore Leonard

Author of Hombre, Get Shorty, Maximum Bob, and many others

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As I said, opinions vary as to what exactly a writer is. But I suppose it really doesn't matter. My opinion? I believe the old basic premise: A writer writes. It seems to me that that's enough of a definition.

That's my opinion.

(Of course, I haven't been feeling well lately.)
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A writer needs three things, experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others.
--William Faulkner

Laugh And The World Laughs At You

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The Simple Things In Life . . .
Delightful Youtube videos --

Watch, listen. and love it . . .

And this one too . . .

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Today's New Word

diktat
noun:
1. An order or decree imposed without popular consent.
2. A harsh settlement imposed upon a defeated party.

Note:
DIKTAT!

That would make a grand title for a novel, perhaps with a cover illustration of a hobnail boot stomping a victim's head. (1984?)

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The opening sentence of Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is:
"As Gregor Samsa awoke that morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect"

If Kafka could write, have published, and gain fame from such an outlandish line, then it seems to me that nothing is impossible in the creation of literature if the writer has sufficient courage...

...and is gifted with great talent, of course.


And, William Faulkner wrote about his childhood surroundings.

So why can't I?

I can.

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I AM THAT I AM

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"Ultimately literature is nothing but carpentry. Both are very hard work. Writing something is almost as hard as making a table. With both you are working with reality, a material just as hard as wood. Both are full of tricks and techniques. Basically very little magic and a lot of hard work involved."
--Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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