In response and respect to Blogging exposure's 27 March prompt about
Letter to your dream/destination [the link previous is the general Letterwriting prompt - thanks Emilia from My inner mish-mash and others for writing such good letters]
The quote goes on from That deep, dreamy, raw place where conviction and commitment meet:
Right now, that placeembraced the whole of me and disgraced me out of my inertia this morning. That place was crackling with energy, ready for a workout. When it got its workout, I would be so ready to take on the world and feel better about myself and other people.
And with that paragraph our dreamer/narrator transfers from the bedroom to the dining room.
That sequence happens to be one of the things I was proud of writing - and hopefully living - in the 2000s.
Yes, the early 2000s. January 2001 or February 2001 from the internal evidence [of perhaps the previous scene or two - if not a little earlier]. And there is some external evidence. I made a cover from a Nova picture about the beach with a man and a boy. That cover was dated 6 January 2001. And I wrote that date into the webpage's header.
Some of the things might be a little later like objects are created by people and the comment about a certain divergent thinker with Austrian roots who got into the Anglophone consciousness twenty years before the writing and a few years after he died.
Whether that thinker is in the Francophone consciousness... I will not go there today.
Now I obviously had an idea about where that piece was going. And where the narrator was going and where I-as-author was going. You know - a sense of destination.
What would constitute embracing and what would constitute disgracing and the whole workout that it would take and what it would be to be crackling with energy.
And there was a reference to a philosopher I had barely known in 1998 - Soren Kierkegaard - he's the one who talks about despair and dread and was one of the first Existentialists. I met him in Sophie's World which is by Jostein G.
Kierkegaard talked about these three stages - and most of the characters can skewer stage theory when they need or want to or when it just doesn't suit them. Pun nearly intended. There is a barbecue.
[and those gatherings of 5-10 people would not be allowed now! Not here in 2020! and not in the next six months either].
It answers the question: Do geopoliticians ever dream? Are you allowed to dream/am I allowed to dream now that I'm a geopolitician?
Before you say: Of course geopoliticans are allowed to dream!
That whole paragraph is about destinations - to which destiny is strongly tied together; choice - one of the characters says I want reality. I want equality. I want choice. [actually they said it the day before when they were trying to justify what they were doing and what they wanted for the future].
And tolerance - three of the middle sentences are directed to it. The ones about effort; achievement and commitment.
The Deep, Dreamy, Raw place - yes, all three of those qualities inform and shape each other - is a place which can be close to heaven or a fast track to hell.
I say often that dreams are funny things. Whether you dream them in the day or in the night ...
And when I think of that whole quote - beyond the one in the header - there is a lot of force there. And it is almost religious in its fervour. It was only meant to be humanist and philosophical. You know - taking on the world and feeling better about yourself and about other people? And what it took, again, to get there.
People who can be liars and xenophobes - and let's face it - purloin psychology to be a shadow of itself and to be a shadow of themselves.
It's about a world of people who are emotionally intelligent and morally expansive. #zonesofmoralconcern #emotionalintelligence #moralexpansiveness #caring #justice
People who care about their consciences and consciousness - both their own and those of others.
It's about a journey from charity to social justice.
It's about boys who raise crabs in the wild and put them into aquaria despite all the rejection - or at best limited acceptance - and make a way to initiate people into these mysteries in rockpools.
It's about honest discussions all the time. Discussions where de Bono and Piaget are mentioned like long-lost buddies or mates. de Bono is a very divergent thinker and uses mindsets and of course his Thinking Hats [our favourite thinking hat is the Yellow Hat closely followed by the Blue Hat - we find all the hats very waffo!]; Piaget thinks about moral development. #explainthislikeimnine #thelureofreward #thefearofpunishment #jeanpiaget #edwarddebono
And who stole whose thunder? That whole following your own impulses regardless of the demands of the environment. And wanting to know the bottoms and the depths of thinking.
And not wanting to miss out on Monty Python because of a "stupid prank" your brother played. Or on going to the market with a neighbour because one of your relatives-in-law is xenophobic or some other kind of -phobe/-misist.
Surely to feel is to behave and to behave is to feel - and that applies to people; animals; objects like glasses and trays and orange squeezers and knives and watches. If your watch becomes crotchety or tired I am not responsible. [because you forget to set him]. #centraleuropeantime #clockreading #clockwatching #ifyoubreakaglassyoushatteritsheart #baconandfriedeggsfortheeating
Where people can ask Is that photocopier a mechanical object or a technical object? and be heard out. [and then the whole Oh no! We're going in circles again!]
There is a bit of a Jungian moment about the anima and the animus and the imago - [...]Think about how the man in you would hate to be left out in the cold, or despised, or used.
And the song I was thinking of was sipping cocktails over breakfast in bed somewhere in Evita. Except in that house orange juice is had and made with squeezers. Three Valencia oranges, if you please! Is that not extravagance?
Also extravagant is the way that one of the characters jokes about the Black Plague. I would have to take up my younger self quite seriously about that one. I might write a letter to the Middle Ages or to some people in the Middle Ages or classes or groups of people - like knights and nuns and prioresses and the guy who works in Charlemagne's estate that Eileen Power wrote about back in the first third of the 20th century.
That same character enjoys lemon tea and cake.
I believe that cake was from a few days before because everyone who lives or stays in that house practises delayed gratification when it comes to sweets and cakes especially when that cake was made and enjoyed over a weekend.
When it comes to hard candies procured from picture theatres and laid on the table - all bets are off.
And I would say the apex of human development is quite a destination. Especially when you keep smiling and keep it in perspective. Like one of the other characters is able to do after he has been, as he expresses it, "cheated out of my mates for the past two days".
Even more so when you had to experience lies; deceits; tears; tantrums; fear and worries to get there/come here.
7clouds videos are awesome - along with Rachel Reyes - they are my first choice for videos which emphasise lyricism.
and here come the words [thought NOT the style!] for my choice of #songlyricsunday for 5 January 2020:
[Intro] Na na, la la la la la na na na na na La la na na, la la la la la na na na na na La la na na, la la la la la na na na na na La la na na, la la la la la na na na na na (Tu meri mauja hain) [Verse 1] Hush, don't speak When you spit your venom, keep it shut I hate it When you hiss and preach About your new messiah cause your theories catch fire [Bridge] I can't find your silver lining I don't mean to judge But when you read your speech, it's tiring Enough is enough [Hook] I'm covering my ears like a kid When your words mean nothing, I go la la la I'm turning up the volume when you speak Cause if my heart can't stop it, I'll find a way to block it, I go Na na, la la la la la na na na na na La la na na, la la la la la na na na na na (I found a way to block it, I go) La la na na, la la la la la na na na na na La la na na, la la la la la na na na na na [Verse 2] If our love is running out of time I won't count the hours, rather be a coward When our words collide I'm gonna drown you out before I lose my mind [Bridge] I can't find your silver lining I don't mean to judge But when you read your speech, it's tiring Enough is enough [Hook] I'm covering my ears like a kid When your words mean nothing, I go la la la I'm turning up the volume when you speak Cause if my heart can't stop it I'll find a way to block it, I go Na na, la la la la la na na na na na La la na na, la la la la la na na na na na (I found a way to block it, I go) La la na na , la la la la la na na na na na La la na na, la la la la la na na na na na (I found a way to block it, oh) Na na, la la la la la na na na na na La la na na, la la la la la na na na na na (I found a way to block it, I go) La la na na, la la la la la na na na na na La la na na, la la la la la na na na na na (Tu meri mauja hain) I'm covering my ears like a kid When your words mean nothing, I go la la la I'm turning up the volume when you speak Cause if my heart can't stop it I find a way to block it, I go I'm covering my ears like a kid When your words mean nothing, I go la la la I'm turning up the volume when you speak (when you speak) Cause if my heart can't stop it I find a way to block it, I go Na na, la la la la la na na na na na La la na na, la la la la la na na na na na La la na na, la la la la la na na na na na La la na na, la la la la la na na na na na (Tu meri mauja hain)
And then I realise there's a reason that YouTube does that when it comes to lyrics - or the 7clouds people did what they did.
When I was a little girl I discovered author Dorothy Edwards and illustrator Shirley Hughes for the first time in a simple novel / anecdote format - the series My naughty little sister.
It was one of my first conscious trips to a beach house; subject to a friend from the civil service.
So in the best traditions, or perhaps defiant/oblivious of these same traditions, I wrecked the entertainment room with Trivial Pursuit cards all over the floor.
The outdoor landscape of that beach house though! It had a big tree at the back. I was trying to trust trees and treehouses again after I had a nasty splinter at home walking on the top of the house [my treehouse had two floors] and it was on my foot. I remember going on the porch to get the splinter out with a needle.
Some three weeks before [12 December 1990] the wonders of the video cassette recorder were revealed to me and one of my very first picks was Pippi Longstocking which was a highly musical version and vivid. I had read the Astrid Lindgren books first in the library especially Pippi in the South Sea Islands with my grandparents so I knew the Ville Villa Kuella.
And Scrubbing Day was incredible - so was Running Away and the whole The First Noël feeling when Pippi and friends came to the orphanage. I loved the Head Girl - the first I recognised as Head Girl. I had not even read Blyton school stories yet in January 1991 - that pleasure was to be some eight months away with Elizabeth Allen and The naughtiest girl in the school.
I too had been considered - one of - the naughtiest girls in my school. I think of Hermoine Granger and that scene in the film of The Philosopher's / Sorcerer's Stone.
That witch really needs to sort out her priorities! - Ron Weasley - Harry and Hermoine's friend
One of the naughty things I did was blow on another student's whistle with the residue of a frozen ice. I did not quite have the mens rea involved [guilty mind in Latin] because I wanted to know how Melisande's whistle worked and if it had nuts in it like the Physical Education teacher's whistle did. The Phys Ed teacher was yet another champion of mine - and a broker into the system. Some years later on she would have us learn and support Italian lessons. And because of this she was a really strong connector - especially when it came to a question on Copernicus/Kopernik when we were studying the stars and astronomy.
Love La la la because it has the idea of preach speech in it and it has been so popular in so many countries.
Here is a quote that shows what I [and Beverley Eley] mean by PREACH SPEECH - it is also a good introduction to a book which showed me so much about biographical craft and graft - The book of David - it is also good for anyone who wants to know It's all right to be different:
[... earlier there was something about Democritus and the atom in that paragraph]Not only is his memory phenomenal, his wit is dry and clever. One day he walked into a conversation about homilies, proverbs and adages. After patting and kissing those close at hand [my emphasis], he walked away with the comment, 'Preach speech ... it's preach speech'.
By what yardstick do we measure someone like the eccentric, yet greatly gifted, David Helfgott? [says Eley on page 7 of The book of David in its 5th printing from 1997]
Eley and Helfgott [David and Gillian] are very good friends and her biographical practice is exemplary. Hoping the Gleniffer house where she and her husband John [who The book of David is dedicated to - for being someone who BELIEVES IN LOYALTY FRIENDSHIP AND JUSTICE - if books were tablets and stones - they would be carved in like that] is okay and the land too. That land is called the Promised Land and again Eley and David Helfgott are neighbours.
Had a great time watching Marianne and Leonard - words of love - so many people came by including in groups. Of course So long Marianne is a very important song. And Marianne was such a very generous and kind person. I think of Axel who is over 60 now and was only 6 months old when Leonard Cohen came into his Hydra life - in all my years I had never heard it pronounced like that so I could imitate it and reference it. Shows you how few of my resources are Greek. And the archivist really made the film, I do believe. I would sell the farm on it. Along with Broomfield of course who had a connection - intimate connection - with Ihlen from Oslo [and Paris and London and Hydra and one more place]
What did I want to talk about with the Naughty Little Sister and my experience?
When she was in a school choir one day; she and her friend Bad Harry la la la la'ed to the Christmas carols particularly Away in a manger which was the very first Christmas carol I connected with in 1985-86. Another early one was The first Noël - ten years later I connected so hard I named a character Noelle. She belongs to the gaggle of Gilberts - the five who were born on a student exchange. [and, yes, that is five at the same time in the same caul so to speak!]
And then I remember the Blubber singing lessons in Judy Blume - especially Miss Rochelle - great name for a musical person. My 1999 self thought this too - one of the times she and my 1994 self were in agreement [the former self was the one who read the book for the first time - and she was up for it six months later when she was sick and the world didn't make sense - she also enjoyed Paul Jennings' Quirky Tales where Linda thought salt was sugar and sugar was salt and No was yes]. So there was a young girl called Rochelle who absolutely loved music and was a flower girl. And then there was breathing and melody and harmony which I confess I really did not get until Grizel Cochrane had lost her harmony book in The head girl of the Chalet School which came with me in a Lion King bag along with a manuscript - that one was about a student called Tadeusz Meliński who studied temporarily at the London Progressive College. I got quite far in the writing of Educating Tadeusz laying and paving the ground [like crazy paving in my last].
Yours truly has also discovered Music from Ceefax which is the British Broadcasting Corporation teletext service. Especially looking for ocean music and ship music and sea shanties. After I watched Little Women in the Greta Gerwig mode and went to a park and a public house, I found many of them. It was when I became sick of Scouting and Guiding songs around the campfire and the Jamboree setting that I wanted to find some sea songs.
Many of you who have read Blubber will remember that Jill Brenner was quite the stamp collector - and she knew how to bargain and broker and write good letters. What she was not so good at doing was keeping her nails tidy and unbitten. Now nerves will do that to any person - and she was carrying around the sort of nervery which would make an animal pace and scratch and do various other displacement behaviours.
People often feel misplaced and displaced too. Especially when they feel their love is running out of time and that their words mean nothing.
Hope your lives feel Funktastic this week and for the Epiphany tomorrow. Imagine that - the first Monday of 2020!
Finally deck the halls with boughs of holly fa la la la la.
La la la was released at the Jingle Bell Ball of 2013 and subsequently charted in many nations. And it had so many remixes - I chose the Sam Smith one because it had lots of resonance and was best-known perhaps ...
In Australia it peaked at number five; hit number one in the Commonwealth of Independent States chart as it did in the Czech Republic; number two in Denmark and Germany; number six in France; and it's probably time to point out the Hungarian charts and their genre diversity as well as media diversity [stream and radio]. A lot of central European nations [Poland too] have their dance charts and in this La la la came out 9th in Poland and 6th in Hungary. Seems the Romanians loved it and put it on number 1. Top 15 in Venezuela - 14th actually - awesome!
The US charts were much more mixed. Somehow the Brits bought more than a million copies. At least two charts showed top 20 and one was actually 10th. The Rhythmic seems open for debate.
And when hearts can't stop it they find a way to block it.
Trying to block this earworm [though I don't want to so it will stay] of La La Land which I think many of my #songlyricsunday companions and compeers have chosen.
