Reading Watching Listening etc.
Today’s post is looking to share, uplift, and inspire. So toward that, I’m going to link to a bunch of stuff I’ve been enjoying, learning from, and which I find to be beautiful.
READING: I’ll start with the book sitting on my kitchen table (in the photo below). It is Mysteries of the Rectangle by Siri Hustvedt— one of my favourite books of essays on art history. As the description to the book says, she is able to see things in plain sight, like the detail of an egg in a Vermeer painting. In March 2019 in a Guardian interview, she says, “I was talking to two people I know, both at least as old as I am, and I was asking what they were doing, and they were both saying, ‘Well, we’re not doing that much at the moment,’ and I just said, ‘You know, I’m working for my life.’” She drops her voice to a whisper: “I’m a little nuts, I am working like a maniac to get it in before I die.” So, it’s much later now, but I hope she’s had a productive last year etc. I would love to read more of her essays.
WATCHING: Thoroughly enjoyed watching the 3 part series, The Pursuit of Love based on the novel by Nancy Mitford and directed by Emily Mortimer. And then for something completely escapist, I watched Just Like Heaven (Netflix) with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. Yes, it’s cheesy as hell, but it’s like, the good cheese.
READING: Lovability by Emily Kendal Frey, a book of poetry. There are so many lines that speak to me in this book: “Mediocre and holy we loved each other.” And “Reader? You are wondering // If it’s okay // If any of this is okay // it doesn’t have to be” And “Every few weeks my life burns down // In the morning a bird eats me” And maybe my favourite: “The sun rise in shades of tuna”
LEARNING: Okay, I fully admit that I have no idea how long I will keep this up but I’ve been using the free version of the Duolingo App for Italian and loving it. I was that person who at the beginning of the pandemic had a huge list of great things I was going to accomplish and then, well, didn’t. Learn Italian was on my list though, and better late than never? Or better to even try a little than not try at all? I’ve just started looking for a few more resources online, such as this sweet site with slowly read fairy tales. My goal is to just be able to read a bit of Italian, simple stories, up my vocabulary, and remember some of the stuff I learned way back when in Uni.
LISTENING: I have been listening to Max Richter’s Sleep. He calls it an “eight hour place to rest.” A place of repose. It’s very quiet, as he says, and very slow. “Nowhere to hide in the music,” for the players. Right now it feels like a real gift to me. Maybe you’re having trouble sleeping, then this might help. But if you’re having trouble breathing, relaxing, or maybe even writing, this might also be of use. I know that Richter has given permission or encouraged listeners to just go to sleep to this music, but I wonder how it would feel to go through an entire work day with it on?
Speaking of breathing, I recently looked back over some old posts and found this one.
LISTENING: But I’m also listening to a lot of silence, since I’ve been alone in the house this month. And it’s been a good experience, really. Rob has been away at an artist residency in Pouch Cove. (You can see how his time has been via his Instagram if you like). Our daughter is in Toronto having started her new job. Not sure if I ever shared her knitting video which legit went viral on Twitter with the original video and how-to video getting over a million views? She’s well on her way to being a knitting influencer :)
And on the note of silence, RE-READING:
Can I Weave a Nest of Silence
by May Sarton
The phoebe sits on her nest
Hour after hour,
Day after day,
Waiting for life to burst out
From under her warmth.
Can I weave a nest of silence,
weave it of listening,
listening, listening,
Layer upon layer?
But one must first become small,
Nothing but a presence,
Attentive as a nesting bird,
Proffering no slightest wish
Toward anything
that might happen or be given,
Only the warm, faithful waiting,
contained in one’s smallness.
Beyond the question,
the silence.
Before the answer,
the silence.
Lastly, just my obligatory ramble about my book happenings. I should be receiving my box of books any day now, and I’ve heard that some people who pre-ordered have already received theirs! How exciting is that?? If you post anything about EAE please tag me in it so I can share it out! and if you’d like to read what actor Bella Heathcote said about the book, please check out my website.
As anyone who has published a book in the last going on 2 years knows, it’s really not easy to get the word out about a new one. I’m setting up a couple of socially distanced book signings at local bookstores, but there will be no touring, of course. You’ve probably heard about the trend that the backlists are selling more than frontlists right now. Which is fine, because as small press authors have always known, we’re in this for the long game, anyway. But in the meantime, thanks to all of you who pre-ordered! I’m looking forward to hearing what you think about this book which my publisher at one point told me she found “trippy!” (I totally love that word to describe EAE!).
