Settling in

12 August 2007

This was probably our easiest intercontinental flight yet, thanks in part to the inadvertently educational in-flight entertainment system. We caught the tube all the way up to Golders Green (no apostrophe there, for historical reasons–this excuse covers a multitude of sins in England)–to spend some quality time with Val’s delightful musician friends, their lovable elderly golden retriever, and two cats. We took Gilly (the dog) for a brief walk in the park after a nearly-fatal nap, ordered in some Chinese food, and began setting the world to rights.

Today we are resting (I’ve been reading Robert Hass and an essay by Richard Jackson on imitation that will fold nicely into my upcoming talk), adjusting to the new time, and getting ready to head down to Portsmouth tomorrow to visit Val’s oldest school friend. The following day we’ll catch a ferry to the Isle of Wight, then back to Golders Green on Wednesday. I hope to bring back some photos of the lovely South coast, and to get some more reading done on the train there and back.

I have set up a Flickr map (thanks, Nathan) and plan to add pictures as we go.

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Dad

I loved your inadvertant entertainment system on the flight over. Must have made your trip a lot more fun. Will keep track of you through this blog. All is going great here at USM. Working on a deeper cut at Coyote Lean. Lots of love to you and Val and your trip.
http://nstryker.com/blog nstryker

glad to pass on the 2.0 goodness
Michelle Bitting

hey Robert–happy travels! have a glorious time and we’ll see you back at the Oregon ranch one of these days.

your talk sounds great–i’m a firm believer in emulation. i could go through my poems and pretty much name you the trigger poet for each piece. you could probably guess a few, too. it’s like trying on different costumes until a style emerges, borrowing wings and then one day (hopefully) you just fly on your own. speaking of flights, glad yours was so “winning” and smooth.

peace,
mb
Robert

Thanks, Dad.
Robert

Hey Michelle, thanks for your comment. Sounds like I’d be preaching to the choir in your case, but am still amazed at how many emerging writers treat their “unique voice” as some breakable commodity – delitcate as a moth’s wings. Hopefully I’ll tuck in to the main details of the talk in the next few (no doubt rainy) days.
Michelle Bitting

r–

as it happens, the last couple days i’ve worked a new poem called “Funeral for a Beta Fish”– (yes, sadly, Dorothy passed after a long, drawn out illness)
where i used Dorianne’s poem “Hummingbird” as a sort of specter while i worked, and before i started, took a list of “hot” words from her poem to incorporate as i wrote. fun game, and i like what i got. also kept the spirit of my poem from going to the twisted and darker side as my death (and other) poems tend to do. she is able to write on these subjects in a gritty & truthful way while making them soar and be beautiful at the same time. so the exercise of emulation was very helpful for me in this way.

cheers,
m
Robert

Thanks, Michelle. Great example. My late poet-friend Sanford Lyne taught countless schoolchildren and teachers to write poems using a collection of “hot” words – usually four fairly different words to pick from. It can really spark the imagination. In my talk, I hope to give some practical examples of how emulation can strengthen our writing, as well as talk a bit about the continuity of literary tradition – how no art is created in a vacuum – on the contrary, we feed on each other.
Robert

oh, p.s. – Sandra turned me on to the Richard Jackson essay – “Dancing As If Free” – great stuff.
Robert

Lovin’ the geotagging.