you
I like the pronoun 'you'--ambiguously hovering between specific, general, plural, singular. I can double back on myself in its comforting anonymity: no, I can say, I didn't mean 'you,' I meant 'you, reader,' (Reader, I married him), or you-general. And maybe all the while I do mean you: specific. You, the kid who left a blood orange at my seat in poetry class. You, the printmaker. You, boy of my childhood. You, the girl with the bird dog legs. You in your striped sweater, making a cake with me. You. It's sneaky, this short word; even linguistically--the /y/ (yuh) gliding the tongue across the soft palette into the release of /u/ (oo), only one place of articulation away from /i/ (ee): a whisper.
So--who are you? I know you are from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan, Argentina, Ecuador, Egypt, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal, Finland, Sweden, Ireland. In the U.S., you come from all over--Miami, Chicago, Portland, New York, Atlanta, Tempe, Annapolis. In the U.K., you're from Leeds, London, Southampton, Isle of Man, Birmingham, Hull, Edinburgh, Barking. That public 'where' is all I have a right to know, and I respect your right to tell me nothing about yourself and to go on reading. That's the contract here--I've chosen parts of my life and my thoughts to make public. But I'd like to know about you, what you do, what you're interested in, why you're here (and here is a big, big place--not just 'here' on my site, but here in general, even), what you're looking for, what you love. Recommend me a book or a song or a movie. Tell me something that made you happy or hurt you. Tell me a joke. Tell me where you write, if you do, and I'll read it, too. I want to know more about 'you'--where you is both general and specific.
posted by Eireann at
5:44 AM
18 Comments:
I've been trying to think of a decent explanation as to why I am here, both in general and specifically, but find myself needing to borrow the words of a brighter mind than mine:
We don't exist unless we are deeply and sensually in touch with that which can be touched but not known. ~D.H. Lawrence
I'm not precisely sure what that means, or even if I fully agree with it, but it certainly sounds as beautiful an explanation as any.
And thank you for the cake.
OOOH YUM!
Heres my answer to the 'You' question...Thanks for asking : )
http://polkadotpebble.typepad.co.uk/trivit/2008/07/you.html
I'm Ann. I'm a web developer. I said hi to you at the Craftstravaganza in Minneapolis a couple years ago. I was so nervous I had to walk around the building twice before I sort of dashed over and said, "I read your blog." You were very friendly. Then I ran away.
I'm much better at social interaction now, thanks largely to the pharmaceutical industry.
For a few years I pursued an MFA in poetry, but then I realized that I'm more in love with what I can see with my eyes. It's an odd experience, moving from the world of language to that of sight. I've expected to be a writer for so long that I don't really understand how to embrace the visual. (www.ffffound.com has helped a lot.)
I'm also a hardcore introvert and a lover of home and routine and comfort. Among other things, I'm interested in contexts, relationships, contrasts, textures, nuance. The way things are put together. Automatic associations. Brains and dreams.
I'm just glad to be around so I can mess with all the stuff that's out there in the world, including your gorgeous and thought-provoking writing.
I blog at www.roomfornuance.com. (A lot of my poems are up there, too.)
I just found you blog, last week I think and I love your pen&ink/ watercolors.
I blog over at http://mscleaverchronicle.wordpress.com
I recommend the Hakawati for a god read. Lovely and exotic, a modern Arabian Nights.
I've known you since you danced to Neruda, since you were a student in 3104 (and I was too) and we wrote each other birthday cards on slips of paper. I've known you in museums and sculpture gardens and in creaky old houses with cake in our laps.
I always say too much in my blog, I think; I forget that it's not just for me. I keep thinking about the purpose of keeping a blog these days... I think, mostly, it's daily writing practice (though I'm back in poem-a-day mode, and I love it) but also a record of what's going on.
What's the bruise on my arm for?
I dreamed about a housefire last night.
That sort of thing. I admire your restraint. And I'll see you on Monday. And Tuesday. xx
Hi! I've been reading your blog for a while now, and I love the way you mix different kinds of creative interests... It has made me think a lot about various old,and sometimes neglected, interests of mine.
I live in Argentine and
have recently begun my own blog at
http://diasdeuma.blogspot.com/ (although it´s in spanish).
A great book I've recently read and keep recomending everyone is "The History of Love" by Nicole Krause.
I have been reading your blog the last 2 years +
Its inspiring how you share the workings of your mind, your creativity, your present moments.
I live in Corvallis, Oregon (small college town) with my husband. I love the song of the American Gold Finch near my window, purple phlox filling the room on a warm evening. I love the spontaneous joy in writing a haiku ... here's one written while sharing our evening bath.
"bathing by moonlight
soap removes the dusty trail
but what cleanses mind?
Thank you for the cake ...
Lydia
Do you have any idea what an interesting and inspiring writer you are? What a lovely idea to ask about your readers.
I just started a blog yesterday and I am totally wet behind the ears! What I would like to write about is embracing our inner beauty. From what I have read in your archives you seem to be doing a good job of embracing yours (inner beauty). It will be fascinating to see what everyone says here.
I saw a small article in Mpls.St Paul magazine about your clothing before you left for England; it included a poem about fabrics. I tore it out and put it somewhere, finding it eventually and googling you to find this blog. I share your aching love of England, where I lived for a year and from whose shores I never really came home. I'm still there on the moors, watching the weather heave from the Irish to the North Sea, gathering holly at Christmas, waiting for lambing, laughing at the hedgehogs. I remember watching the phosphorus in the water off Robin's Hood Bay after a long night in a tiny pub filled with Irish musicians, and feeling a kind of belonging I'd never felt before. I remember the jumble sales and the bonfires, and the long noses and hooded eyes, and the unpretentious eccentricity. I go back as often as I can but it is not the same as living there. I too am a maker of many things--poetry, jewelry, clothes, decoupage, photographs, drawings, life. I come back to bara because you take time to think and that is rare. As for books, try A Fine Balance, by Rohinton Mistry or Animal's People by Indra Sinha; or the movie Salaam Bombay. You are so right--we all live surrounded by inconceivable luck and love. The only response is gratitude.
I am Jodie. I live in Sioux Falls, SD. I am a nurse, but my passions involve art, creating things with my hands. I am a mother. I am a wife. I read your blog for inspiration because I feel like some days it's the only chance I get to be inspired. I spend my days at a job I don't find rewarding..yearning for more creativity. Thank you for the moments of beauty and the escape.
The you that I am:
I am someone who was handed your book by a woman who has won many awards and accolades but still is kind and caring. And I brought your book into my classroom and shared it with my students who asked about (you). Then I (you) was published in the same issue of Diode as you (I).
As for book suggestions, I'm sure you know it, but lately I've been noting and dog-earing (and pardon the lack of accents) Helene Cixous' Stigmata. So a quote, appropriate in light of both the earlier writing on sweetness and the question of (you):
"If it's not me, it's you, who are me, I say to myself. How you're going to miss me! I mean: how I'm going to miss you. That is: how you miss me. That is: how we miss each other." (In October 1991...)
Me? Anglophile, reader, someone who once lived in Cambridge and hated leaving England, native Minnesotan who still loves it, art-lover, devoted reader of your blog. Consider reading: The Night of the Gun by David Carr, a fascinating and troubling account of another life in Minneapolis.
I've only been reading your blog for a short time. I came across it by accident - I really can't remember the trail of internet crumbs that led me here. But I find your blog inspiring in so many ways. I'm glad it's here and that I can read it.
The first post of yours I read was the one written July 5, and it begins I love the life I've chosen. I'm proud of it... and I think that was one of the reasons I felt the need to continue reading. Lately I feel like I'm on the way to loving the life I've chosen, too. At least, so far I really love the things I'm choosing. And I like knowing that it's possible to do that.
I am from a very tiny town in Canada. I'm entering my second year of an English degree, with a minor in creative writing. I'm about to take my first poetry class, and I'm thrilled and scared stiff all at once. Eventually, I'd like to become a librarian - get my masters in Library and Information Sciences. I can hardly wait. I dance a lot and run places and take a lot of pictures. I get lost in daydreams about having my own apartment, painting my walls a pale blue, hanging curtains.
And I often ramble on at length.
Sorry. Thank you for your blog. I hope you're having a good day.
I'm Barbara and I'm from München (Southern Germany that is) & I recently graduated with an M.A. in Russian Studies, focussing on religion in Russia & on Russian literature. I love poetry, foreign languages, traveling, letters - and your blog too. I don't remeber how I discovered it, I think it was in early 2008...I love it, because for me it is a source of joy and it inspires me to be grateful, for I too am blessed with luck & love in my life. And it fills me with wonder & amazement to think about that - and you remind of this and put it in words far more eloquently than I ever could (in any language).
As for recommendations -- have you seen the films by Andrey Tarkowsky? You'd like "The Mirror" (Zerkalo). It's poetry in film. And regarding books - have you read Fernando Pessoa? (I'm not sure if he's as popular in the anglophile world as he is here) Or do you want to read thick novels? Karamosov is a must, as is Anna Karenina. :-) Would you too recommend me (us) something?
And again - thank you for this wonderful blog. And the cake.
I'm from Tennessee. I am eating polenta right now in Minneapolis. I read because I like your ability to capture moments in places and time -- although some days I get it better than others.
This is only the second time I've visited here. I found you last week; I don't remember how, but I intend to stay. Because of your words. Because of your images. Because I instantly agreed with the places you were coming from on that first visit.
I'm Kat. I live in Canada, but I'm from a small town in Pennsylvania. I'm teaching myself to play the banjo on a whim. I'm making potatoes with dill and green beans on the stove for dinner right now. I write at waltzmatilda.blogspot.com.
I am here because your blog brings me a sense of peace in the midst of the disorder of London.
I am here looking for peace & joy in the disorder of life.
I recommend The Bone People by Keri Hulme as a great read.
I would love for you to read my ramblings, at:
rachelwanderlust.blogspot.com
just catching up here...
i found you through a few craft bloggers (amanda, sally, and others) when you organized one in ten. i was happy to discover that you're a minneapolitan (on occasion), like i am (as of two years ago). your words have kept me here, and your drawings and paintings.
i share your thoughts on the "could", how that can mean possibility or pressure. or both.
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