Thanks, Alison and Judy!
So far as the level of consumption goes ... we do like things, we
Americans. Mostly we like to throw things out so that we can get new
ones; we've got twice-weekly garbage pickup in this neighborhood, and we
could use another. I can't speak for Europeans, but I think we Americans
are a little afraid of silences and empty spaces; we want to put
something there, make some noise, have a presence. (This also explains
the huge portions of food, Alison--and the epidemic of obesity here; we
not only want to take up space, we want to take up as much space as we
can. Speaking as a person who could stand to lose a good 30 pounds, I
say this painfully, since these days my inclination is to take up the
least space I can, to keep from making noise, words or otherwise.)
Some of our poets end up at the ends of the continent--Charles Olson on
Cape Cod, Robinson Jeffers at Big Sur, as far from the center as one can
get, as close to an ocean, under which most things disappear. And I have
to admit, there are few days on which I don't envy them for a minute or
two at least.
Judy Prince wrote:
> welcome back, alison, from the land of the left (LA) and home of my only baby and only grandbabies!
>
> MUCH thanking you as well for the george theatre writer website. looks like a wonderful resource for playwright types. i hadn't remembered george hunka on this poetryetc list. will be checking his refs and recs, in depth, soon.
>
> chirs and reminders to rest up after the inevitable jetlaggies,
>
> judy now often aka old sow. still in england, but soon to fly to LA to see grandpups at christmas. yippee!!!
>
>
>
>> From: Alison Croggon <[log in to unmask]>
>> Date: 2005/12/05 Mon PM 05:02:54 EST
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Sex and the Artist
>>
>> My dears, you are very sly. Tsk. LA was fabbo, but I am a virtuous married
>> woman, somewhat like a Roman matron but less stout. As an inveterate
>> gabfest personified, Ken, I have found the secret of any relationship is
>> good conversation. Talking is very sexy. I have a friend who says that
>> libraries always make her want to have sex, but that's probably a bit ott; I
>> do think, on the other hand, that writers tend to be people who find
>> language an erotic activity.
>>
>> I agree Doug, artists are no more special than anyone else, which is to say,
>> we are very special indeed. And yes, Deborah, not very glamorous,
>> actually.
>>
>> So Stephen, you have all been talking about death? How grim. I confess, I
>> haven't had time to check the archives. Well, Thanatos and Eros aren't so
>> far from each other, after all...
>>
>> For my part, I had a series of very contradictory responses to the America I
>> saw - so many things and people I adored, this incredibly exciting energy
>> and diversity, a generousness, and also things that shocked me. Probably
>> what shocked me most was the level of consumption - the brutal building
>> development over a fragile environment like the desert, the sheer
>> overwhelming numbers of cars, the ruling idea that resources are
>> inexhaustible, a strange primness. I don't know why this struck me so much
>> more than in Europe; perhaps because the landscape is on an Australian
>> scale, but those emptinesses are full of traffic. And all those flags
>> everywhere.
>>
>> And how very nice to see you here, George! I expect he has already told you,
>> but George is a theatre writer and fellow theatre blogger, and keeps an
>> blog, at http://www.ghunka.com, which I unreservedly recommend.
>>
>> Best to all
>>
>> A
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Alison Croggon
>>
>> Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
>> Editor, Masthead: http://masthead.net.au
>> Home page: http://alisoncroggon.com
>>
>>
>
>
>
--
George Hunka
[log in to unmask]
http://www.ghunka.com
|