Oh those words are some of my favorites. I think gallimaufry was Dr. Who’s home planet! I love words. I love languages. Learned Spanish in my 60s. Attempting Japanese now in my 80s! For a time, when I was a young artist, I would add a word or two into my paintings or prints. Hmmm. Might try that now with my small drawings. Why not. For the love of language. Thanks for your writings.
I started to fall in love with words when I got divorced and had to find a job and ended up working for 2 different bookstores for around 18 years. As I got more into the love of books, discovering words, looking up the meanings, and using them in my own vocabulary has stayed with me. And as I grow older, I recognize those frustrating times when a word I know I possess somewhere in my mind won't come to the forefront of my brain when I need it to. So, I have to substitute it for a similar one. And as a side note....I've been involved in arguments with individuals when there's been a misunderstanding of specific words as they have a completely different meaning to some as I do. I also love words that are taboo because of political correctness and won't shy away from words like: crippled, retarded, spastic, and many cuss words that express exactly how I feel. Out of respect, I won't use some words if I know they'll offend someone and I lose their friendship over it. But true friends know me enough to accept me as I am.
Although I have many "favorite" writers, I put Pat Conroy at the top. He wrote books like The Great Santini, Prince of Tides, The Water is Wide, The Great Santini, My Losing Season and more. He also wrote a book called My Reading Life. In the cover it states: "He (Pat Conroy) for years kept notebooks in which he records words and expressions, over time creating a vast reservoir of playful turns of phrase, dazzling flashes of description, and snippets of delightful sound, all just for the love of language."
Because of Pat Conroy, I find it hard to read a book, any book, with my phone as my dictionary by my side so I can look up those words I do not know. Like you, I often "bleep" over those words, but get the gist of the meaning through the context. Even though I look them up, I rarely retain those words as they are not commonly used.
Another author I admire is David Sedaris. I believe I read that he learns 10 new words a day, writing them on index cards and referring to them on his 8 hour walks a day. Yep, 8 hours. (In perspective, I walk one hour a day to get my 10,000 steps in.)
The "shit" video is great. I have seen another comedian do a similar routine. We have a lot of international friends all over the world and I admire them for mastering English, which is not their primary language. When they can say things like okey-dokey, ride-em-cowboy, waz up, and the like, I know they have mastered English.
Eight hours of walking! That a full time job's worth. I guess I suanter. it takes me about an hour and 40 minutes to get my 10,000 average per day in. I sometimes listen to books or I'll listen to my own writings and notes that I am working on with speachify while walking or painting. One thing I am listening to at the moment is Gertrude Stein - Tender Buttons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k9yK7DjUMw I enjoy the narrator's voicing. I though for fun I would do a collage poem with that work in mind using bits and pieces from commentary about that work. Here is what I have got so far...
I've been a big fan of Wordsmith for decades. Here's the latest end-of-the-week wrap-up:
https://wordsmith.org/awad/awadmail1230.html
I suggest getting on their daily email list.
Oh those words are some of my favorites. I think gallimaufry was Dr. Who’s home planet! I love words. I love languages. Learned Spanish in my 60s. Attempting Japanese now in my 80s! For a time, when I was a young artist, I would add a word or two into my paintings or prints. Hmmm. Might try that now with my small drawings. Why not. For the love of language. Thanks for your writings.
I started to fall in love with words when I got divorced and had to find a job and ended up working for 2 different bookstores for around 18 years. As I got more into the love of books, discovering words, looking up the meanings, and using them in my own vocabulary has stayed with me. And as I grow older, I recognize those frustrating times when a word I know I possess somewhere in my mind won't come to the forefront of my brain when I need it to. So, I have to substitute it for a similar one. And as a side note....I've been involved in arguments with individuals when there's been a misunderstanding of specific words as they have a completely different meaning to some as I do. I also love words that are taboo because of political correctness and won't shy away from words like: crippled, retarded, spastic, and many cuss words that express exactly how I feel. Out of respect, I won't use some words if I know they'll offend someone and I lose their friendship over it. But true friends know me enough to accept me as I am.
Although I have many "favorite" writers, I put Pat Conroy at the top. He wrote books like The Great Santini, Prince of Tides, The Water is Wide, The Great Santini, My Losing Season and more. He also wrote a book called My Reading Life. In the cover it states: "He (Pat Conroy) for years kept notebooks in which he records words and expressions, over time creating a vast reservoir of playful turns of phrase, dazzling flashes of description, and snippets of delightful sound, all just for the love of language."
Because of Pat Conroy, I find it hard to read a book, any book, with my phone as my dictionary by my side so I can look up those words I do not know. Like you, I often "bleep" over those words, but get the gist of the meaning through the context. Even though I look them up, I rarely retain those words as they are not commonly used.
Another author I admire is David Sedaris. I believe I read that he learns 10 new words a day, writing them on index cards and referring to them on his 8 hour walks a day. Yep, 8 hours. (In perspective, I walk one hour a day to get my 10,000 steps in.)
The "shit" video is great. I have seen another comedian do a similar routine. We have a lot of international friends all over the world and I admire them for mastering English, which is not their primary language. When they can say things like okey-dokey, ride-em-cowboy, waz up, and the like, I know they have mastered English.
Eight hours of walking! That a full time job's worth. I guess I suanter. it takes me about an hour and 40 minutes to get my 10,000 average per day in. I sometimes listen to books or I'll listen to my own writings and notes that I am working on with speachify while walking or painting. One thing I am listening to at the moment is Gertrude Stein - Tender Buttons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k9yK7DjUMw I enjoy the narrator's voicing. I though for fun I would do a collage poem with that work in mind using bits and pieces from commentary about that work. Here is what I have got so far...
experiments in verse
confusing gibberish
since its first
and the somewhat more
Divided into three
and a poet
not frequently
and an intentional
and experimental
as an expatriate
Simultaneously considered
However, notable
Still
which contains both
contains a series
a collection of
notes that these are
However, notable
Another noteworthy
the repetition
the word-combining
a modernist triumph,
a spectacular failure,
a collection of confusing
an intentional hoax
contains a series
a series of descriptions
descriptions that defy
"things which nourish us,"
and
"things which enclose us."
by birth
of the words
for most
At once
create a cascading
that gathered together
by the uncanny arrangement
into one room
and sparking
exchange of ideas
works in verse
and the somewhat
not frequently
perhaps because
because it is meant
meant to be read
read as a single
read as a long
made in and through
not “about” subjects
but are their own discrete
to be responded to
rife with linguistic
However, notable
the turn of language
the realization of wordness
of textual autonomy
the body of the text
which is to say
of textured fabric
or perhaps better to say
not to puzzle it out
outside of the context
a poetics of acting
the poem, is gently caressing
pieces create a cascading
quilting and collaging
suggesting a connection
suggested only
a small protuberance
the unfolding semantic banquet
of difference of one sound to another
for, indeed,
in precluding or abstracting
the more fully they can feast
self-awareness of its own processes
standing for nothing but what they are.
something offered
for something else
if such it is
less a controlling
into the first part of the first
to clear away the dust
on the one hand
a way to see
on the other hand
a system of pointing
Now, circle back
it begs so many questions
For a start
imagine if
a world we look at as spectacle
looking at our words
or looking at our words
as a spectacle
that separate us from the world
a constellation of repeated words
repeated numerous times
rhythmically repetitive
and returns to rhythmic repetition
rhythm and momentum
the feeling of time passing
morning to evening
pinched awake by recognizing
the instant
as unique
proves enigmatic
you could say
as you often do
and puzzle over it.
Now that’s some good shit!
I am glad you are not giving me shit about that shit.