VEGANGELICA

I'd never read any of Wallace Stevens' modernist poems before reading he's your favorite poet. Now I've read some, thanks to you. The poetry is sometimes very deep, sometimes very on-the-surface. He likes to play with perspective, as he considers his subject, doesn't he? I like these lines, from "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird":

"I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after."

I think I prefer the moment just after the blackbird whistles, because then I can enjoy the memory of the moment and the thinking about the moment!

4. and 6. are true for me, too. I really love the bass line most of all. 18 years sounds long...but I wonder if it felt like it went fast. I've been married 10 years now...and it feels much shorter than I thought it would. As if I could blink, and another 10 years would pass.

Gnostic Christianity...isn't that considered heretical by mainstream Christians? You like to think for yourself!

Please come to my house, Liz! When my mom visits, it's always great, because she is a happy cleanaholic. So, if she babysat for several hours, when I came home the laundry would be done and folded and the dishes washed and put away. And the stovetop cleaned! And she didn't seem to mind at all.

In crisis situations, I lose my head. I get flustered. I can't think straight. I once gave an ambulance the wrong address on a street (by calling it South when it was North). I called back to give the correct address after I heard the ambulance whizzing by. The dispatcher sounded annoyed, saying I had given the right address. I was right, though...I'd given the wrong one. (This was when I was calling an ambulance to a domestic violence shelter.)

And I also love the smell and feel, Liz! The squishy sand, the rotting seaweed, the feel of sand dollars in your hands. The wind. The droplets of water from the spray! The drag of the waves on your feet...and the way the water pulls sand away from them, so your feet sink lower and lower into the sand. I like watching the little bubbles that emerge from the sand, perhaps due to crabs who have buried themselves underneath. Sigh!

I can imagine you in an old movie, very civil and polite! That's interesting that you believe in reincarnation. I have a friend from China who believes in reincarnation. What would you say inspired you to feel reincarnation happens? I especially like kids who are 3 or 4 and getting adventurous and very silly; babies are tougher to care for, I feel, because it is harder to know what is wrong when they're upset.

I fear flying but also think it is fun. Every time I fly, I make peace with those hours perhaps being my last. I like eating airplane food, though, and watching movies high up there. It is so...oddly normal. I'm actually a good jump roper...double dutch was a lot of fun as a child. If I knew you in person, I would want to practice jumproping with you!

I used to fear public speaking. Then I realized no one really cares what I do or say as much as I do, and if I bobble what I say, I can just start over and correct the sentence. Also, I never say "um" when I speak publically. I actually think learning not to say "um" is the main key to feeling comfortable while public speaking.

I find the beauty in melancholy, too.
Cute! Your "boring" things. All very interesting! I'm glad you are surrounded by good books and music, Liz.

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