paisleypiper's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- empty brain metanarratives This evening I trudged home from work, ready to spend the evening preparing for poetry boot camp tomorrow evening, which is what I call the advanced creative writing poetry class I�m taking. Boot camp because the poet who teaches it says and means that poetry is the highest written art form [damn it]. Quinn greeted me at the door and declared tonight �be nice to piper night.� She had been to the store, was preparing a special dinner, had gotten wine, a little ice cream. I am touched. Especially since between the long hours I work and taking 2 graduate seminars this semester, I have not been keeping up with my share of the work around the house. Because I have been moving from task to task without much breathing room lately. Even though I had a great deal to get accomplished, it was nice to take some time out for a nice dinner and a little candlelight. She made pork chops, rice and green beans with a little lettuce salad. We agreed that it would be best for us if I pushed it this semester and tackled two classes on top of my already demanding work life. So far, I am handling the work load without dropping too many balls in the outside world. But it gets hard to keep up with the part of life that is rewarding � my relationship with Quinn, writing real updates in my online journal, relaxing, making mixed CD�s, working in the darkroom. I miss those parts of my life. Today I was talking with the ultra-groovy, science fiction/ Star Trek convention-going staffer for a community education program on campus. She said to me �We used to have a class on being in two places at once but the convener spread himself too thin and we haven�t seen him since.� This community education program is a special place. People with a skill or talent volunteer to hold a workshop and others can sign up for just a few dollars. Sometimes the classes are totally bizarre and are beneficial mostly for the people watching and other times they are quite informative. But I believe in it. Their department at the university has not sold out and has not begun singing the new great metanarrative. Instead they are at the functions, making real connections, but not pretending to be anything but a hippie type and sci fi type doing their things. I admire that more than I admire phony, professional, shallow suity people, living the values and meeting the goals. Today I thought about life because I saw the aftermath of a gruesome accident outside the building where I work that resulted in people being rolled away on stretchers and the north-bound lanes of the street being closed for over an hour. It is such a clich�d response that I almost dare not admit it. But oh well. It is late and my brain has thought its large thoughts for the night. And I am left with what�s obvious. A great partner, a tired dog, an empty brain, and chapped lips and flat hair from the cold. More later. 11:56 p.m. - 2003-02-18 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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