I’m on a long walk. It’s sunny and cold. I’m meeting my brother, yes thenewgreen, that brother. I have prepared a bunch of questions for him, including this one: Of all the screenplays you’ve written, from Meatballs to Private Parts to Beethoven Two and on, is there a character that you most identified with?
I’ll report back later, but my main point is this: it’s good to get away from the flaming chariots of our minds and go outside.
I once posted here a poetry challenge called Go Outside. Great submissions. I’ll check archives later.
Found it:
Walking through the neighborhood where I grew up, where the house that was my mother’s is: I passed “Stevenson’s.” This is kind of an antique store full of oddments. I asked Mike Stevenson to look at my mother’s stuff after she died in June 2021. He took some furniture and a bunch of odd things, games, costume jewelry. He gave me $100 for the odd things. Walking by just now I saw my mother’s Scrabble game. Or was it my mother’s? I regretted giving it to him. It had wooden tiles - I was told they don’t make wooden Scrabble tiles anymore (Is that true?). Also I’ve lost several tiles in my set and replaced them with cardboard. I went in. I said, “Can I buy back my mother’s Scrabble game?” “ Just take it,” said Stephenson’s wife as she called Mike over. “just take it,” said Mike.
Some awesome submissions there! Prompts like that have been so helpful for me, just going out and noting what you experience. Sometimes I take a single word and run with it. "Pattern" produced a horror-focused short story about an old man in the woods. "Magnets" developed into an AI coming to it's own decisions about what the "greatest threat" to humanity was. Poetry though? Never attempted it. I'm going to wander outside today as it's approaching 20 degrees C and it's only 10am... See what comes of my walk :) Thank you for the nudge Lil.
Noted as I wandered: -- Summer has arrived. Christmas tunes assault my ears. Ours is an oppressive heat. I can see the asphalt waving. Graduands fill the streets. Bagpipes replace Christmas, the assault is intensified. But this time it's cultural. The last vibrant breath before this city sleeps and bakes. A holiday well and truly earned. Construction sounds in the distance. The skyline adds new blood. I'm tired, but the end is in sight. I'm thirsty, but there is beer in my fridge. Suddenly conscious of how I walk. Do I strut? Do I stroll? Do I care? There! A delightful breeze in the nick of time. I'm turning my face to the sun. I should do this more often. Face the sun? Yes. Drink it in. I'm looking up underneath a tree. The leaves form a mazelike pattern set against the sky. I'm finding my way through it. There's no rush. When was the last time I didn't feel rushed? It's almost 24°C. Stick a fork in me I'm fuckin' cooked. -- I walked through the main street of town and wound up lying on the museum front lawn, nestled under an oak tree looking up at the sky. There was a gentle amount of commotion as people come and go. The last graduation of the year was held today - bagpipies and drums are a staple of the march through the city. Proud parents aplenty! It was very nice.
Enjoyed reading that. As I was reading your poem there was a nagging voice in my head saying, “you’ve got work to do. No time for poetry.” Then I got to that line and a stronger internal voice said, “there’s always time for poetry.” Thanks for the journey.there’s no rush
Geographically = Dunedin, New Zealand. A small "University" town and the students have now finished for the year. December graduation being the swansong as the summer heat rolls in. Mentally = I found myself trying to find a way through the maze of leaves just as a game. Then realized it was a rare moment where I didn't feel time pressure, like I normally do. It was nice to just sit and let my mind wander. Thank you for the encouragement to step outside!
My father spent some time in Vancouver, he likened it to our Queenstown albeit much larger! I'm very poorly travelled compared to him, unfortunately, I've only graced NZ and Australia. Canada is on an ever-expanding list though. Is it bitterly cold and snow-blasted?? 1) Sadly my student days are done! I graduated from the same University in 2012, but I now work there. It's amazing to see the young people in their regalia, marching down the street. Every ceremony, the town comes to a halt to let them take the stage for the afternoon. 2) That's a tough one. I think it was around 2015, and I was trying to find something Kleinbl00 had posted in Reddit once upon a time. I forget what it was, but it resonated with me then, and I wanted to read over it. I searched what I could remember, and one of the hits was actually a link to Hubski. I checked it out, liked what I saw, and lurked forever more.
lil, I am finding myself getting outside in Canada a bit more often this winter. I just finished a weekend ice climbing around Lillooet, a small place with big ice climbs and a rather sad history, over in BC. Probably going back here in January, followed by a week in Canmore in February! Needless to say, these trips are NOT warm.
Which character, if any, did he most relate to? Howard Stern? Rudy the Rabbit? I’ve been playing tennis three mornings a week. All outside. I know it’s not a walk in the woods, but it’s invigorating none the less. Outdoor tennis is SO MUCH better than indoor. It’s like running on a treadmill v running on a trail. I’m spending Christmas with the family in Spain. We will be outside a LOT. Walking the city streets etc. lots of walking tours. I’m excited. Onward!!
omg!! You will have warm weather. How wonderful! And tennis. Sigh. it's cold here, but I spent a lot of time outside, getting the last of the ceramic flower pots indoors and getting the wet wood-rotting leaves off the wooden deck. And crushing aluminum. I'll have to write a post about aluminum soon. My brother said he identifies with all his characters, even the villains. He says that he has to fully get inside his characters to understand their motives. I also asked him if he had a philosophy of comedy. He did. Comedy is creating a situation in which the underdog embarrasses the top dog. Of course, it's a lot more than that, but that's always at the back of his mind. A specific event in his childhood made him realize the power of language to affect and offend the oppressor, and create language, and thenewgreen if you ask, I'll tell you that story. ONWARD.