Here I am writing or editing Slaying a Dragon
Monday, March 14, 2005
Saturday, March 05, 2005
Cygnet Committee (lyric). Album: David Bowie, 1969.
There was a sale at HMV last week. I bought four CD's for £20.00. They were discounting music from the past so it was an opportunity to catch up on turning my LP's into CD's. It took a long time to choose my four and to be honest the CD's I chose were not the most important ones on my catch up list.
They were Joni Mitchel's Hissing of Summer Lawns - I should have bought For the Roses is a better album, less polished, folk, raw and more personal. But still HoSL is one of my favourites.
Secondly Crosby, Stills and Nash and their Crosby Stills and Nash album - I would have preferred to have bought Deja Vu with Neil Young - CSNY but they did not have that one on offer. However it did inspire me to buy Deja Vu on Amazon. That should be here tomorrow. There are some good songs on CSN, Judy Blue Eyes and Wooden Ships to name two.
Thirdly I bought Miles Davis's The Birth of the Cool. I have a tape of it somewhere. I don't know this at all but I've enjoyed A Kind of Blue, Milestones, In a Silent Way and Sketches of Spain - so we will see.
Finally Space Oddity by David Bowie. I was hoping for The Rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust but it was no where to be found. I already have a few on CD collected over the summer, Low, Hunky Dory, The Man Who Sold The World, The Best of David Bowie, Heroes. I can wait for Ziggy, Young Americans, Aladdin Sane - but not too long I hope. Anyway I remember what hooked me in to Bowie back in1971. And that was words. The earlier the album the richer the lyrics. Space Oddity has some strong lyrics - Unwashed..., The Wild Eye Boy From Free Cloud, Memory of a Free Festival and of course Cygnet committee. Here are the lyrics for your pleasure. Cygnet Committee (lyric). Album: David Bowie, 1969.
I've been writing. Three poems slipped out over three or four days - almost whole in the first drafts. I've been tinkering with them a little - but not there yet.
Katy is selling booklets and I've been distributing them to people. It is quite awkward really, especially in church. Some people I want to give booklets to and it feels odd that some will buy from Katy and others will receive gifts from me. Ummmm!
I've still got some to post - Pam and Simon in France, Neil and Lesley - Birmingham/Canada, Steve and Tammie - Portland US. I've got to get my act together.
See you. Driving tomorrow!!
They were Joni Mitchel's Hissing of Summer Lawns - I should have bought For the Roses is a better album, less polished, folk, raw and more personal. But still HoSL is one of my favourites.
Secondly Crosby, Stills and Nash and their Crosby Stills and Nash album - I would have preferred to have bought Deja Vu with Neil Young - CSNY but they did not have that one on offer. However it did inspire me to buy Deja Vu on Amazon. That should be here tomorrow. There are some good songs on CSN, Judy Blue Eyes and Wooden Ships to name two.
Thirdly I bought Miles Davis's The Birth of the Cool. I have a tape of it somewhere. I don't know this at all but I've enjoyed A Kind of Blue, Milestones, In a Silent Way and Sketches of Spain - so we will see.
Finally Space Oddity by David Bowie. I was hoping for The Rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust but it was no where to be found. I already have a few on CD collected over the summer, Low, Hunky Dory, The Man Who Sold The World, The Best of David Bowie, Heroes. I can wait for Ziggy, Young Americans, Aladdin Sane - but not too long I hope. Anyway I remember what hooked me in to Bowie back in1971. And that was words. The earlier the album the richer the lyrics. Space Oddity has some strong lyrics - Unwashed..., The Wild Eye Boy From Free Cloud, Memory of a Free Festival and of course Cygnet committee. Here are the lyrics for your pleasure. Cygnet Committee (lyric). Album: David Bowie, 1969.
I've been writing. Three poems slipped out over three or four days - almost whole in the first drafts. I've been tinkering with them a little - but not there yet.
Katy is selling booklets and I've been distributing them to people. It is quite awkward really, especially in church. Some people I want to give booklets to and it feels odd that some will buy from Katy and others will receive gifts from me. Ummmm!
I've still got some to post - Pam and Simon in France, Neil and Lesley - Birmingham/Canada, Steve and Tammie - Portland US. I've got to get my act together.
See you. Driving tomorrow!!
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Guardian Unlimited Books | By genre | There's a first time for everyone
Well I've linked to a number of sites recently and not really posted any thing myself. Here I have yet another link from The Guardian but an interesting article all the same. I particulaly liked this section by Charles Chadwick from London aged 72
"So why go on writing with little or no hope of publication? Svevo once said: 'Write what one must. What one needn't do is publish.' Is it that one has to learn to do it for its own sake? There's nothing odd, and certainly now in the least heroically tenacious, about that. There are millions of people out there who weave tapestry, make furniture and pots, write poetry, paint watercolours because that is what they enjoy doing and want to get better at. The creative imagination seems to have a life and persistence of its own. Another imperative is to take trouble to do things properly. When you see someone having a shot at painting a few houses and trees and clouds or whatever, you don't feel like tapping them on the shoulder and saying: 'Why bother with all that detail; you'll only shove it away in your garage or give it to Uncle Frank and Aunt Ethel who won't know the difference?"
For me the pleasure of getting the right words in the right place is my most important ambition for my writing. I've been able to hold that in balance with the way people respond to the poems. My first pleasure is getting it right. As Plath puts it "Like a well done sum."
I've begun to distribute the booklet. I've even sent the booklet to The Poetry Book Society. We'll see if they promote it at all. Not much feed back yet from my colleagues although my two main poetry mentors have both made quite positive comments about individual poems and the project as a whole.
"So why go on writing with little or no hope of publication? Svevo once said: 'Write what one must. What one needn't do is publish.' Is it that one has to learn to do it for its own sake? There's nothing odd, and certainly now in the least heroically tenacious, about that. There are millions of people out there who weave tapestry, make furniture and pots, write poetry, paint watercolours because that is what they enjoy doing and want to get better at. The creative imagination seems to have a life and persistence of its own. Another imperative is to take trouble to do things properly. When you see someone having a shot at painting a few houses and trees and clouds or whatever, you don't feel like tapping them on the shoulder and saying: 'Why bother with all that detail; you'll only shove it away in your garage or give it to Uncle Frank and Aunt Ethel who won't know the difference?"
For me the pleasure of getting the right words in the right place is my most important ambition for my writing. I've been able to hold that in balance with the way people respond to the poems. My first pleasure is getting it right. As Plath puts it "Like a well done sum."
I've begun to distribute the booklet. I've even sent the booklet to The Poetry Book Society. We'll see if they promote it at all. Not much feed back yet from my colleagues although my two main poetry mentors have both made quite positive comments about individual poems and the project as a whole.