2 posts tagged “self-deception”
No, I'm not going up to Napa to work on my novel. If only. Rather, this month must necessarily be devoted to writing papers, and I figure I might as well make a game of it. I wonder if there's a way to keep a page count going on Vox?
There are three papers. They should be between 16 and 20 pages long. The topics are, um, mostly, um, largely, they are kind of targeted at this point. I will say at the outset that I really don't know if I can make this interesting for the rest of you to read, and that if it seems like it ain't working after a few days, I'll give it up. But papers are potentially more discussable than novels. "Ergh, I am having trouble developing this one character! I'm just not sure how to get them all on the pirate ship with the indie bands! (Well, I mean, they're sort of Renaissance-era indie bands, but they're based on my favorite bands.)"
Also, more Peter Szondi. Badass! Do you think that's a real forest, or is it just a painted backdrop he carried with him everywhere? Theory of modern drama, indeed!
Morning: Go to a café and order a cappuccino, ideally with real milk. Let pieces by Scelsci and Nono drown out conversation. Stare at wall. Write.
Noon: Approach a pine tree. Observe starlings.
Afternoon: Walk uphill in boots. Enter bookstore; pick up book in Italian, most likely by Calvino. Read first page.
Evening: Go to nice Italian restaurant. Stare at wall. Reflect on mild exhaustion and loneliness, yet simultaneous contentment and self-containedness. Look around at clientele: the place is full of Americans. But you're not obsessed with "authenticity," anyway, and the food's not bad. Really a good trip so far: what you wrote this morning holds real promise. Stay at the restaurant as late as you want.
Night: Lie awake in bed, full of excitement and apprehension. The liminal space of travel; the edge of the world! At home it's... night.
I'm going to be here all summer, but past experience suggests that my activities abroad are easily domesticated.
