Reading

 {pic from A Better Oakland}

On Monday I got to show my support for the Oakland library system (the mayor is trying to shut down ten of the city's fourteen branches?!) by reading for a few minutes in front of City Hall.

I didn't want to be boring, and also wanted to read something that reminded me of how important libraries are. As an adult, I will admit to being a terrible user of the library, in that I don't utilize it enough. But as a kid? Oh, my god. It was the most important place. So I read from Harriet the Spy, which is just a truly genius book and so enjoyable to read again every few years. I don't think any other children's book asked the questions that it did (about religion, family, money, and human behavior) in such an honest way; the voice of HTS and its equally brutal sequel, The Long Secret, did a lot in terms of shaping me into the cynical but softhearted weirdo I am today.

It was fun to read aloud. I did an "old rich lady" accent that was enjoyable. I hope they don't shut down any libraries.

I love Lynda Barry so much. She understands that it's hard to be a grown-up, an artist, and a functioning human being all the the same time. I would love to take one of her writing workshops, but there aren't any coming up in the near future. I might go see her talk tomorrow at the Alternative Press Expo; people like her also make me feel okay about getting older.

Projects projects projects....

I've got a lot of projects brewing in my mind right now. It's exciting to have ideas! Here's the project I'm most set on doing (and the one I'm most likely to finish). I'm no great embroiderer, but I love how stitched prayers and sayings look; there's something about embroidered words that seems extra meaningful. My parents have a beautiful cross-stitch of the Irish Blessing (less cool version above) that hangs in my brother's room; it's one of my favorite things.

When I came across this poem last week while doing my "lunchtime literary studies" (browsing various authors on Wikipedia at work while eating my cup-o-soup), I knew what my fall project would be.

Late Fragment

And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.

--Raymond Carver

Carver wrote this poem when he was getting his last book in order before his death. I love it very much. I've only ever read his short stories, which I also love very much, but now I'm definitely going to read his poems too. I think this would be really special to stitch by hand and hang in my house.

The question is, how do I find a good embroidery font? Everything online is just cheesy or made for machine stitching. I want to do something like the below; I think I'll just end up using my own handwriting though. Any advice?

It won't last, I promise

My reading style is a little different. It's been this way since I was little. Generally, my first read will be incredibly quick. I'll get the plot and little else. If I like what I saw, I'll read it again. And again. And again. So what begins as a cursory skim ends up being a very thorough read.

Today I was re-reading Birds of America by Lorrie Moore, and found this passage. It describes how I'm feeling of late.

There were moments bristling with deadness, when she looked out at her life and went, "What?" Or worse, feeling interrupted and tired, "Wha--?" It had taken on the shape of a terrible mistake. She hadn't been given the proper tools to make a real life with, she decided, that was it. She'd been given a can of gravy and a hairbrush and told, "There you go." She'd stood there for years, blinking and befuddled, brushing the can with the brush."