Stream of Consciousness

This graffiti seemed a fitting way to illustrate stream of consciousness - ideas popping into the artist's head. I've just come from a study group at MCLL on "From Modernism to Absurdism: Joyce and Beckett." It takes me out of my comfort zone. I am usually a low-risk person - forgoing skydiving, bungie-jumping for much tamer pursuits. But when it comes to education - I take more risks. When I was teaching I got involved in online projects long before the current trend (my first online exchange was pre WWW in 1986 when I organized and helped facilitate an exchange between a class in Montreal and one in Puvirnituq. I got students involved in robotics back in the 1990s. These kinds of risks I can handle

I love to read and I love to go to see plays. I've enjoyed some Joyce in the past (though not his tomes),  but Beckett!  - I just didn't understand him. So this study group is definitely a risk for me - a place where I feel confused, that I have a lack of expertise, that I don't know how to read despite my love of reading. I've jumped in - in a very supportive setting, where laughter and wit accompany discussion and dissection of the texts. Who knows, I may come to love Beckett. I'm waiting to see.

Fact into Fiction

I am currently reading Vanessa and her Sister by Priya Parmar. The other books are on my "to be read" pile. I like books that make me look things up, to learn more about the subject - whether it is finding out more about historical situations, learning more about a country in which the book takes place or finding out about people who were included in the story. Vanessa and her Sister is a fictionalized account of Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf - the Stephen sisters. The many characters in the book were real people - part of the Bloomsbury group. I have searched on the internet for paintings done by Bell that have been mentioned in the book, checked on the lives of some of the people in the novel and I feel this enriches my experience of the book. So far I am enjoying it, but a piece of me wants to know how much is based on truth and how much veers from reality.

I read Us Conductors, by Sean Michaels, which is a novel about Leon Theremin. I enjoyed finding out more about who he was (the inventor of the theremin among other things) but was put off by some events in the book that were far from the truth of Theremin's life. While Michaels makes it clear that this is a novel, it bothers me that people reading it may believe these events; I had to research to separate the truths from the fiction.

At what point should an author just be writing fiction and not use the names and lives of real people - a question I ask myself as I read.

Read a Chapter and Get Hooked

Lire Vous is a clever way to get people hooked on books (mainly French books). These large signs are in a number of metro stations.

 You can download a chapter to read on your mobile device. Then if you like it, you can either find out which library has it (both ebook and print versions) or you can buy it - ePub or print version.

I see more and more people reading on the metro with phones and eReaders. As someone who has never been good with reading while in motion, I just people watch - is that another form of reading?

Spring Rain

Outside the spring rain falls
Working its magic
Greening the grass
Winter's dirt begins to wash away
The air smells fresh

Inside I sip my tea
And bury my nose in a book
Alice Monroe for company
Simple pleasures
On a dreary day

Outside the buds begin to burst
Hints of leaves to come
All around
Growth is speeding up

Inside I wrap a blanket
Around my shoulders
Pour another cup
A day for slowing down

The Joy of Reading

The Joy of Reading, originally uploaded by susanvg.

I love to read, especially well-written books. Barbara Kingsolver is a wonderful author. I found the book had a slow start but then I just got into it and loved it. Her books always send me off to learn more about the era in which they take place. In this case, I was busy not only reading the book, but learning more about Frida Kahlo (there was a wonderful exhibit of her work in London in 2005 at which I spent an afternoon.) , about Diego Rivera and other artists of Mexico, of the post war era in the U.S. I like that - when a book sends me to other sources to expand my understanding.

Anyone out there read The Lacuna? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Feb 10/10: I Love to Read

Feb 10/10: I Love to Read, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Daily Shoot: We all have some sort of hobby or favorite activity. Make a photo that shows something you enjoy doing. (via @azmichelle)

I love to read, but sometimes I read (and play) music and other times it's books. I play music regularly, on my own and with others. Often when I play with others we sightread through music, sometimes returning to pieces we have played before. Each time we revisit a piece we find new layers, are able to find more meaning in the piece and we can make it more and more musical. But isn't that the case with books too? When you revisit a book you always find more layers that help your appreciation and understanding.

And with both, I often go back to my favourite composers / authors and discover more and more of what they have written to get a real sense their style and "voice". Or I venture out to new discoveries both musical and literary, expanding my horizons.

Day 266: Continuity

Day 266: Continuity, originally uploaded by susanvg.

A few ideas have converged. I was thinking about music and how albums of the past had a coherence. They were often not just conceived as a place to put several songs, but that the songs were in some way related - there was a concept. Although we often had favourite songs, we usually listened from start to finish. With iPods and CDs it became commonplace to shuffle so there was no longer any continuity from one song to the next - just randomness.

Yesterday I met with an elementary school teacher who had been training other teachers on the process of reading text and reading images. She spoke of the continuity in a picture book, how the artist helps structure the story through his use of images. For example, sections that are "real life" were drawn paler than sections that came from imaginary events. When children learn to expect continuity they are better able to understand text and to see it as a whole.

Our ability to concentrate and follow through was once more mentioned in an interview with Leon Fleisher, a classical pianist who will be playing a concert here this week. He spoke of the fact that many works (concertos, symphonies) are as long as 40 minutes and that audiences need to learn to stay focused for that length of time. Many have grown up on the ten minute television segment followed by commercials. The ability to focus has been compromised. And you need to focus to really enjoy the music, to hear the theme move and be transformed and come back in new ways in each movement. I went on a cruise some years ago and was really bothered when the classical string quartet played one movement from one piece and then a movement from something else. The continuity was lost.

Today's society is fond of morsels: sound bites, sampling, clips, excerpts. But we lose the continuity, the depth and breadth of the experience, whether it is a whole concert, reading an entire book, looking at news in depth or simply focusing on an idea long enough to make sense of it.

Day 72: Sitting Outside

Day 72: Sitting Outside, originally uploaded by susanvg.

There comes a time in March when the sun actually feels warm. A chair outside in a sheltered spot, a good book and fresh air - life is good. Although I was bundled in winter wear – heavy jacket, boots, hat and scarf, it felt like outdoor life was beginning again.. This is not to say we hibernate all winter. However, usually when outdoors, we have to keep moving. As the weather mellows, we slowly creep outdoors to sit and catch the warmth. Whether in the country, or the city, you see people with faces upturned reaching for the sun’s rays.