tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post3248062219756238760..comments2023-06-28T22:58:28.247+10:00Comments on Sixth In Line: The human heart in conflict with itselfElisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-55676294760118338122011-12-30T19:13:44.406+11:002011-12-30T19:13:44.406+11:00It is a haunting image, Syd, my dead baby sister, ...It is a haunting image, Syd, my dead baby sister, and she, as you say, was only one of the countless millions who died during that terrible war. And still we do not learn to find our way towards peace. So sad.<br /><br />Thanks again, Syd.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-74503776209943098162011-12-28T16:06:30.337+11:002011-12-28T16:06:30.337+11:00The photo of your little dead sister is haunting. ...The photo of your little dead sister is haunting. I am so sorry that such hardships happen. And because of war which is one of the worst things to ever happen. So many died in WWII that it boggles the mind. We still haven't learned just to peacefully coexist.Sydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05642843245634635843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-25463676160494292842011-12-04T11:04:33.428+11:002011-12-04T11:04:33.428+11:00Heidi, I studied French and Latin at school and wa...Heidi, I studied French and Latin at school and was good at them. Sometimes I dream that I am fluent in french. I can have amazing and long conversations in that language but in my waking life I am rusty. <br /><br />I find it hard to speak Dutch but i can understand it readily when people speak slowly. This language, Dutch, my mother tongue, is in my blood. <br /><br />Thanks, Heidi.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-29701985998719133252011-12-04T11:01:43.157+11:002011-12-04T11:01:43.157+11:00Jane, I can understand that you find this picture ...Jane, I can understand that you find this picture of my dead baby sister so beautiful. To me it will never lose its allure. That even in death there can be beauty, if we can only 'secure the shadow'.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-2971315157040731022011-12-02T01:24:51.398+11:002011-12-02T01:24:51.398+11:00I love the way you blend your library with your en...I love the way you blend your library with your entire life experiences and can understand it. Your quest to find yourself is a tough journey but I hope you reach a place of inner peace for it is a wonderful spot and one need not be dead to be there.<br />How good are you in the languages not native to you?Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMottehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16174142810114806410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-84988694327771491842011-12-01T16:59:13.180+11:002011-12-01T16:59:13.180+11:00Elisabeth thank you so much for sharing the photo ...Elisabeth thank you so much for sharing the photo of your sister.. it is utterly, stunningly beautiful.Jane Lancasterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10698456568767905170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-17594912171885569272011-12-01T16:55:31.366+11:002011-12-01T16:55:31.366+11:00It's lovely to see you here AC, and your kind ...It's lovely to see you here AC, and your kind words have lifted my Down trodden spirits. Thank you.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-6603933048370608722011-12-01T16:54:10.506+11:002011-12-01T16:54:10.506+11:00I recognise that struggle, Robert, to clear the cl...I recognise that struggle, Robert, to clear the clutter and yet to be surrounded by things we love. It's an endless struggle and I'm not sure how I'm going to manage it. <br /><br />I suppose it involves an ongoing process of examining and re-examining what these things mean to us and where we can put them in our homes, our hearts and/or our memories.<br /><br />Thanks, Robert.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-23434925535858208272011-12-01T08:33:08.460+11:002011-12-01T08:33:08.460+11:00Hi Elizabeth, thank you for stopping by my blog an...Hi Elizabeth, thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. It's brought me back to your blog - and I am in awe! I'm looking forward to reading back through all your posts. I found this first one enthralling. How true it is that books can take us wherever we want them to.<br />AndreaAC Quigleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17907785835378009837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-8851079138162667782011-12-01T05:06:56.328+11:002011-12-01T05:06:56.328+11:00My wife and I are now of an age and mind where we ...My wife and I are now of an age and mind where we are wanting to shed the "stuff" that threatens to bury us. The art and family heirlooms are easy, clearly to be kept. But what about the construction paper card sprinkled with glue and glitter given to grandpa with love from the grand child? How am I to discard such a treasure? The truth is, I can't. So I try to decided what else I can do without. It tires me.Robert the Skeptichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10863488312604865183noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-36080924977837587172011-11-30T18:24:02.851+11:002011-11-30T18:24:02.851+11:00Kass, it's so good to hear from you again, and...Kass, it's so good to hear from you again, and I'm cheered that you're back in the blog world. <br /><br />So much water under the bridge since you were last here and now I look forward to re-visiting you. <br /><br />thanks, Kass.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-89418314036422839992011-11-30T05:30:03.465+11:002011-11-30T05:30:03.465+11:00Your bookcase is very inviting. I can't give m...Your bookcase is very inviting. I can't give my books away. It would be like cutting off a leg.<br /><br />That picture of your dead baby sister is so wistful and sad.<br /><br />The William Faulkner speech is very moving. I'm with you on not being able to hold a thought together. <br /><br />I've returned to blogging and I appreciate so much your inquiries into my well-being.Kasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05233330248952156754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-77419687426529202562011-11-29T07:07:39.892+11:002011-11-29T07:07:39.892+11:00Even your comments turn into poetry, erin.
Thank...Even your comments turn into poetry, erin. <br /><br />Thank you for your kind and beautiful words. It's such a pleasure to read your thoughts here. It's strange how the image of a dead baby can cause such mixed feelings, but I have them too, joy and sorrow intermingled.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-44459282000892017682011-11-29T03:32:51.492+11:002011-11-29T03:32:51.492+11:00elisabeth, you have just said everything there is ...elisabeth, you have just said everything there is to know without writing anything at all, but rather by travelling. this is life itself, our movement through it, unbound, unbindable. this post hurts just a little and yet grants freedom that becomes wings.<br /><br />the photograph of your mother's dead baby - what is it? what is it in me that wants me to celebrate? and weep. celebrate and weep.<br /><br />stunning. all of this.<br /><br />xo<br />erinerinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16636371927224076866noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-14666210979408057042011-11-28T20:53:51.996+11:002011-11-28T20:53:51.996+11:00Mary, you are a creature after my own heart. All ...Mary, you are a creature after my own heart. All those books, lugged all over the world, half eaten by silver fish, moldy and bedraggled, but still much loved even at three in the morning.<br /><br />Thanks.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-26653439241379299422011-11-28T20:52:03.320+11:002011-11-28T20:52:03.320+11:00Brake cleaner even on Egyptian cotton would have t...Brake cleaner even on Egyptian cotton would have to reek, Who. I tend to use Nappisan for all my stains, and it works a treat.<br /><br />Thanks again, Dusty WhoElisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-88693731821578198742011-11-28T20:50:07.067+11:002011-11-28T20:50:07.067+11:00Hi Judy, I had it wrong. Now that I check, the ac...Hi Judy, I had it wrong. Now that I check, the actual title of the book to which I refer is 'Secure the shadow: Death and photography in America.'<br /><br />Jay Ruby wrote it in 1995 and it's published by MIT Press, Massachusetts. ISBN: 0-262-18164-9.<br /><br />It's a book filled with beautiful images of people long dead, in the initial stages of death, and one I shall always treasure. <br /><br />Thanks, Judy.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-78144534890185137402011-11-28T20:44:26.301+11:002011-11-28T20:44:26.301+11:00Jim, I trawled through my typed out quotations fro...Jim, I trawled through my typed out quotations from some of GM's letters and found one that might appeal to you. <br /><br />Gerald has given me permission to quote from his letters as long as I acknowledge him and the date of the letter, which in this case is 19 January 2008. <br /><br />Gerald Murnane sees himself as the sort of writer who ‘finds writing a difficult or even a hateful task. That sort of writer, and I’m certainly one of them, doesn’t just sit down and describe the thoughts lying clearly visible on the surface of his or her mind. No, that sort of writer has to search out images and subject matter that lies for most part beneath the surface so to speak. Not only that, but the mind doesn’t like being opened or poked apart or whatever. The mind resists having its inner parts exposed to common view…the same writer stressed the importance of being on good terms with one’s mind so to speak. The idea is not to curse yourself and hate yourself and call yourself a useless, lazy arsehole if your writing is going badly. No, you should treat your mind kindly; you should tempt it or cajole it as you might tempt or cajole a shy bush creature that you want to invite into your front yard or onto your front veranda….those persons who call me a novelist haven’t read my books. Of my eight published books, only three might be called novels. I can’t write novels. I can only write my own sort of fiction, and for more than twenty years past, I wrote only shorter pieces.'<br /><br />As far as I can see, Jim, miscommunication is inevitable in any relationship, even the most well oiled. <br /><br />And yes, as far as self deprecation is concerned, it too, is inevitable but I agree with GM, it's best to avoid it as much as possible. <br /><br />But isn't it fun when we get into our cups, as the saying goes. And to quote an old children's ditty, say to ourselves again and again: <br />'Everybody hates me<br /> Nobody loves me . <br />Think I'll go and eat <br />Some worms.'<br /><br />Thanks again, JimElisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-36355627025729929522011-11-28T17:02:30.587+11:002011-11-28T17:02:30.587+11:00I have dragged my books all around Africa with me...I have dragged my books all around Africa with me for so many years now, The spines of books have disintegrated in the humidity and white ants have chewed up pages., I battled silverfish a whole year. If all my books vanished overnight, I would replace them and go on buying more.<br /><br />There is nothing better than waking at 3am and going to the bookshelf to find an old friend.Mary LAhttp://louisey.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-12535687379000818712011-11-28T14:16:19.890+11:002011-11-28T14:16:19.890+11:00I wouldn't have believed, and I probably would...I wouldn't have believed, and I probably wouldn't have ever tried it had I not seen someone else do it (and it's documented this time) but there is a way that <i>ANY</i> <br />stain can be removed from <i>any</i> garment (for those times when you just can't have even one unclean thing and you cannot get new ones) And I swear to God I am being serious. At least with Egyptian Cotton, brake cleaner will get it out. <br /><br />You just don't want to use it if there is any fabric paint on it as it will tare anything out by the root accept for the original dye the fabric was colored with.whohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17685473418191606910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-30107353998716076562011-11-28T02:20:33.831+11:002011-11-28T02:20:33.831+11:00I will write about Invisible Yet Induring Lilacs, ...I will write about <i>Invisible Yet Induring Lilacs</i>, Lis, but I’m not sure I’m going to go down the review route as such. I’m glad you sent me the book. I’m surprised how much I was aware of and I must check online to see what I can highlight. I know many of Murnane’s eccentricities and proclivities were covered when I reviewed <i>The Plains</i> and I’d rather not repeat myself. Where I think this article will go is a discussion of how hard it can be to communicate to another person what a writer goes through. Murnane has redefined several expressions like ‘winking’ and ‘my mind’ to try and explain but I suspect he’s not done a very good job because despite the care taken in writing much will have been lost in the translation. Anyway I’ll get to work on that in a bit. Not today. Today I’m doing research on <i>Mercier et Camier</i> and the subsequent English translation during which Beckett hacked away at the text.<br /><br />With regard to my assorted paraphernalia I gain no inspiration from any of these things; a little comfort, yes. Were I to focus on some of them they would evoke memories of times past but I rarely look at them that way. The model Batmobile I own is not even the one from the TV series or the films I watched; it’s apparently from one of the cartoons, but it pleases me nevertheless. It’s helpful I find to work in a comfortable setting but to be honest once I’ve begun work everything but the screen and the keyboard in front of me and the thoughts in my head vanishes. I am most definitely enamoured with the mind—I would imagine to much the same degree as Murnane—but I have very little interest in images and so I don’t try and explain how my mind works in terms of a landscape. What kind of landscape would love have? or frustration? or loneliness? These are the things that fascinate me. I use physical things in my poems as metaphors and symbols but I’m not really interested in the superficial reality of the things in themselves. In that respect I think I understand how Murnane looks at images, seeing what’s going on behind the façade. <br /><br />My wife and I often miscommunicate. She asked me a couple of nights ago at bedtime to bring her mobile phone into the bedroom and so that is what I did. What she wanted was for me to take it to her in her office which for a long time was our bedroom until we switched rooms. She asked me what I called that room in my head now and I said, “The tip.” On another night she asked for her glasses and I took her reading glasses into the bedroom; what she was asking was for me to remember to take her wine and water glasses into the kitchen. It never ceases to amaze me how well we get on. Disorder upsets me at the best of time but when I’m brain-fogged and confused I’m especially sensitive to any mess. Carrie is getting a new chair delivered tomorrow—one of those ones that help you stand—and so some of the clutter from the living room is hiding out in my office to give the men room to manoeuvre and you have no idea how much I hate being in my office with all this stuff not in its place but you put up with what you need to put up with.<br /><br />The bird poo washes out fine as long as you don’t leave it too long. If it’s solid then, with a little care and a small piece of kitchen or toilet roll, you can lift it off wherever he’s decided to leave a deposit and that’s that. He used to hang around on my shoulder more than he does these days. Nowadays he prefers to lord it over us in one of his cardboard castles that I construct for him atop his cage. He’s just discovered the joys to be had crawling inside cardboard boxes; quick he is not.<br /><br />And, of course, yes, there is value in your response—there is value in everything you write—I’m not sure why you would doubt that but I can be as self-deprecatory as the next man so I get it.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-79799191545673727332011-11-27T22:16:25.463+11:002011-11-27T22:16:25.463+11:00Your room sounds like my studio...I have a variety...Your room sounds like my studio...I have a variety of items from different faiths: a page from a 15th Century Koran rests underneath an icon from St Donat's Church in Zadar, Croatia; aboriginal art lies beside mala beads from Nepal...and, while our library is not quite as neat as yours, it too overflows with books on a wide variety of topics. One of my biggest anxieties in life is that there is so much out there in books - so much knowledge, so much wisdom - how will I ever find the time to delve into even a minute slice of it all?<br /><br />Do you have an ISBN number for the book your bought from the second hand dealer, called Honour the Shadow? Would appreciate the reference, thanks!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Judy-Croome/e/B00512MXM0/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1" rel="nofollow">Judy, South Africa</a>Judy Croome | @judy_croomehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17455755011354905278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-35671281169173982202011-11-27T17:40:12.082+11:002011-11-27T17:40:12.082+11:00An electronic tablet in flight must be some comfor...An electronic tablet in flight must be some comfort Christine, though as you suggest, it's not quite the same as a settled library.<br /><br />Happy traveling. I look forward to hearing about your trip, your adventures and explorations on your return. You're going to the Tavistock? Is that right? If so, lucky lucky you.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-53480761196010485352011-11-27T17:37:33.857+11:002011-11-27T17:37:33.857+11:00You always put things so beautifully, Steven, in a...You always put things so beautifully, Steven, in a Zen-like way that I find comforting and consolidating. <br /><br />I've told you already I think, how your words feature in my thesis, where I write about the nature of blogging, with due attribution to you, of course. <br /><br />Your notion of blogging as 'a call and response' is one that appeals to me enormously. <br /><br />We connect with one another and it tethers us to this life, however much it is only temporary. And such connections can help us to cope with the loneliness that is part of the human condition, or so I reckon.<br /><br />Thanks again, Steven.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28133718.post-66827555631327057352011-11-27T17:30:26.941+11:002011-11-27T17:30:26.941+11:00Marlon Brando's is a good question for when we...Marlon Brando's is a good question for when we are about to die, Kirk: What was it all about? <br /><br />As for bookshelves and their significance as telling so much about people, when I first met my husband I remember looking at his bookshelf and wondering what it might mean that he had a copy of Masters and Johnson's, The Human Sexual Response, or some such title. You might remember this book, a classic in its time. Wow I thought this man has a mind and a body.<br /><br />Thanks, Kirk.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.com