I went to a bookshop to use the $50 voucher I won from a short story competition. There is something special about being in a bookshop. Browsing, feeling, leafing, smelling, deciding.
Except, I couldn't decide. Around and around and around I walked, desperately trying to find the exact book that would help, fix, save me. Nada. Obviously there were plenty but the shop started to smell like fart and the music was too loud and people kept bumping into me. Even the boys got bored, and they love bookshops too.
Then I had a brainwave. Found the exact book I wanted, and brought it home.
During dinner I made the announcement.
"Ok you guys. I bought a book. But it's not just ANY book, it's the MASTER book. It's a book that makes all of the other books possible. Can you guess what it is?"
Nobody guessed it. I pointed to the kitchen bench.
"This is where it lives now. It's a book for all of us. When you walk past it I want you to pick it up and learn something from it. Read it out. Tell us about it."
When I was a kid we had this huge green dictionary and I used to look up words just for the sake of it. I'd look up the word "fuck" and sit there and couldn't believe that the word "fuck" was in the dictionary, so rude!
During dinner the other night we started this new game where somebody opens the dictionary, reads out a word, and everybody else has to guess what the word means. Phoebe Rose started us off with the brilliant "Zoroastrianism."
We all took turns pronouncing it. Dave tried to cheat by telling it to Siri but Siri didn't understand. Finally Phoebe told us the meaning.
"A strongly ethical code which teaches a continuous struggle between Good (Ormazd) and Evil (Angra Mainyu."
Hell yes! Along with my fuckups and bad genes, I want to pass my love of words to my children. Rocco chose the word "taxation" but he pronounced like a little Frenchman. "Taxa-cion." He then proceeded to read words like triumphant and industry without missing a beat, while we sat there with our mouths open. Dave and Max took turns, both trying to choose the hardest, most unguessable words.
We had the best fun with that book.
I'm working on some words today because I'm entering a poetry slam tonight. My first ever. It feels like I was born to be slam poet. It also feels relieving to work on something constructive in the middle of an awful week. I'm doing it so tough right now and there is no respite or relief, I wake up in the middle of the night crying and I cry in my dreams, cry during breakfast. I'm highly distressed, and I'm hoping that to put words to my grief and then perform them like art will help, even just a little.
Except, I couldn't decide. Around and around and around I walked, desperately trying to find the exact book that would help, fix, save me. Nada. Obviously there were plenty but the shop started to smell like fart and the music was too loud and people kept bumping into me. Even the boys got bored, and they love bookshops too.
Then I had a brainwave. Found the exact book I wanted, and brought it home.
During dinner I made the announcement.
"Ok you guys. I bought a book. But it's not just ANY book, it's the MASTER book. It's a book that makes all of the other books possible. Can you guess what it is?"
Nobody guessed it. I pointed to the kitchen bench.
"This is where it lives now. It's a book for all of us. When you walk past it I want you to pick it up and learn something from it. Read it out. Tell us about it."
During dinner the other night we started this new game where somebody opens the dictionary, reads out a word, and everybody else has to guess what the word means. Phoebe Rose started us off with the brilliant "Zoroastrianism."
We all took turns pronouncing it. Dave tried to cheat by telling it to Siri but Siri didn't understand. Finally Phoebe told us the meaning.
"A strongly ethical code which teaches a continuous struggle between Good (Ormazd) and Evil (Angra Mainyu."
Hell yes! Along with my fuckups and bad genes, I want to pass my love of words to my children. Rocco chose the word "taxation" but he pronounced like a little Frenchman. "Taxa-cion." He then proceeded to read words like triumphant and industry without missing a beat, while we sat there with our mouths open. Dave and Max took turns, both trying to choose the hardest, most unguessable words.
We had the best fun with that book.
I'm working on some words today because I'm entering a poetry slam tonight. My first ever. It feels like I was born to be slam poet. It also feels relieving to work on something constructive in the middle of an awful week. I'm doing it so tough right now and there is no respite or relief, I wake up in the middle of the night crying and I cry in my dreams, cry during breakfast. I'm highly distressed, and I'm hoping that to put words to my grief and then perform them like art will help, even just a little.
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Write to be understood, speak to be heard. - Lawrence Powell