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Wednesday, March 15th, 2006
Yesterday I started reading the stories in Close Range by Annie Proulx. This will bring my Proulx-reading arc full circle in a way, since I got interested in her by reading "Brokeback Mountain", which is in this book, and the first book I read was Bad Dirt, to which this is sort of a sequel. My early reaction to the book is that the stories are good, but don't blow me away in the same way that the stories in Bad Dirt did -- with those there was a sense of immediacy and freshness that I'm not getting as much here. But that may be because I know what to expect a little better. Also I am missing the thread of connection which was one of my favorite features of Bad Dirt -- at least half the stories there had characters and setting in common, whereas here all that seems to be shared is that the stories occur in Wyoming or feature characters from Wyoming.
posted evening of March 15th, 2006: Respond
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Sunday, March 12th, 2006
Today I played "Shine on" blues, by Big Bill Broonzy, with Bob and Dave. It was the first time I have ever really been satisfied with my fiddle playing on a blues piece. I think also that I could play and sing this song, once I learn the lyrics.
posted evening of March 12th, 2006: Respond
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Monday, March 6th, 2006
My current reread of V. is officially over, bogged down in the course of reading about Fausto Maijstral. Over the course of this chapter my relationship to the book went from loving it, to sweating my way through and hoping that the next chapter would be easier going, to reading the sentences for sound with no comprehension. I put a bookmark in on Thursday and haven't picked it up since. So, better luck next time through.
posted evening of March 6th, 2006: Respond
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Monday, February 27th, 2006
Lots of good V. stuff from last February at Josh Blog.
posted morning of February 27th, 2006: Respond
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A question: are the dreams of 1904 which Mondaugen undergoes at Foppl's Siege Party, based on experiences that Foppl had in 1904? Or is that even what's going on? The story switches out from what's happening to Mondaugen, into the dreams -- there's no direct statement that Mondaugen is the dreamer, and there are constructions like "Firelily's rider" to keep him masked -- but I'm pretty sure it is Mondaugen. Ad first I thought the experiences were Godolphin's, but now I don't think that would make as much sense as if they were Foppl's. Update: Yes, the dreamer is definitely Mondaugen -- I found this passage at HyperArts: "His horse drowsed and collected dew while Mondaugen squirmed on the seat, trying to control anger, confusion, petulance; and below the farthest verge of the Kalahari, that vast death, the tardy sun mocked him."
posted morning of February 27th, 2006: Respond
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Tuesday, February 21st, 2006
I left this comment to Roy's fine post on reading Swann's Way: Here's a thought: many of the very best books I have read, I have come to in the same way that you came to Swann's Way (which I have not read or even made any serious attemt to) -- as Everests to be clumb, as adversaries to be bested. With all of them that I consider "very best books", there was a metamorphosis at some point, where the reading project turned into something my heart was really in, that I was really enjoying. Frequently I have given up on a book halfway through because this metamorphosis has not yet occurred; and frequently I have gone back to the book in question years later, and found that I enjoyed reading it -- sometimes this has taken multiple cycles of putting it down and coming back to it. Books that I finish without ever feeling like I was digging it, I'm pretty unlikely to go back to. And even as I typed it I knew I was proving myself wrong -- I am now rereading Pynchon's V., a book which I slogged through to the end of despite losing the thread of, and -- well: I started the reread last week, and early in the book I remembered how my reaction when I was first reading it was, the storyline set in the present tense, featuring Benny Profane, is a lot of fun though not particularly substantial; and the storyline set in the past, featuring the elder Stencil and any number of other oddball characters, is totally mystifying. And I felt all set to recapitulate that experience of the book when I read the chapter set in Egypt and could not understand what was going on. But as of this evening's reading (the chapter set in Florence) I have gotten in the groove and am loving the book. (It was kind of cool to be reading the scenes in and around Florentine landmarks, after a few nights ago Sylvia and I were reading her children's tour of Florence book, which we bought while we were there this summer. Also: Florence is where I started playing with yo-yos!)
posted evening of February 21st, 2006: Respond
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Saturday, February 18th, 2006
Some friends were over this afternoon, among them Eileen Eliot, who recently learned "Keep your lamps trimmed and burning" (the Hot Tuna version) from tablature. I was interested because I learned the song a few years ago in the only Woody Mann workshop I ever took, and promptly forgot it. So Eileen showed me the fingerings a couple of times through, and handed me my guitar. I surprised myself by playing a pretty recognizable version straight off the bat, but in first position rather than the fingerings Eileen had been showing me. I was pretty happy about being able to shift it into first position so easily -- it made me feel like I understood the music pretty well -- I have always preferred to play in first position rather than learning new finger positions and playing up the neck. And, "Keep your lamps" turns out to be a totally addictive tune to play on fiddle. I was whistling it all evening after Eileen showed it to me, and I finally picked up my fiddle to try it out, and the notes just rolled off my bow.
posted evening of February 18th, 2006: Respond
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Sunday, February 12th, 2006
My brother just started a new blog! It is, Better than the Rest(aurant).
posted evening of February 12th, 2006: Respond
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Tuesday, February 7th, 2006
This evening I played the version of "John Hardy was a Desperate Man" I'd been thinking about all day, and it was really nice, for a first attempt. I wasn't able to do some of the fast, trilling variations I had been thinking about, and didn't have the vocals integrated into the song very well; but I did have a nice degree of variety between each repetition of the verse. And I actually played a couple of verses in second position, without it sounding awful!
posted evening of February 7th, 2006: Respond
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I woke up this morning singing "John Hardy was a Desperate Little Man" and it's been with me all morning. I was singing it on the street as I walked to work. And wow! I think I have come up with a harmony to it, which I will be able to play on my fiddle, simple with interesting variations. If this works out (I will try it when I get home, hope it stays in my head that long), it will be the first song that I know an actual fiddle part to rather than just playing the melody with ornamentation.
posted morning of February 7th, 2006: Respond
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