Saturday, January 13, 2007
5:06 PM
back to school
(The grey building with the red tower is the English department, in winter)So the first week of winter term classes just ended, and I'm excited about getting into the rhythm of work again, after being lazy and winter-mopey for weeks. Last Tuesday, I had my first (free!) beer of the term with three Creative Writing buddies after class -- and Helen told us funny stories about a couple of writers she knows who spent 3-4 months in the wilds of Alberta to be forest fire-watchers while working on their respective novels. Daniel and I contemplated this career option, and he promised me Bloody Caesars during his launch/reading on Thursday for sending copies of his poetry book, Predicting the Next Big Advertising Breakthrough Using a Potentially Dangerous Method, to the Philippines. At the launch, I got to talk to poet Don McKay, who graciously allowed me to join the poetry writing seminar he's conducting as part of his Writer-in-Residence job.
(This is the same view of the English Department, in summer)For my Limits of Attention class, we're going to read from Pound's Cantos, Ginsberg's Collected Poems, Ashbery's Flow Chart, and Stein's Making of Americans to...umm...test the limits of our attention, and pay attention to the encyclopedic impulse of these poets. And for my Postcolonial Lit and the World on Paper class, we're going to read at least 9 interesting novels by Achebe, Soyinka, Naipul, Brodber, Danticat, Ondaatje, Marechera, Vladislavic, and Kincaid. Looks like the next 12 weeks of the term are going to be reading-heavy. Here we go!
==> And this is Robarts Library, where I borrow most of my books. Looking at this picture cheers me up -- how can you not admire the talent and humor of an architect who designs a major library in the shape of a turkey/peacock?
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On another note, I've been thinking about how amazed I am when encountering generosity in others. How generosity has less to do with class and resources, and more to do with spirit -- and how the experience of it inspires the recipient to be generous in turn. Generosity has gifted me with Calvino's Hermit in Paris and Auster's The Red Notebook. Generosity has allowed me to borrow and to share Wong Kar Wai's Chungking Express. Generosity has baked me fish and made me salads and left me milk in the fridge. Generosity had me running around different shops in search of the perfect journal. Generosity shakes the cobwebs from childhood stories, reawakens the fingers' talent for backrubs, and lets you sleep in just a few minutes longer on a lazy Saturday morning.
Labels: books, love, school
