Amadeo Modigliani and Charlie Parker
There were several Tarzans,
several James Bonds, but there was
only one
Lash LaRue, or Sunset Carson.
Don't call me Sunset, my name is Kit.
There were
even several Creatures From
the Black Lagoon, but there was only one
Art "Home"
Brew, compare art brut.
Black McGoon and Hylobates Lar,
an organ-grinder
and an organ-grinder's monkey,
dressed up like Amadeo Modigliani and Charlie Parker,
white
silk scarf and Latin Quarter hat meets 3D glasses
up on his head, one green lens
and one red.
CRS
I asked Brenda what Steve Gulley's uncle's name was and she said, "Poke."
"P. O. L. K?" I asked.
She said, "It could be Poke. Like poke
salad."
I told her the story about Uncle Poke and the wino.
She said, "No, you got it wrong. You can't remember a story."
She
said Uncle Poke and a buddy saw a wino with a sign saying, "Will work for food."
They'd never seen such a sign before. He looked beat. They took pity on him.
They pulled over and gave him $5. As they were driving away, Uncle Poke looked in
the rear view mirror and saw the wino sprinting across the road to the liquor
store.
"The next day, they pulled over and opened the car door and he
got in and said, `Where are we going?' They took him way out into the country and
worked him hard all day, at a sawmill. Then they gave him something to eat.
"He said, `I ain't eatin' that shit.'
"They said, `You'll eat it
or take a lickin.'
"They let him off and he was never seen again. He
was seen across the river, in another state."
"Oh, yea," I
said.
She said, "You're back in there writing stories, and getting them
wrong. The next time you put a story in, check with me."
I wonder if
Lash LaRue's wife criticized his whip work.
Did the uncredited stunt double
for the Creature From the Black Lagoon have a little creature wife who knew his business
better than he did?
Some stories Brenda tells wrong.
It takes the
two of us to tell a story.
Correcting each other.
A narrator thinks
he's reliable.
A narrator has to think he's reliable. Or think it doesn't
matter.
You don't want to shake his confidence in himself.
You're
messing with the goose that laid the golden egg.
Schedule
Q: How's it going?
A: Okay.
Last week, I was looking forward to going to Tallahassee.
I went.
I wasn't thinking about the homegrown powwow, then. Now I am.
I outlined some topic headings to cover between then and now. In an order.
I add to it, as things occur to me.
I have time to write it.
I don't
have to go on a book tour, or go to work in DeFuniak Springs, or look for a job at
the state employment center.
I am using my time productively.
I'm
quitting coffee this week. I have a headache. But that will pass.
Q: Are you exercising?
A: I ride my bike to the post office and go for a walk after supper.
Q: Do you think this will last forever?
A: It will last for this book.
I see a way to finish this book.
Q: Henry Miller wrote Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, and
Black Spring.
Céline wrote Castle to Castle, Rigadoon, and North.
A: Frederick Exley wrote A Fan's Notes, Pages From a Cold Island,
and Last Notes From Home.
I started to read A Fan's Notes and
didn't like it.
I read Pages From a Cold Island, liked it, went back
and tried A Fan's Notes again, and liked it.
All you can do is write
them.
I like putting in something about the circumstances they were written
in. The context.
But other writers don't do that.
And my perception
of the circumstances changes.
Q: The devil's in the details.
A: I used to remember the details better.
Dodd Hall has a sign
over the portal. The Half of Knowledge is Knowing Where To Find Knowledge.
If I forget something, I can usually look it up.
I rely more on lists.
I'm glad I made a catalogue raisonné of the books of my stack, for example.
Memory is important. Imagination is important. Observation is important. Going and
seeing for yourself.
Seeing patterns is important. Seeing anomalies. Irregularities.
Having a knowledge base to put them in.
It takes time to acquire wisdom.
And then things begin slowly to unravel.
The mental skills begin to slip
and wear.
Q: When I finally got my shit together I couldn't lift it.
A: Yes. But one man's albatross is another man's objective reality. His
world-view.
That can change.
If the situation you are in doesn't
change, you might not be able to see your situation clearly, see your options, you
might repeat the same mistakes.
Also, if your situation does change, what
was a mistake, in your old circumstances, might be adaptive, in the new. You might
flourish, radiate. Effloresce.
Like adding oxygen to a fire. It burns brighter.
Too little oxygen and it goes out.