last night, my lovely and amazing friend michelle took me to see a lecture by the author of "reading lolita in tehran". (side note: a perk of the big ten/research one institution). mind you, i haven't yet read the book (tho i did buy it and have it signed for Little One last night)but the talk was beautiful. by beautiful i mean full of the ideas and ideals i hold to: that literature isn't an escape or a bobby, or something you "splurge" your time on, it is a vital part of our lives and our democracy and, indeed, what is wrong with the world is a direct outgrowth of this notion that literature/art/poetry is something only for elites, is a luxury. (aside: you know i am an elitist--let me clarify: i think everyone should read poetry, fiction, etc. i don't think everyone is qualified to write.) one of the author's central points is that to lose touch with our ability to imagine another world, to hear another voice, leads to the loss of imagination, knowledge, and empathy. i am not doing her justice.
suffice to say i took notes on every piece of paper i had in my purse, and it was just fantastic to share a nerdy night out with michelle, who really appreciates that i threw away my sandals before buying new ones and so was wearing socks and tennis shoes with a skirt, was buying my 2 year old "reading lolita in tehran" for us to read together, was taking notes on my planner "notes" page and then on every open space of the month of august...and didn't laugh at me:) i've had a wors-filled week: tim and i visited sunday night to talk about the "problem of poetry" (remind me and i'll blog on this within the week", then lecture fun time with michelle last night, and finally back to dw's this saturday for workshop. to top it all off, i actually started a few drafts while sitting in the auditorium.
pretty good week. i'm lucky:)
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