Singing our own songs

Anita at Chantlady learns to sing writes about finding your own song, cuing off a post by Denny at Book of Life who says, “In my experience, most people are singing someone else’s song.” Anita quotes a speech from the play, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. See the whole passage – these are just the final lines:

…Then I was the song in search of itself. That song rattling in my throat and I'm looking for it. See, Mr. Loomis, when a man forgets his song he goes off in search of it ... till he find out he's got it with him all the time.

It reminded me of today’s National Poetry Month “poet’s pick,” Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.” Here are the final lines, about experiencing things for yourself:

Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of

   all poems,

You shall possess the good of the earth and sun. . . . there are

   millions of suns left,

You shall no longer take things at second or third hand . . . . nor

   look through the eyes of the dead. . . . nor feed on the spectres

   in books,

You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,

You shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself.

Anita also posted about time and how we rush distractedly through our lives. She writes of a new manager who sets up meetings to get to know her employees but is so distracted when she meets with them that she may as well not be there. I’ve had recent discussions along a similar vein, how it’s not often enough that you get to have conversations where there’s enough time and space to let ideas drift up and get considered and batted around. It seems these days you have to have your wits about you to make your point in sound bites or else talk about unimportant things that can be easily interrupted and forgotten. Maybe that’s why many of us write our blogs, so we can let our thoughts take shape and to “sing our own songs” as Denny puts it.

My idea is it must be different in Europe, where you have a month off every summer to slow your pace down and you take two hours to eat your main meal instead of 15 minutes in front of the TV or at your desk. (Is this still the case in Europe, or have I seen too many movies?) You’d have to have some good conversations with people then, wouldn’t you? Is our society better for all our rushing around? Are we happier?

I wonder if this extended economic slump has changed anything or will change anything. You read about people who have had to downsize and find out they like not being in the rat race. Then there are those who are lucky to have jobs but are burning out doing the work of three or four people. It's predicted that when the economy turns around there will be a huge surge of job-changing. Curt at Occupational Adventure will be happy to help.

10:48:07 PM      trackback [] 

Cooking in Spanish

You’d think the fact that I love to cook and that I’m learning Spanish would have converged by now. But no, the words for foods and cooking utensils have mostly escaped me. In today’s “Monday mornings with mate” (mañanas de lunes con mate) session, Maddy was describing how she cooks her chili pie, so Sandra decided we needed a lesson on cookware. Here are a few:

sartén = frying pan

fuente (de horno) = cooking dish (what you’d bake brownies in)

cacerola = saucepan or pot

asadera = a pan for roasting (asar, asado)

pizzera = pizza pan

bistequera = a grill pan (for bistec, steak)

ensaladera = a salad bowl

colador = a strainer
espumadera = a slotted spoon, skimmer

Of course some of what I learned may be Argentine terms – or even what Sandra’s family happens to call things, for that matter. In my family, a colander is known as a “spaghetti-stop water-go-through thing,” named after some hapless foreigner my father once worked with (I completely sympathize with the coiner of that term, now that I’m stumbling along in bad Spanish).

Remembering the terms is another challenge, of course. I think I should use the example of a former co-worker who moved to Geneva. While preparing to move, he had little sticky notes with the corresponding French names stuck to everything in his house. I will not be able to use my wooden cooking spoon without removing the sticky saying “cuchara de madera” from it.

Next I will have to learn the names of ingredients (cebollas, ajo, jengibre...).

Update:

Ernesto writes “¡Deberíamos organizar una sesión culinaria!” ¡Que buena idea! ¿Pero como por Internet? Ay, quizás podrías enviarme tu receta favorita y yo trataría traducirla y cocinarla. Y tu tambien deberías cocinar la misma receta en la misma noche. ¡Brindaría mi botella de Corona a ti! ¿Qué te parece? Quizás otras personas les gustaría participar con nosotros.

3:28:50 PM      trackback [] 

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. I found out about it through Poetry Daily’s newsletter, which this month features a daily “poet’s pick” – a number of poets pick their favorite poems and comment on them. Today’s “pick” was Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” from Leaves of Grass. You can read the poem along with poet David Clewell’s comments here. It’s a wonderful poem for spring, reminding me I’ve been shut indoors far too long.

The Academy of American Poets lists seven goals for National Poetry Month:

1. To highlight the extraordinary legacy and ongoing achievement of American poets
2. To introduce more Americans to the pleasures of reading poetry
3. To bring poets and poetry to the public in immediate and innovative ways
4. To make poetry a more important part of the school curriculum
5. To increase the attention paid to poetry by national and local media
6. To encourage increased publication, distribution, and sales of poetry books
7. To increase public and private philanthropic support for poets and poetry

See the website of the Academy of American Poets for info and resources, including an almanac of 30 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month.

2:25:42 PM      trackback []