Sunday Sunday Seven

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Errata And Other Word Related Words

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Someone got to my blog yesterday by searching the lyrics "I am high above the altar". This blog is the only result that comes up if you do it that way in quotes. It was in a post of lyric quotes. I did the quote from my head (and it seems someone out there heard and remembered it the same as me). The actual quote is "I am high upon the altar." I regret any inconvenience caused by the mistake.

The following is a popular tongue twister used by actors to warm up and practice elocution. I learned it in an acting class. The teacher said she used this in order to practice pronunciation, but for a different reason as well. We learned it in pieces over time, and the point was to show us how manageable it can be to memorize difficult lines.

It's from Merrie England a 1902 comic opera by Edward German which was filled with wordplay.

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What a to-do to die today, at a minute or two to two;
a thing distinctly hard to say, but harder still to do.
We'll beat a tattoo, at twenty to two
a rat-tat-tat- tat-tat-tat- tat-tat-tattoo
and the dragon will come when he hears the drum
at a minute or two to two today, at a minute or two to two.

Wordplay brings to mind this "Nonsense Song". Posting this poem prompted an email response from a reader who wrote about remembering this song/lullaby from his childhood. That reader recently passed a remark about my spelling. I've said it before and reiterate. I work hard to get spelling and other grammatical and editorial concerns right. If you see something say something - to me. Please comment or email me directly and specifically so I can correct errors.

Join this blog's team. Correct errata. Post comments. Contribute posts. Solve mysteries. Share your publishing related acumen.

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On Teaching

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Not that many years ago a teachers' (and a sitcom's, but that's a whole other post - seriously) role was to convey an approach to life, which included courage, courtesy, bravery, loyalty, and love.

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The following poem was given to my mother at graduation. The woman who wrote this was a science teacher. My mother rightfully cherishes this memento which speaks of country but wasn't written by a History teacher, which speaks of bravery but wasn't written by a life coach, which speaks of G-d but wasn't written by a clergyman ; this poem, which was written by the teacher who wasn't a poet, backed on cardboard by the teacher who wasn't an artist, presented dramatically by the teacher who wasn't an actress, given to each student individually by the teacher who wasn't a social worker. Miss Kenny viewed herself as a teacher, which ideally includes all that's included in her poem.

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Today this poem would fall somewhere between pretentious and weird to compose and present a poem like this. Who talks like this today? Who writes poems like this gives them to others? This was what a teacher once was, what a teacher is meant to be.

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..........My Coronet

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If I in my daily contact

....... Of school days spent with you

Have taught you

.......To live content with small means,

To seek elegance rather than luxury,

.......Refinement rather than fashion,

To be most worthy and respectable,

.......To study hard, talk gently and act

......................frankly,

To listen with open mind and heart

.......And grow up to be all that you should:

Cheerful, brave, and true

.......To G-d, home, and country;

Then I shall have completed

.......The setting of another tiny jewel, with

..................care

Into the crown of my life work.

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FRANCES G.V. KENNY

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On Writing

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I think I'd like to teach writing. I am extremely pleased that others have started writing poetry, particularly haiku,under the influence of me and my blog. I believe in poetry. I believe that it is part of being spiritual, and part of being human.

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An older Y.U. musmach once shared with me the take of an old and famously sharp YU Rebbe on poetry. He described a beautiful forest and a perfect sky, birds chirping and flowers all around, a path that winds until it finally ends at a magnificent pond. According to this rabbi - who is a poet? A poet (he named a name) is someone who stand be in the middle of this scene and think that he is the great center of the picture as he stands and urinates.

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I disagree with that view in both content and form. And I believe that G-d does too, and that G-d passed on a poetic tradition, a song that we call Torah. Not all poetry is Torah, but I think all Torah is poetic. And I think that poetry enhances and even saves lives.

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Some people say that reading and writing poetry is not for them. Well, I say that exercise is not for me. Recently someone told me that I should do push ups and I said I can't. He told me to get down and try. I did two or three. He told me that if I did that small amount (which was infinitely more than I admitted to being capable of) for a week I'd then be able to do more. True. I have, with my own soul, seen people write one haiku and realize what they can do.

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The other day I found myself on the L.I.R.R. next to a young man with a Mead notebook. He was working on his novel by very slowly writing a few words and rereading and rewriting and then thinking a lot more. I asked if he heard of the approach of my teacher, the approach of throwing up on the page. He said he was taught that but couldn't do it. I say it's like exercise, just write as much as you can - and then next time write more. Eventually you'll write a lot without even breaking a sweat.

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Upcoming blogposts brewing: How my father has influenced the way I teach, write , speak, Tracy Kidder and Me, My Life As An Improviser, and more. Please G-d.

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