Heard By a Bird: July 25
Sparrow
July 25, 2008 "The Cubist painters sadly neglected the banjo."
- Clive Bell
A Letter
Dearest Sparrow:
A new book entitled Can't Remember What I Forgot: The Good News from the Front Lines of Memory Research by Sue Halpern says the secrets to improving your memory are 1) prayer, 2) meditation and 3) blueberries.
I thought your absent-minded readers might wish to know.
"Mr. Reddy"
Othello Eaten
"My Uncle Thomas had so many mice, they ate some of his books," Clinton Tugger recalls. "Once I was reading his copy of Othello, and there was a giant hole in the second act, right after Cassio says: 'Thanks, you the valiant of this warlike isle,/That so approve the Moor!'"
Overheard at the Sportsman's (in Phoenicia):
"Being a drummer raises your blood pressure, no doubt about it!"
Car-kissing
"When I was a teen, we would maneuver two cars face to face, so their bumpers touched," recalls Ilya Barnes. "It was called car-kissing. Some of us became quite talented at the automotive kiss."
Bumper sticker:
GOD IS
MY CO-PIRATE
Child Night
"Some nights are for children, not adults," says Frank Pommer. "Tuesday, for example, is a child night."
T-shirt slogan:
"We're living in a Global Village, and George W. Bush is the Global Village Idiot."
Shandaken Poetry Research
A Dilemma
Should I eat
a salad or chew
green bubblegum?
- Alice B.
Ellipsis
The ellipsis
in this
poem
is...
purely
arbitrary.
- Perry Gimiss
A Second Letter
Dear Sparrow:
I was at Artist's Rock above North-South Lake today, when a geology field trip arrived. I listened in, and discovered two surprising facts:
1) The Catskills are not really mountains; they're actually a "dissected plateau."
2) A hundred years ago, there were 120 brickyards along the Hudson. They shipped their bricks on barges to Manhattan. "New York City is literally built from the mud of the Hudson River."
3) Florida was originally a piece of Africa.
Flo Reilly
A Pickup Bar
"You know, here in Shandaken a 'pickup bar' is a tavern with a lot of pickup trucks in front of it," Old Bill Snaret told me.
Acidulated Salad
"I love the word 'acidulate,'" explains Leslie Tormer. "It means 'to make slightly acid.'"
1 oz. arugula
1 oz. crisphead lettuce
2 radishes, sliced
1 Tbs lemon juice
"On top of this, you may add your own dressing," Leslie advises.
Bumper sticker:
I'M SICK OF THE WAR ON TERROR --
LET'S HAVE A WAR ON HUBRIS!
Dog Photography
"I've taught my dog Tyke to take photographs," said Priscilla Geed. "It's quite easy -- she just rests her muzzle on the button."
"What do the photos look like?" I wondered.
"They're usually slightly out of focus close-ups," replied Priscilla. "Most are pictures of the ground: twigs, stones, grass. They're literal, unsentimental. They look like they were taken by a half-enlightened Zen Buddhist."
Bumper sticker:
I MAY BE A TERRIBLE DRIVER
BUT I'M EXCELLENT AT SCRABBLE
Warbler Critique
"One of the warblers behind my house is tone deaf," observes composer Chet Gemmler.
Did you see the cloud shaped like Napoleon's horse Marengo over Pine Hill last Wednesday?
Tags: Sparrow , Phoenicia , Heard , Bird , Poet
