Wednesday, April 09, 2008

:i’m a pitbull in time*:

I always cruise by the Freedom Shop in the Left Bank on Cuba Street when I’m in Wellington, because they have the best patches for really cheap, like a dollar or two. (I’ve been wearing patches since my teenage punk days and can’t seem to break the habit.) This one is my favourite (gold paint, no less!) so I attached it to my needlebook, rather than some skirt or bag that I’d wear out or tire of. It’s so non-specific, yet so wonderfully imperative - like, “yeah! fight it! fight the bastards! fight yourself! your baser impulses, your shitty side! fight the power! fight the oppression! fight the coffee stain in your favourite jeans. Graaawrr!”

I’m in a fighting mood. Working and listening to Interpol very loud. (Do any of you guys like to hear about other people’s music obsessions? I absolutely do.) I was crazy for Interpol when they first appeared - then overplayed their records and started to feel like they were everywhere and like I was over it...but this week I am big time back in love with the ‘Antics’ album, especially the songs ‘evil’ and ’not even jail’. The drums! The crunchy guitars! The ridiculous yet compelling lyrics!

“I will bounce you on the lap of silence
We will free love to the beats of science”

???

but I do love the line:
“You’re making peoples’ lives feel less private” -

because this is what writers try to do - to get under people’s skin, to draw them in to some common experience.

Can you tell I am in a weird mood?

I’ve been trying to write good poems, poems that I can be proud and excited about - and ending up writing crap, saying all the stuff I’ve already said before and not meeting that sunny vision of how my work could be - that oasis of the publishable, the notable, the attention-grabbing. I feel so very frustrated and I wish I was cleverer and brighter and braver and generally, more astonishing.

But then, who reads poetry anyway? It would be a big mistake to take any of this too seriously. Fight back.

(*another odd Interpol line)

Graaawrr!!!!
Great post, I feel like this A LOT!

I read poetry. Keep it up!

I definitely read poetry. Write it. Put it here. Mail it to me. I’m in a fighting mood too! RAAAR!

That’s a powerful sentiment alright.

My favourite song lyric at the moment is -

“things are shaping up to be pretty odd”

I think that describes my entire engagement with the world right now. It’s perhaps more interesting that things being pretty bland? Just maybe.

I love your poems. I want more…

xx

That;’s a powerful sentiment alright.

My fav song lyric at the moment is -

‘things are shaping up to be pretty odd’

which seems to describe my engagement with the entire world right now. Better, perhaps, than being bland? Just maybe?

I want more of your poetry and your writings…

xx

Thanks for this - if I was good at throwing then Left Bank would be a stones throw from work. It’s been such a busy week and my treat today (when someone returns to mind the office) is going there to look over the patches. Didn’t even know it existed!

Next entry: :stripy sock photo of the week:

Previous entry: :'fabric show-off' doll: