Monday, February 22, 2010

Three Beautiful Things 02/21/10: Writing While Sick, Whitworth Goodness, Lance at Fisherman's Market

1. I'm sick. When I'm sick, it's best for me to let paper grading and other school stuff go, put it aside. So, to give myself some pleasure, I wrote three blog pieces, all of them assignments given by my sister, Silver Valley Girl. I don't know if was medicinal, but it sure felt good to write out thoughts and some ways I feel about ties I have: the ties in my marriage, my ties back to Spokane, and my ties back to North Idaho College through my renewed friendship with Jane Eischen. You can find these posts here, here, and here.

2. One of those pieces, "Tied to Spokane" resulted in a one of the best online discussions, on Facebook, I ever participated in as the three former students I wrote about, Bill, Colette, and Bridgit wrote responses to my piece and then the Whitworth world expanded and Val chimed in, Bill's wife (a PLU grad), Diane, added her thoughts, and Kristen magically appeared. I wish that thread would stay alive, keep going, for a long time. It is charged with goodness, honesty, insight, poetry, and, did I mention, goodness. No manufactured cleverness, just good, honest, supportive discussion of life, divorce, and poetry, all within the framework of the days we enjoyed so much at Whitworth College (now University).

3. I went down to Fisherman's Market to get some clam strips and chips for the Deke and shrimp and chips for me. Lance was seated at a table, reading Ellery Queen, and I he kindly let me intrude on his solitude and we had a good conversation. I enjoyed what he had to say about the book, Corelli's Mandolin. (The food, however, was deeply disappointing. The fish was overcooked, the fries were dry, the cole slaw tasted old and I was up at about 1 a.m. vomiting the whole meal.)

No comments: