I miss the dial tone...
+ gratitude for Alice Munro ++ obsessions, crispy rice, and a novel that spans 100 years
I love it when you:
hey-ho,
First I noticed the bodies on the floor, next I took in the light; green and blue squiggles roiling across the ceiling which I suppose were meant to create an aura of mysticism. All I could think of was brain worms. We gingerly stepped around supine people, crossing the dim room to claim side-by-side mats in the back corner.
My husband and I were at a sound bath! I know, I love that for us.
I also love the hum of crystal bowls and there were at least ten, set in a half-circle, glowing like moon rocks, along with two gongs, chimes, singing brass bowls, and a slight woman dressed in many shades of mulch. We built ourselves a couple of nests, settling in for 90 minutes of relaxation. And, relaxation was attained, with interruptions—a snoring man, the hammering from someone on the floor below us, perhaps hanging art? Plus my realization that the sound washing over me was not dissimilar to a dial tone and then some thoughts about landlines and busy signals and how fabulous Meryl Streep is. And then I dozed and woke and dozed and woke again, this time to the woman in brown tinkling a delicate chime up and down my body and it felt so incredibly kind.
I’m here to say, we slept like innocents in our bed that night. Yet we made a pact we would only visit another sound bath in a mystical location.
Speaking of sound that changes our molecules. I’ve got this song on repeat.
read:
We lost Alice Munro this week. She meant the world to me, as a girl, woman, mother, wife, writer, she made me feel seen. She made me feel human in my sorrows and in the bright spots as well. Her women were unabashedly themselves and isn’t that what we all wish for our sisters, mothers, daughters, friends, and ourselves. In her Nobel Prize acceptance interview, Munro said:
I never thought of myself as anything but a woman. . . . When I was a young girl, I had no feeling of inferiority at all for being a woman. And this may have been because I lived in a part of Ontario where … women did most of the reading, women did most of the telling of stories — the men were outside doing “important” things and they didn’t go in for the stories. So I felt quite at home.
Oh, my heart. Those quotation marks surrounding “important” elevate the things that women do, the arena of life relegated to women, that is the heart(h) and guts and emotions. Munro took the time, claimed the space, wrote the stories.
Forever grateful.
…
I’m reading SEATING ARRANGEMENTS, by Maggie Shipstead. It’s not my favorite of her novels. (I loved both ASTONISH ME and THE GREAT CIRCLE.) The surface woes of the main character, Winn Van Meter—his failure to be included in the social club he’s been eyeing his entire life, his annoyance at the piggish width of his neighbor’s driveway, his lust for his daughter’s friend—just feel creepy and too similar to a presidential candidate. Rich white people who summer in second homes aren’t my jam just now. Though the writing is terrific and there’s a delicious satirical bite.
Do check the other Shipstead novels. ASTONISH ME is about Russian defectors and the ballet and unrequited love. This novel made me fall in love with Shipstead’s writing. She is the queen of the perfect detail. In one scene, early in the book, the dancers are performing the Nutcracker. After the show, stage hands sweep up the fake snow and reload it in the ceiling apparatus, to drift down once again in the next performance. A dancer, Joan, describes the disgusting recycled “snow.” It’s full of hair, skin flakes, and clumps of dust. I know the detail is not a big deal to the emotional lives of the characters or the plot, but it made me absolutely believe everything Shipstead said. It was the paying detail!
THE GREAT CIRCLE is a feat, a virtual loop de loop! Straddling two timelines, the novel tells the stories of two women. Marian Graves, an aviatrix from the early 1900s who attempts to circumnavigate the globe by flying over the North and South Poles. And a century later, Hadley Baxter, an actor cast to play Marian in a film that centers on Marian's disappearance. The book is about passions and aspirations, disappointment and acceptance. It’s a glorious exhilarating novel.
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write:
The Paris Review has a wonderful interview with Alice Munro here. In it she discusses writing and motherhood, how she keeps a notebook, and how a story begins.
Any story that’s going to be any good is usually going to change. Right now I’m starting a story cold. I’ve been working on it every morning, and it’s pretty slick. I don’t really like it, but I think maybe, at some point, I’ll be into it….I have stacks of notebooks that contain this terribly clumsy writing, which is just getting anything down. I often wonder, when I look at these first drafts, if there was any point in doing this at all. I’m the opposite of a writer with a quick gift, you know, someone who gets it piped in. I don’t grasp it very readily at all, the “it” being whatever I’m trying to do. I often get on the wrong track and have to haul myself back.
…
I love a good writing craft book. Here, here, and here are some I’ve recommended in the past.
Right now I’m loving Steve Almond’s book, TRUTH IS THE ARROW MERCY IS THE BOW, A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories. Almond’s voice is so accessible, I feel as if I’m having coffee with a smart and funny pal. If you do want to hear him in conversation, give a listen to First Draft (which has many wonderful writer interviews). As I’m reading I’m jotting notes and underlining lots of passages.
On character: Think about your character’s desires of course, but also consider the costs, the subsequent dangers linked to their yearnings. (Physical, sure. Emotional, absolutely!)
On plot: Establish a clear chain of consequence, including the character coming to a self-recognition moment, and a reversal. Extra credit when the self-recognition and the reversal arise from the character’s own behavior and choices. I’m not great at plot. And I’ve been trying to change my game. Interiority, strong and beautiful sentences, characters a reader is willing to follow… yes, they are all wonderful, but something must happen. I don’t know who needs to hear this 👋🏼, but you’ve got to give the reader a reason to turn the page! There must be stakes and consequences (therefores and buts). Voice and style won’t carry a reader through hundreds of pages. You must have scenes which both dramatize and advance the plot. (That rant was for me as much as it was for you!)
On time management: Readers are always happier when they’re grounded in both the moment and in the long the arc of the story. Jump around in time all you want, but be certain the reader is not confused.
Almond’s book is full of great advice and prompts meant to help you integrate his ideas into your work.
prompt:
From Steve Almond:
Think about an obsession you had as a kid. My children, when they were in middle school, had a friend obsessed with Orlando Bloom. Her obsession was intense and all consuming. Her bedroom walls were covered with a collage Orlando’s face. She knew minute details of his life. I’m (mis)remembering that she had volumes of letters she’d written to him. She held a pretend wedding! Her commitment was staggering and impressive.
Think about your obsession from childhood. How did it begin? What pleasures did it bring to your life? What memories spring to mind? Did you have rituals around it? Do you have any relics from that period? The more embarrassing the better! And, perhaps pull back and look at what was going on in your life, in the world, at that time. Likely the larger picture is relevant.
For more like this, do check out TRUTH IS THE ARROW MERCY IS THE BOW, A DIY Manual for the Construction of Stories.
If all this information is your jam, let me know!
eat:
What’s with all the dudes on instagram that toss around ingredients, chop with swift nonchalance, sprinkle spices with aplomb, drizzle olive oil, spritz lemon, and pull together something delicious within minutes? Why this Visigoths-sacking-Rome posturing in the kitchen? Is this how we do it now?
I ask with an incredulous shrug, but also— I’m kind of into it! Those men being boss of the ingredients! Plus they make room for comedy from people like this guy, making a radicchio salad.
And, how about these two, flirting like mad over a snap pea salad? It’s a When Harry Met Sally moment.
From a recent scroll session past some pretty delicious food I came upon this, which I’m adding to my repertoire:
Crispy Rice Salad
Rice:
2½c cooked basmati rice
2T Thai red curry paste
3T oil
Mix the curry paste and oil together in a med bowl. Add the rice and mix well. Spread the rice in a thin layer on a sheet pan. Bake at 400F for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Dressing:
2T light soy sauce or fish sauce or a combo
1 sm jalapeno chili, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lime, squeezed
2T sugar
¼c water
Place all the ingredients in a small jar with a lid and shake.
Salad:
1 bunch each fresh mint, parsley and/or cilantro
1 English cucumber
toasted coconut flakes and peanuts to taste
fried shallots
Slice your cucumber in half lengthwise. Place cut side down on the cutting board and with the flat edge of the knife on the cucumbers, smash a little bit with your palm, then slice into half moons. Assemble everything in a bowl, dump the rice on top, and combine with the dressing.
Serve in lettuce wraps if you like. An added protein - salmon, chicken, or tofu - would be welcome.
Value add: This recipe is a terrific clean-out-the-crisper-drawer opportunity. I made it last night with baby turnips, asparagus, and broccolini, all oven roasted with a bit of olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. I added shredded chicken breast from the rosticceria, swapped the peanuts for cashews, omitted the coconut, and it was unbelievable! So delicious.
Your man, Stanley!
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Tell your people you love them, and take good care of your skin.
xN
Stanley, the king!
Rest in peace, Alice Munro. Thanks for this great post. (I loved Seating Arrangements and curious to hear your thoughts when you finish! )