Goose Hill

Just some new thread colors picked up at the local flea market. I rarely buy new new materials. I find it especially stimulating, creatively speaking, to make something work out of a limited stash of resources. Resourcefulness = New ideas. And new ways of seeing things. It's my little Oulipo -like philosophy of sewing and making, in which " constraints are used as a means of triggering ideas and inspiration" (Wikipedia). Never read a piece of Oulipo work? I recommend starting with Italo Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler . He is one of my absolute favorites.

In my most recent thrift store adventures, I found this beautiful machine. According to my research, it is a 1958 Royal Futura 800 series typewriter, still in working condition (I gave it a little test run in the shop). And I bought it for only $40! Carrying case and all. That is why love thrift stores and flea markets. Like a box of chocolates. This same typewriter is being sold here and here for $150, and here for a whopping $525! Beautiful. I'm building my typewriter arsenal: collection, obsession, whatever you want to call it.  And this one, is magic ! Note the buttons: "magic column set." And those red buttons to either side of the carriage? They are "magic margins!" Taking this important trait into consideration, I think I will call her Hermione.

When I'm at work on a poem (a process of many days, even weeks), I often brainstorm ideas and words before bed. And hell if I want to get up every few minutes to look up some word or other association. So I have just gotten in the habit keeping my mammoth of a dictionary in bed with me. Webster is my best friend when I'm writing, and I often get caught up in the searching: one definition leads to another word needing clarification and another. When writing poetry I like to know the exact definition of the word(s) I intend to use, in each possible context, because often it is the implied associations of the word that are the most important, creating a web of meaning and a depth of story.

New typewriter cozy made from flea market fabric finds.  I think the color inspiration may have come from my midsummer's discovery: cold cantaloupe soup. So good, sometimes I just pour it into a glass and drink it.