Ben Shahn: Sideshows at the Ashville,
July 4th celebration, Ashville, Ohio (1938)

It's A Genuine Wonder
The winter holiday season provides several prominent mileage markers. I can easily anticipate whatever's coming next for several weeks before entering into January's relative wasteland. I find myself praying for weather, anything to differentiate one cold, foggy day from another. I tucked into a long-procrastinated painting project, one I'd imagined becoming a messy can of worms if started, but my dread was unrequited. As is often the case with procrastination, initiating effort disproved my delaying premise. I should feel grateful for an asperation really worth procrastinating over. Once finished, I will need to drum up another possible can of worms to properly dread or perhaps simply surrender to the January ennui. I might be in the final stages of signing a book contract. I fear that will also become a can of worms, so I have been expending some of my excess procrastination energy on not gaining closure on that effort. It's a genuine wonder I ever accomplish anything.

Weekly Writing Summary

I began my writing week recalling my first of many Mid-life Crises. I learned to insist upon having them early and often, each providing opportunities to continue learning, TalkingMyselfThrough. "I learned by teaching myself when I had no real idea where I might find adequate wisdom or knowledge to teach myself anything."

Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen:
Tramp Passing Through a Sleeping Village (1902)

"I still have mentors, but none better than the one I found lurking near the end of my journaling pencil."
—
I next attempted to sum up my writing year on the last day of my writing year in SummingUp. I concluded: "I apparently write in the moment for that moment."

Unknown Artist:
Daikon Radish and Accounting Book
(19th Century)

"I'm still wondering."
—
I introduced my SilentPilot, my guide through innumerable adventures and inquiries. "Anyone can get pretty much anything they want, just as long as they insist upon not taking credit for it."

Anders Zorn: Pilot (1919)

"Nobody ever was or ever will be an island …"
—
I reported on that part of my ongoing iAlogue that works like streaming music in HappyTalk. "I firmly believe The Great American Songbook contains most of the advice worth taking in this world."

Nelly Spoor: Kinderorkest in een tuin
[Children's orchestra in a garden] (1912)

" … delighted to have even a bit part in this latest ongoing production."
—
I concluded that I might just be a master at TalkingMyselfOutOf, the most popular posting this period. "I am the man I am today due to all I didn't do, thanks to my many negative accomplishments."

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres:
Studies for "The Martyrdom of Saint Symphorien"
(Saint, Mother, and Proconsul) (1833)

"I fancy that I finish better whatever's left on my plate …"
—
I ended my writing week calling the game I play in, performing my own sort of Play-By-Play. "I am not only the player and the broadcaster, but also the primary audience of my efforts, and I rarely feel inclined to criticize my performance."

Stefan Martin and Ben Shahn: Baseball (1968)

"I feel reassured then and tuck my head down …"

This writing week straddled New Year's Day. This old to new year transition encouraged me to look more deeply into several prominent aspects of my internal dialogue, my iAlogue. I caught myself TalkingMyselfThrough and SummingUp. I acknowledge the presence of a SilentPilot choosing topics and points of focus for me. I admitted to maintaining a fantastic internal jukebox, usually tuned to the Show Tunes channel. After TalkingMyselfThrough, I acknowledged some TakingMyselfOutOf, too. I ended my writing week by recounting how I often engage in real-time Play-By-Play narrative, making sense of whatever game I play. I wonder how many more parts of my internal dialogue I'll discover as I continue this inquiry. Thank you for following along, and Happy New Year!


©2024 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #iAlogue , #PureSchmaltz