Kim Moore

As you probably know by now, I usually read prose. That is to say, 'a form of language that has no formal metrical structure. It applies a natural flow of speech, and ordinary grammatical structure, rather than a rhythmic structure. Normal everyday speech is spoken in prose and most people think and write in prose form', according to Google. So this blog is basically prose.

The thing I don't usually read (or listen to) is poetry. It's not that I am allergic to poetry, as some people are, finding it boring or slow or pretentious, it's just that it not something I really come across in my everyday life.

The big exception to this is Dichters in de Prinsentuin (Poets in the Prince's Garden), a poetry festival in Groningen each summer. It takes place in the Prince's Garden, which is a beautiful garden in the centre of the city, protected from the hustle and bustle around it by high walls. I should really go there more often, but because it is so secluded, you actually forget it's there. During the festival, the poets perform on what is known as the 'tea field' near the tea house, and also in the 'loofgangangen', which are the circular hedges that you can get romantically lost in. These hedges have little 'windows' behind which the poets stand and recite their poetry. The great thing about this festival is that it combines famous and published poets with amateurs, and puts them all on the same level in the loofgangen.

Last year, someone shanghaied me into volunteering, and I enjoyed it so much I did it again this year. Not because I care so much about the poets (I don't know about 90% of them, which doesn't really come in handy when they get free access and I still try to get them to buy tickets because I don't recognise them), but I really love the atmosphere this little festival generates, and being outside a whole day, and just helping out in such a great initiative.

But this year, there was a poet who really grabbed me. Now most of the festival is in Dutch, but the first evening was in another location, and it was an international event, with one poet from Iraq, one from the UK, and one from Macedonia. The poets first read in their own language, followed by their official Dutch translator reading the same poem in Dutch. Which wasn't really necessary for the English poet, because most people can understand English pretty well. At the moment I didn't know whether it was because you could actually understand her, or because the poems were just so great, but I really really loved the British poet, Kim Moore.

I don't know what it is about English, but somehow everything sounds more beautiful in it. Stuff that would be sappy and cliche and sometimes even plain horrible in Dutch, is romantic and thoughtful and deep in English. I think in in part it has something to do with the rhythm of the language, the way the stresses are placed, and part with the fact that we Dutch are just way too 'nuchter' (down to earth) to really get lost in poetry. One of my favourite poems, The Lady of Shalott, could never ever exist in Dutch, because it is way too flowery and romantic.

Anyway, back to Kim Moore. She looks so typically British it is almost deceiving. Most of the poets on these festivals have something weird or typically 'them' (funny hair, hats, weird habits or a funny way of talking), but she just stood there in jeans and a tank top, reading some of the most beautiful poems I've ever heard. So following her performance, I did something I've never done before, which is to buy a poetry book. And then I had another first, as I actually went up to Kim Moore, and asked her to sign the thing. Which she gladly did, although I felt bad about distracting her from her friends and her beer, so I babbled something incomprehensible, and then I left.

And then I started to read.

I know the thing about poems is that you should read them very slowly and thoughtfully, and reread, and try to grasp its meaning and deeper layers before moving on to the next. Also, you should go through the book in sequence, because the poet is actually meaning something with that sequence, and each poem will add something to the next. 

Of course, I did neither of those things; I just started reading and reading, gobbling up the poems, somethings skipping a few and reading ahead, or going back to read a short one that caught my eye. Doesn't matter, they were all great. The subject matter is familiar and recognisable, the sentences are down to earth, but the rhythms and cadence are just right, the figurative language is spot on, and the message is something anyone can understand. These are small, tiny things, that pack a whole history in a few lines. I wish I could share all of them with you, but that would be unfair to Kim, as nobody would buy her book anymore. So I'm just going to give you the first one:

And the Soul

And the soul, if she is to know

herself, must look into the soul...

- Plato

And the soul, if she is to know herself

must look into the soul and find

what kind of beast is hiding.

And if it be a horse, open up the gate

and let it run. And if it be a rabbit

give it sand dunes to disappear in.

And if it be a swan, create a mirror image,

give it water. And if it be a badger

grow a sloping woodland in your heart.

And if it be a tick, let the blood flow

until it's sated. And if it be a fish

there must be a river and a mountain.

And if it be a cat, find some people

to ignore, but if it be a wolf,

you'll know from its restless way

of moving, if it be a wolf,

throw back your head

and let it howl.

Now from the outside, this poem has everything to be pretentious and woolly; there is a quote by Plato, it has these sentences that end in funny ways, it is weirdly repetitious until suddenly it isn't, and it's about souls. Really, if you're a poetry hater, this is the perfect example. 

Still, I think this poem actually proves all of that wrong. I think this is a really accessible poem, which doesn't really look like very heavy stuff because of all the animal imagery (she really likes her wolves, by the way), but when you think about it, it actually is about something. So you can just read it, have a nice picture in your head, and move on. But you can reread it, and then you start to see other thing in it, and think about what it means, and start to think about souls, and how a soul could look into a soul, and what kind of animal your soul would be, and whether animals have souls, and whether that is what they mean with a soul looking into a soul; you can only think about these things because you are human, etc etc. So there are lots of layers to the poem, but still when you read it, it is this beautiful image of the soul as different animals.

And that's just the first one!

Anyway, that's my poetry lecture for today. Go and read her stuff, if I've inspired you. She keeps a blog about poetry, which is a lot better than what I've just told you, and will probably lead you on to other great poets. Or even better, you could turn off your electronics, buy her book, and read some of her poems while sitting in a nice city centre garden, sipping tea and being totally away from it all.

Sporcle

If you're a fan of common knowledge, interesting facts, or logic puzzles, be warned; this post may lead to a new addiction.
So I've been playing Quizduel (it's this game on your smart phone where you choose a category and get 3 multiple choice questions in that category. Then you switch, and the other person first has to answer the same questions in your chosen category, and then gets to pick one of their own) with one of my colleagues for about a year now, and it's been fun, but at times also rather slow, as you have to wait for the other person to respond.
And then another colleague mentioned Sporcle. I'd totally forgotten about Sporcle, which is weird because I'd played some games on it a while ago, and it was great fun. But anyway, he mentioned that he had an account and that he spent some time on it whenever he felt like doing random Internet stuff (for me, mostly; while I'm on a train). And I went back, and remembered how great it was, and also made an account, and now I'm addicted.
I mean, what's not to like? There are literally millions of quizzes, divided into categories ranging from 'Just for fun' and 'Entertainment' to 'Literature' and 'Science'. But that's not all. They have different types of quizzes too. No standard multiple choice answers, but intricate logic puzzles where clues lead you through filling in all the squares, or sorting challenges where you have to think about what connects the elements you can choose from. Lots of picture quizzes with images or maps you can click on, but also quick quizzes which take just 1 minute to solve (or so they say... I never finish them in time).
And the best thing about having an account; you can see how well your friends did in a quiz, and challenge other players. So when I miraculously get 100% at my first attempt in some oddball quiz, I will challenge my colleague to see how well he does (depending on the subject, he's usually better or quicker). Also, you get to collect badges. Looots of badges. I now have 14, ranging from 'Newbie' (for signing up) via 'Sorting Hat' (for doing 25 Harry Potter quizzes) through to several badges earned for playing 15+ quizzes between specific times. There are 401 badges in total, some of which you only get for playing 1,000 quizzes of a certain category or type.
Now I am a slightly competitive person by nature (as long as it doesn't involve too much exercise), but even without the challenges and badges, just from the general quality and depth of the quizzes, Sporcle is really a thing to check out. Fun and frustration guaranteed. And if you feel the need for a challenge... my username is Dromera.

Me before you

So the book I took with me to read in the US was In the Light of what we Know by Zia Haider Rahman. This is a pretty heavy book, filled with mathematics and philosophy, life stories, the invasion in Iraq, and the areas where all these things meet. It is not a book you can easily read after say, hiking in 40 degrees Celsius and driving 300 kilometers on single-lane roads through the desert. Or on a nine hour flight sandwiched between a chatty Scotsman who will fall asleep on your knees (seriously...) and a ten year old French girl who will fall asleep on your shoulder.
So I decided to get something a bit lighter, both in content and in weight, and I ended up buying the film edition of Me before you. This was partly based on sentimental value, as we saw the film while we were in the US, and partly on the fact that the Barnes&Nobles was huge and I had really no idea where to begin.
Me before you is a romantic novel by any standard. One could even call it a chick flick, as it is aimed at chicks, and you can flick through it in a day without ever feeling the need to put it down to digest its contents. It is the unlikely story of poor girl from working class family goes to work as a caregiver for a handsome rich guy who has been paralysed from the neck down in a traffic accident. And of course, they clash, they fight, they hate each other, until inevitably they fall in love. As Disney already taught us years ago:

Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly

Just a little change
Small to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the beast

Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before and
Ever just as sure
As the sun will rise

Funny, as that is exactly how it is (really, Disney movies tell you all you need to know about life). Even after watching the movie, you feel a tinge of fear; will they realise what they mean to each other? Why are they so blind? Why are they so stubborn? And then the sigh of relief when it all works out.
Only in this case, it doesn't really work out. He is still paralysed, and in pain, and completely unable to accept his new life. And without spoilering the end for you, this is a very interesting film to watch in a southern US state, where some things are a lot less accepted than here in the Netherlands.

Anyway, why am I droning on about this fluff novel when I usually write about the Great Literary Works? Because it was fun. I read most of it in a single day (technically longer, as during that day I went through 9 timezones, so let's put it at 24 hours). Not only because I did not need to put it down, I did not want to. It is a great read, even though you can clearly see all the suspense and cliffhanger tricks that Dan Brown and others are so fond of putting in their novels too. This is great writing on a whole other level, but that doesn't make it any less great. And I could snobbishly look down on it, but why bother? It's not like 'Literature' is so much better or wholesome than novels like these. Looking at how many people read them, one could argue that these novels are culturally far more important. And where The Great Literary Novel teaches you something about all aspects of life, these novels teach you something about dreams coming true, and love, and still believing in all those Disney fairy tales of long ago.
So yeah, read it. You will cry, I promise you that.
In the meantime, I have just bought the sequel, which is probably just rush job to cash in on the movie success. And won't read it straight away, because you can only take so much light stuff before you need something you can really get your teeth into again. But whenever I feel the need for some light, improbable romance, it will be ready and waiting.

Road tripping to National Parks

So for two weeks, I found myself in the US. In the southwestern part of the US, specifically; Arizona, Utah, Nevada (and some New Mexico and Colorado thrown in at Four Corners).
How did I end up there? A friend of mine had a conference in DC, and we decided to do some road tripping afterwards. Genuine road tripping, that is, no plans or reservations or anything, just driving around and seeing where we'd end up. So we had a place of arrival and departure (Phoenix Sky Harbour airport, although we arrived and departed separately due to financial reasons) and a rental car, and that was basically it. We'd go wherever the road would take us.
Turns out, it took us to National Parks. Loads and loads of National Parks. On the third day, some friendly ranger told us that we could actually buy an Annual Park Pass for just 80$, which would save us entrance fees to most National Parks (except for those on Navajo land, as they can still charge), and after that, we were really unstoppable.
There is so much beautiful nature in that part of the world. Vast stretches of empty nothingness, with very few roads or villages in between. We drove the length of our own country several times over, and saw nothing but nature with a capital N (okay, and some flattened prairedogs, coyotes, etc. But most of it was alive and not on the road). And it's so diverse! You can be driving through a flowering cactus filled desert one minute, and stand at the edge of a pine forest-filled canyon the next. I've done the middle of Australia, and that has a lot of nothing too, but it's mostly the same red-orangy desert nothing. Here, you never knew what to expect in the next 100 miles.
If we would have been a bit better prepared, we could have done some very nice long hikes, but as things were, 35+ is just too many degrees to start trumping about unprepared. We did some really nice and rewarding short hikes to arches and canyons and the tops of volcanoes, and otherwise saw the rest of it from the ideally located view points (in the beginning, we'd take pictures from the road, but then we found out that if ever there was a nice few, there would be a scenic view point for us to get out and snap away as we liked).
So, any favourites? Of course! If you're in for petrified forests (and believe me, you are), go to Petrified Forest National Park, and take the scenic drive past thousand year old trees (no collecting, or you'll be cursed forever). If you're into arches and other weirdly shaped rocks and geographical features, go to Arches National Park (see what they did there? Even if you're completely unprepared, the name of the park will just tell you what to expect. And in the park itself, you had stuff like 'sheep rock'; a rock shaped like a sheep, 'balanced rock'; a rock balanced on top of a thin spire, and 'delicate arch'; a... you get the gist by now). Visit Bryce or Zion National Parks for the best hiking in slightly lower temperatures. And of course Monument Valley, where I managed not to wreck our rental car on the 'dirt' (=gravel) roads.
All in all, we drove 4500 kilometres. We did not venture into California, as it has too many great things to fit in just two weeks, and decided that we'll have to come back for that some other time. Probably a bit earlier in the season, as the tourist crowds really started to get going towards the end. But still, two weeks of being so totally removed from your own 'habitat', under the vast blue skies and the big empty roads; I wouldn't mind coming back next year!