Just back from a book signing by Ania Lemin. Her new volume Gaelle et Hector is about the love life of a cloud. A simple story with some deceptively simple illustrations. We talk about books and children (she teaches L. after school on a Friday afternoon) and the pleasures of papers, pens and pencils. She explains how she gets the children to use sharpened twigs and inks made out of berries and nuts. Music to my ears.

I wasn't aware of her other work but now see she's got a Blog at:

http://anialemin.com/dotclear2/

Worth a look. (She sings, too).

... in a bit of a quandary ... whether to follow the unfolding pwoermds or simply plough my own furrow & see what everyone came up with at the end?

On the one hand, the promiscuous swapping of creative juices (read someone's new find and it triggers one, two, three of your own). On the other, the jittery feeling of being anticipated (damn! he/she's done that one - or done it better!). Knowing all along that somewhere out there is that pwoermd waiting to come into being.

No doubt I'll take a peek now and again.

Day three.

whyspring

unziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip

"NO ONE IS A POET UNLESS HE HAS FELT THE TEMPTATION TO DESTROY LANGUAGE OR CREATE ANOTHER ONE, UNLESS HE HAS EXPERIENCED THE FASCINATION OF NONMEANING AND THE NO LESS TERRIFYING FASCINATION OF MEANING THAT IS INEXPRESSIBLE" (Octavio Paz)

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Welcome to all pwoermdists! And here's today's effort ...

apri'll

Geof Huth launches his annual pwoermd challenge for April 2011.

I've agreed to take part (again) although I can't hope for the same level of inspiration as last year.

Nevertheless, I'll try to post one a day.

"I'm going to live on a tropical iceland"

(L. over dinner - crystal ball gazing of global warming?)

I'd like to track down a recording of Zadie Smith's defence of libraries on today's Today programme - rather than going by hearsay and reports. That she's provoked such fury from the proponents of the 'Big Society' (sic) must surely be a good thing. Wonderful irony hearing government lackies complaining of 'bias'.

"A notebook full of the finest
Creamy rich girl parchment pages
Slowly filled with all your passing days"

I'd heard about them before (imagining a 'him' and 'her' duo - maybe even a 'him' and 'his dog'?) but never knowingly listened to a song. This CD is a minor revelation and the perfect soundtrack for early Spring drives in to work and back.

Better still, the Wafflettes LOVE it - plenty of swaying around with hairbrushes lip-synching the lyrics. L. spots - immediately - the debt to the Beach Boys and The Monkees. That's my girl!

So ... BBC World Service 648 mw has shut down.

The 'Big Society'? Yeah, right.

yesterday

watched Pierrot le Fou

today

sat on the terrace & read Paul Vangelisti

(I'm not complaining)