Boston

January 1, 2010

In Boston until Sunday, when I go to Vermont.

Lovely here– snow fell yesterday and we went to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I misread the website for the museum– thinking that the Costumes of Edith Head was an exhibit, when in fact it is a film series. So we walked around the museum and saw some Toulouse Lautrec and an exhibit about music, Seeing Songs which included this funny, endearing video installation featuring about thirty videos of people singing Madonna songs all at the same time.

I’ve been keeping warm, wearing Ted‘s silk long underwear and his puffy winter jacket. Also, this super warm (and, don’t you think, fashionable) Cowl’s Neck that I bought from Etsy seller Pip Robins. She makes them all herself and they are expertly tailored and chic. I’ve been getting lots of compliments. Well, ok, I’ve been complimenting myself but I did get one for my Sister-in-Law (Ted’s brother’s wife) who loved hers too. If you want to treat yourself to a New Year’s treat, I suggest checking out Pip Robins’ etsy store.

Ted and I walked around Cambridge. And, of course we stoppe in at the Harvard Book Store–where I could

spend hours, days. We then cut through Haah-vaad, Ted’s ole alma mater. It was just getting dark and the lights made the whole place glow like an old oil lamp.

Ted’s family is wonderful and we celebrated Christmas last night, whereupon I was given two lovely sweaters for Vermont. I think tomorrow, though I’ll need to go out and get one more pair of thermals and also some gloves and long wool socks, just in case.

Ted gave me Joyce Carol Oates’ book on writing: The Faith of a Writer–Life, Craft, Art, which I read a few of the essays last night.

One of the essays is called “The Writer’s Studio” where she muses on her writing space.

“The precious room-of-one’s-own. The private place, the sanctuary. to rephrase a famous remark of Robert Frost, our private places are those that, when we seek entry, we are never turned away.”

and also:

“Rarely do I invent at the typewriter (a Japanese-made Swintec 1000 with an approximate ten-page memory, printing capacity, storage for disks), and virtually never do I try to foce anything into prose in this way. I need to imagine first, purely without language; and then remember.”

I myself find it hard to invent at the typewriter, though I do it more now than I did in Grad School, during my MFA. I’ve always used notebooks to plan, sketch, and outline.

**I did a search for Swintec 1000– very cheap machine! I wonder how well or how it works