Topic Two

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topic | moral lines

word limit | none

post date | 4.8.9

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Maybe He Was Tired

In the beginning, God created many things including man…in two varieties. However alike they may be, their very beginning marks their inherent differences to their end. It’s the space in-between that matters here. Somewhere in our crazy make-up, many choose to spend this time with the other variety. Sometimes this union means unimaginable joy and sometimes it brings great frustration or even pain and then I ask myself with all due respect, ‘why on earth, literally, would God create two of the same creature that are so incredibly different and flawed and ask them to live and procreate happily ever-after?’

Full of New

When not leaving anything out is your mantra, beginnings are plenty and welcome, Though sometimes they are more obvious in retrospect. The edge is everywhere: foothill, stream bank, and coastline. In time beginnings are infinite: birth, morning, a new leaf. They are the excitement and anticipation of being at the threshold in time and space of a new adventure, a new day and a new experience. It is scary, not knowing where you're headed. This not knowing is exactly what keeps life interesting. If we all knew the ending, would we be so eager to jump in?

start

January is named for Janus, Greek god of doorways, god of beginnings and endings. In China you’re not supposed to stand in doorways. Before and after are both ok but one doesn't linger in the through. This suits my mom, who always wants what’s next already. Can you get a PhD she asked me, the day I got accepted to a master’s program. But doorways let you know you’re not where you were. Doorways are safe in earthquakes. Doorways are a good place to keep a bell, or a prayer. I like to lean and be still in between.

get this party strated

OK. Given our current geographies, coming to format consensus might just be a pain in the ass. So how about we pass around curatorship? I'll go first, then hand it along.

This week: 100 words exactly on the topic of Beginnings. Due Wednesday March 18.

You should both be able to post here, not just comment. Let me know if that works. Everyone want to pick their own font? I'm Courier.

Dear PD and Iowa,

Once we all lived in Eugene. We hung out in the booths at Max’s, and linedanced at Rockin’ Rodeo, and ate ice cream even though it made Iowa sick, and occasionally wore evening gowns in the middle of the day.

We talked about a lot of things. We had those engrossing long girl-talks like some northwest smalltown version of Sex in the City, with a lot more fleece in our wardrobes and a lot more landscape architecture theory in our discourse. Towards the end we drove around Portland and imagined the awesome house we could buy, and how we would put a porch on the roof of the garage. Except then you both ruined the plan by falling in love with boys in different states, not that I’m bitter. But now I miss you.

And so, since we are now in perpetual catch-up, and since we are now all trying to write more, and since we are now all in our own ways trying to figure out what comes next, I thought maybe we could do a little project. You know, like the time we entered the intersection design competition. Except this time we would actually do something.

So my proposal is this blog. I scooped it up two and a half years ago (see post below) and stashed it away. And I like it for us, right now, because it is called pangram, which is a sentence with all the letters in it. And not leaving anything out seems to be a theme in all of our lives.

We could do it lots of ways. We could take turns proposing topics, or setting rules. We could respond to each other or not. My initial thoughts are that we would each post about once a week, and that it would be our personal takes on things but not journal-like, and that it would be public.

If we were all still in Eugene we could get in Iowa’s car right now and drive to the coast to talk about it while singing Michael Jackson. But this is the best I can think of, geography being what it is. What do you think?