The Thick, Round, Swan Maiden Pancake
I have been doing such weird things the past year, and I’ve recently discovered some (probably obvious) things. I have wanted to post for a long time. I have put it off for various insecurities and procrastinies.
Without further ado:
1. The Sprints. I get The Sprints. I start things with a full magnum force or get obsessed with something and then just stop mysteriously. The Sprints! Maybe you get The Sprints, too. I’d wager my dad is like this. I know many people who are Marathoners – they find something and stick with it until the bitter end. I get The Sprints.
Examples of recent Sprints:
a. Drawing on my iPad mini (see above). I never thought I could draw. And to save money I made my own crappy stylus out of an empty pen, tin foil, and a Q-tip. Technology!
b. French. I took French in high school and college. I really like it, but I’m lazy. So I am doing a sprint. It’s fun to remember what I use to know.
c. Exercise. These Sprints are ongoing until I die.
d. Letters on my typewriter.
e. Books. Any book. I read the introduction and the first chapter with intense focus. Occasionally reading it multiple times. A few books which have fallen prey to a Sprint:
The Brothers Karamazov (fascinating introduction)
Zealot by Resa Aslan (great intro and first chapter!)
Deadeye Dick by Kurt Vonnegut (fascinating first 4 chapters!)
f. Various musical discoveries including musicians, songs, and instruments.
2. I am an Introvert (gasp).
3. Life. It’s good and awesome.
Perhaps this sounds a bit cliché. But recent personal events have warranted such a learning experience.
A friend I loved very much passed away in August. Her husband is a friend I love very much, too. I think about both of them every single day.
Show love. Tell people you love them today – don’t wait until tomorrow or next week or the next time you run into them. Today.
Being alive is good and awesome.
Bodies are good and awesome.
People, friends, and family can be so good and awesome.
Movies and music are so good and awesome.
Even the hard things are so good and awesome.
Well, those are some things I have learned in the past month.
With that, I present today a reading of some fairy tales I recorded for some friends for fun during a section of The Sprints. These are a study on me playing two different characters reading stories. One has a really bad british accent and the other a random american accent (who happens to not be very good at reading stories). Both of which were GOOD AND AWESOME to do (even though my british friend Sophie, who has a real british accent, says this is pretty bad…but I think she kind of likes it anyway).
The Thick, Round Pancake from “Fairy Tales: retold by Bridget Hadaway” 1974 Octopus Books Ltd.
The Swan Maiden from “Fairy Tales: retold by Bridget Hadaway” 1974 Octopus Books Ltd.
I like you.
Have a great day today.
EMILY HOPE PRICE 