Sometimes the best way to get started with something new is to jump into something old and rethink it. Writing letters–really, reeeeeeally long and extravagantly detailed letters–to my friends and loved ones was a favored pastime for me in my youth, and only transmuted (rather than muted) over time. It’s not necessarily that I had so much to say, nor that it was terribly original, it was simply a pleasant way to keep my sense of the connection between us open and flowing freely. It was Relationship Anticoagulant for me, in its way. Most particularly because I happened to have friends and loved ones who indulged me by writing letters back in my direction.
Yes, the telephone had already been invented when I was young. (I heard that!) My letters weren’t even delivered by Pony Express, let alone chiseled on stone tablets, though those would’ve made nice doorstops, once read. But as I have never liked telephone chitchat overmuch and have always had a slight tendency toward commentary that could perhaps stand a little more editorial restraint, and most of all because I am so defined by my visual experiences, a written, tangible and yes, correctable medium like a letter suited my personality more.
I think it was at least partly that that led to my downhill slide into essays, poems, short stories and the various other Dark Magicks of creative writing. Maybe I thought that developing my fictional skills would make my long letters more entertaining and excuse their verbosity. But of course, when the mystical world of the internet appeared before me, it was inevitable that I should embrace its friendliness towards the mass production of verbiage and the speedy transport thereof unto all and sundry. “All” being my actual known connexions and “sundry” being anybody else who was incidentally caught in the overspray. The latter being people who, if they foolishly responded to my wildly flung words, were likely to get sucked right into the vast vacuum of joining my poor captive audience if I could manage it at all.
When I figured out how to put visual images along with all of the wordy wonders, then Boy Howdy, I was off on a new tangent. And you’ve all seen just how tangential I can become. Why, just the other day . . . oh, see, there I go again. The additional enhancement of putting pictures with stories need not be examined here. You and I know that the telling of a tale not only frequently requires images for completeness and clarity but sometimes is enhanced and enriched by the presence of visual cues that lead the reader to start thinking about the stories tangentially as well.
I was of course drawn* in immediately by artists’, photographers’, designers’ and other visually rich websites and blogs (*this pun’s for you, yearstricken). Then I felt the magnetic, hypnotic pull of foodie blogs, with their perniciously gorgeous food photography. Glorious gardens and magnificent architectural edifices reached out of the ether to grasp at my ankles as I passed. Tripping, I dropped into the well of travelogues and vehicle- and furniture-restoration sites and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh! It was the beginning of the end for this visually obsessed fool. Pretty soon I was swapping recipes and anecdotes, recitations and antidotes with all of my new Old Friends. I almost made a Freudian typo there and wrote Fiends, because of course I have been enchanted and enslaved by you all and am now helplessly in thrall, thirsting after the goodies you dangle in front of me on your every post until I succumb and retaliate with posts of my own.
So here we all are, the relatively new digital tools in hand, cooking up marvelous messes of every sort and, far from being penitent, diving ever deeper into the strange and cheerfully dangerous tangles of what we are collectively wreaking upon the unsuspecting of the world. What began as relatively innocent missives to sisters and schoolmates, great aunts and great mentors has evolved into a different sort of Post that explodes with the weird and whimsical, the frightening or florid or sometimes just plain fishy, and whether factual or fictional, wanders the globe and the magnificent bubble of nonsense surrounding it, and the old urge to write a letter is made new again.
Now, I’ll readily admit that it’s every bit as possible to create fodder for the dustbin as it was all those centuries ago when I began writing my small-world tall tales and detailing them with quaint and creaky little scratches of “art”, and I’m quite certain that there’s no more sense and treasure sneaking in the hidden corners of my productions than there ever was. But I do find that the wider range of correspondents who really do have something to say in return, and the pleasures of the process of learning and using new and different tools for the conversation, immensely entertaining, energizing and inspiring. And I’d say that’s a paint pot of a different color.
Art-Colored Glasses 
Great blog! I like the drawings too 🙂
Thank you so much, Wildest! I’m glad you enjoy them. 🙂
brilliant!
x
You are most kind. Welcome here, Lolamay!
xo
I am so glad that your letter writing expanded into the ether universe where I was able to discover it, and so be enriched. There is a phrase from a song in “The Muppet Movie” that I think describes how I have come to feel about my blog-buddies. Gonzo is singing and says that “there’s no word for for old friends who’ve just met”. 😀 I must say that you have caused me to look at creativity in new and wonderful ways.
Thank you, dear Ted! You have been equally inspiring to me. Isn’t it grand that we nervous-nellies got up the gumption to dip our toes into the waters of blogging and discover so many fellow sojourners keeping us in excellent company!
I am one of those drawn in by your art and your wit. And like you, I am not fond of talking on the phone. When phones are tied to the wall, I need to doodle; if I’m untethered, I need to pace or move about while talking.
Although the Land of Blog is enormous, it feels like a small town where everyone sits out on the front porch swapping stories, or showing pictures, or inviting you inside to see the art on the walls. I am so glad you are writing to us, sharing your art, and inviting us into your life. Boy Howdy.
Dearest, you have it exactly: our blogs are indeed our porches. I sure do feel welcome when I wander up to your screen door too. Yippee!
Your wit shows nicely in your drawings. I like them all but the second one of the veggies has a special appeal.
Thank you, AW. I am pleased to have you visit here and all the more so that you’ve enjoyed the drawings. I rather like that drawing, too–one I’d forgotten I’d even done and rediscovered the other day. It took a lot of digital doctoring to get it online, because I’d drawn it in uncharacteristically light pencil and had to really fight to build enough contrast for online visibility!
You did a fine job getting your drawing(s) ready for web display. Your post got me thinking and I ended up illustrating my latest post with a few of my drawings from years ago.
Yippee!! Your pictures make me want to print them off and start painting and coloring them in… What a gift of inspiration:) It’s so interesting to me how one evolves into the person they eventually become or are becoming.. I love that you were a letter writer. Mine began with a grade 7 poetry class and an angst written journal.
Barbara, my dearest, I’d *love* to see what you’d do embellishing these, which as you’ve noticed would make good coloring book pages. Go for it, if you get in the mood! Just promise to share . . . 😉
If my limited experience is any indication, I’d say that angst-ridden and journal are pretty much interchangeable! It might be why I didn’t keep up with journaling faithfully for such a long time–too traumatic! (Dramatic??) 🙂
Only you would see a letter as a “Relationship Anticoagulant”. Both witty and brilliant at the same time. I am very much like you in that I, too, do not like to spend time chatting away on the telephone. Still, if it’s a choice between Ma Bell or an afternoon spent email-ing, IM-ing, or text-ing, hand me the princess phone and let’s get this over with. No, I’m not anti-social, though do I appear to be pro-hyphen suddenly. It’s just that I’d rather spend time, face-to-face, with a friend when possible. How about a quick nibble? A coffee? You need to go to a grocery? Me, too; I’ll pick you up. We’re supposed to be social beings. Let’s act like it.
Absolutely she said ironically – sitting in her ivory tower I mean studio, all alone, chatting to her imaginary friends!! But what if you know nobody to have a bite WITH! c
You? Know nobody? Piffle! Ok, so maybe those we all know are far away and we can’t pick them up on a quick jaunt to the coffee house. Then we can all indulge in “Pun-a-palooza”!
When I first became disabled, all of that free time really troubled me. I found a nearby coffee shop and started going there, daily at about 2:00 pm. It wasn’t long before I met a number of people. At the same time, I began to volunteer at a food panty and met another group of people. No coffee shop or pantry? How about volunteering at the local hospital? Check your church’s bulletin board for opportunities to both volunteer or take part in social events. My point is, people aren’t going to line up at your front door. You have to be pro-active.
Now that I’ve completely hijacked Kathryn’s thread … Sorry! … I wasn’t speaking of you, Celi, but people in general. You probably know every soul within a 50 mile radius of your home.
Is it just me, or are the angels laughing raucously right now as we’re having a major online-ethereal kaffeeklatsch about in-person communication??!!! 😉 But I do so agree: the rare opportunities we take for actual human, 3D interaction are priceless . . . since I can’t hop up to her place in Norway on a whim–more’s the pity–I *will* haul out the phone to talk to my youngest sister today! Meanwhile, I’m thrilled that, as my Yearstricken girlfriend notes above, we can sit on our virtual porches exchanging gossip and passing the joyful time together at leisure. Puns definitely required!
Another original phrase: relationship anticoagulant.
It’s been years since I sent a handwritten letter to a friend, and years since I’ve received one. Pens feel strange in my hand now; who would ever have expected that?
Indeed, another one of the surprises of our history, personal and collective.
What a gift with words you have Kathryn. What a gift with pen, and crayon, and paint! What a gift of heart you bring to it all, and to us, lucky us.
Isn’t it lovely that we have this marvelous playground we share ‘in the air’! Maybe along with all of the virtual dinner parties and such we should be having virtual nursery school parties where we’re all allowed to sit on the floor with our crayons and blunt-tipped scissors and water-soluble paste and have a free-for-all. 🙂
By the way, I so loved Chicago John’s reply! Amen to that, John!
I love getting letters! Letters are fun! c
Then my letter to you for today is “J” for Jubilation. Oh, you were talking about the other kind! 😉
The last letter I got is in a frame in the living room. It was from the incredible 7 soon to be 8 year old! Even though we talk on the phone and sometimes in person, that letter will always be cherished 🙂 You can keep an email or text or even the message on your phone but nothing beats touching and holding that letter.
It’s the old book-vs-eReader thing, isn’t it. We are tactile creatures, and any sort of sensory deprivation is likely to make us chafe.
Just lovely. I am still a writer of letters although it seems I use post cards often these days. It is gift that says I care enough to spend a little time with you. I was happy to spend a little time with you also Kathryn. mahalo just lovely thoughts.
Thank you, friend! I’m glad our paths have crossed so that we can share a little time here in space. Peace to you!
Kathryn
Wonderful post with drawings that really live–i.e. those fish are jumping right off the page. Your words are vibrantly strung together too. On the ‘theme’–I always regretted that I didn’t have any great letter correspondences like was the norm many years ago (even as old as I am, mostly before my time…because few ever had the enthusiasm I did for writing letters in return to mine). I too dislike talking too much on the phone–have had ‘friends’ who would take up hours and hours jabbering on about ‘whatever’ and as my mom always said: “You just can’t find a way of putting an end to such a time-waster, can you?” Too courteous am I to use the phone!
Then the blogging thing came along and before long I realized that this was getting closer to realizing my dream of having interesting correspondence with other interesting people who inspired me with their work and creativity and support. I love how Yearstricken likened it to a small town with everyone sitting on the porch sharing themselves and their lives. A perfect analogy!
I agree, YS captured it exactly! And I love that in the virtual world we can have so many more (in number) neighbors than in a physical neighborhood, as well as ones that would otherwise be too far separated by miles or languages or other barriers that disappear ‘out here’. It makes for a wildly interesting and captivating crew of friends who, in my case at least, are deeply inspiring and great fun to get to know better.
Your preference for writing with accompanying sketches puts you in great, truly great company. Wm. Blake illustrated many of his poems and writings (illustrations not nearly as good as yours). You probably know, going a little further back in literary history, scholars communicated via sonnets and other disciplined poetic forms…
🙂
I like Blake’s visual stuff. Very stylized–which was of course well suited to his idiosyncratic work with text. There are a number of writers right on up to contemporary times who are also producers of visual art or illustration, many of them equally adept in both areas even if they’re really only known for one or the other. Of course, children’s author/illustrators would be pretty high in the latter category, but those who haven’t tried writing well for children or doing really good “cartoon-y” or simple-looking art often have no idea just how much skill and labor go into producing both. The whole thing intrigues me!
Everytime I visit, I’m entertained, by the visuals and by the written. Thank you.
Blogging let’s me peer over the wall into my neighbours garden, I can chat, we can swap some news, we can even solve the world’s problems, swap a recipe here and there, we can do “show and tell of our holiday photos”. Perfect 🙂 Now shall I go and put the kettle on ? 🙂
Absolutely! Nothing nicer than a chat over a cup of tea with a friend, is there. I love your holiday photos, by the way, but not so much the arm-breaking! Try to find friendlier French words to add to your vocabulary next time, please. 😉
When we moved to America, about 15 years ago, I would write letters to our near and dear ones back home and would wait, with baited breath, for the replies. There was so much love in them, not to mention the fragrance of my beloved country.
And then, email happened. 😦
But, I started writing letters, sending post cards again a year or two ago and do not intend to stop. It is one of the best things!! Ever! 🙂
And so is your blog. One of the best things! Ever!!
Rama, your kindness overwhelms me! I hope you’re able to visit Home once in a while to add to your letter-writing, but it *is* a beautiful gift you give to yourself *and* your loved ones. 🙂
My sisters and I write very, very long emails to each other, so at least we haven’t lost the fun of that part of letter writing. And I do find that blogging (both in the writing and the reading/following) is a marvelous way of ‘writing letters’ back and forth with my cyber-community!