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[tmcg]

Having cars beep their horns in order to say "Yes, ma'am, signal acknowledged, ma'am, I'm all locked up, ma'am" when you use the remote to lock them is like having a doorbell that's loud enough to startle the neighbors and passersby and that instead of politely chiming cries "Look out!" and "Don't hit me!" and "Help!"

Using a potato peeler to laboriously strip the top layer from a stalk of celery you've already rinsed as thoroughly as possible feels a lot like washing the soap. Then again, sometimes the soap does need washing.

I can no longer listen to music while I write because I sense a melodic, rhythmic shape to sentences before I have the words to fill the shape; I need to listen, I need to be able to hear what I haven't said yet.

(I used to like to have music playing while I was writing, and on a panel at the last Albacon--when the question "What music helps you write?" came up, as it frequently does--I said I couldn't have music on at all anymore, and Barbara Chepaitis was curious why, and I told her I didn't know, although I had a vague unarticulated notion that it might have something to do with aging, that when I was younger I was better at handling multiple sensory input and multitasking. Maybe that is part of it, and maybe it's all just different ways of saying "I need to be able to hear myself think." But yesterday I found myself listening for, reaching for, that word melody that didn't have words yet, and I thought, Huh. Wow. This is why. And it is.)

Comments

[terrymcgarry.livejournal.com]

It's neat that music can help shape that word melody. I know what you mean about inspiring a mood, too; instrumental music used to do that for me, as long as it wasn't something I was tempted to play along with (so, no Irish music or I'd be grabbing for the pennywhistle going "Oh yeah, I always meant to learn this tune!"), and movie soundtracks. Adrian Legg and Leo Kottke were especially good writing music, and I kind of miss that!

I think part of it for me too is that lately I've been more in active-listening mode. I can write with the TV on and filter out the distraction completely, but if the stereo's playing music that I like, I want to sit and listen to it and think about it--give it my full attention. So, I can screen and I can focus, but I can't split my focus. Hmm.