APPRECIATION #84: HOW TO RUIN EVERYTHING (Pt 2.)

This post is a continuation of #83.

6. “There is no book so bad… that it does not have something good in it.” – Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote. This quote is used to open the introduction. I agree.

7. Wayne moved to L.A. for ambitious, artistic reasons. I’ve done this.

8. Wayne lived in L.A. and was “Between-things.” with roommates and it didn’t seem like much was happening. Been there.

9. He knew an eccentric, about to turn 100, woman named Jane. My grandmother died three days before her 97 birthday, could still beat me at Scrabble, and referred to the people around her as “the old people.” She told us once that if she ever got like them (the old people) we should take her out back and shoot her.

10. Wayne had a “practical blue Subaru Hatchback” that he loved. I had a blue 1985 Chevy Celebrity that I think I might need to write a song about to emulate Neil Young’s “Long May You Run” song about a car he loved.

11. Wayne went on a mission to smuggle a narwhale tusk out of Canada. We have started to collect elk teeth and bones of various kinds to use for classroom art and musical projects. I have never smuggled a narwhale tusk. On further reflection, the teddy bear that I helped pick up from a strange neighborhood in Tijuana a few years ago, could have been a less than benign legal event.

12. Wayne drove by Fort Tejon. I love Fort Tejon. Giant oak trees, and you were either close to getting back to L.A. or closing to getting away from it. And the U.S. Military Calvary units (dragoons?) had camels. True story. Camels.

13. Camping in Yosemite National Park and sort of knowing someone there. I’ve done this.
14. Getting a flat tire near Yosemite and driving on it for miles anyway. Been there.

NOTE: Most of the connections I am outlining here are personal. They lead me to think of stories and events in my own life. This shouldn’t be surprising. Someone who is writing an essay collection will likely connect with someone who has just written one.

TEXT to TEXT and TEXT to WORLD are also important ways to connect, and if you listen to people who write curriculum and design state tests, I should say more important ways. Any way, or place, you have to start is fine.

In order to make connections to other texts, and connections to things in the world, you need to know about other texts, and know about things in the world.

BE A SPONGE. READ. LISTEN. STUDY. EXPERIENCE. ADD TO YOUR LISTS.