When talking, make sure to respond to each moment in the conversation. For example, tonight when I was talking with David Bromige I told him how much I liked "LInes" and "Lines Upon a Distant Prospect of Lines." When he said he felt that way too, I said nothing. I probably thought I was being diplomatic, because soon after I emphasized how much I liked the whole book. ("Desire") Now, as I look back , I think I was just being impatient and skipping steps. The equivalent to this in music might be to fudge on the counterpoint and development and return to the main theme: which, of course, is what I had to say. By the way, he also spoke about a friend that somtimes does not allow pauses in the conversation for the other person to respond. In music- the melody- as compared to Debussy's space that allowed for wandering- not the same thing as noodling around.

Trajectory: "Why finish anything when there is so much pleasure to be found in the project itself." (Baudelaire)

Why try to be someone "important" when recent history proves that there are no longer any "big people" only the broken pieces of what might have gone towards making up a "big person." A situation in which everyone and anything and anyone which or who is sensitive is "shattered" by so-called reality. And yet the bravest ones go on pretending things are what they might have been and give us the reassuring illusion that there are still "important people." Yes, very important cogs in a gigantic machine growing bigger, more grinding, more pounding EVERY SINGLE MINUTE.

So-called peace of mind being nostalgia for a time when this might have been possible (if ever such a time actually existed except in similar states of nostalgia.)

You enter into a relationship with another author- you read his or her book(s). You think you are done and sooner or later go on to the next one and that's the end of it. How wrong you are. The author- alive or dead- is now much more part of your life than you think.This is, in fact, not that different from your relationship with a "flesh and blood" person that you know. You didn't know that the author might want something too? The money? If any, most of that went to the publisher, the distributor, the bookstore. Credit for the ideas? You've probably thought of them yourself at one time or another- or you are already suspecting where the author has borrowed them from. What does a writer want (or take) in exchange? Of course, you knew it all along- a place to inhabit- within your mind and soul. And hopefully, even more space to stretch out in- by and by. (9/19/93)