Delight Springs

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Telling it slant

Dr. Seuss said “I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living; it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.” John Irving said “If you can see things out of whack, then you can see how things can be in whack.”  And Emily Dickinson said "Tell all the truth but tell it slant." I think they all mean the same thing: own your own point of view, be yourself, don't let the crazy whacked out world deny your vision.

Emerson, then. I'm off to the philosophy conference to consider him, and Dewey, and others who've advanced American philosophy with their distinctive end-of-the-scope perspectives. We had a good Emerson report in CoPhi yesterday from Cortney, who gave us an apt quote: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." She didn't mention "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." I know I like quotations. He did too, just didn't want to admit it. They're usually at the wrong end of the subjective POV telescope. But as Robert Richardson notes, he said "first we read..."

She must have been puzzled when I misunderstood her to say that he was buried in Sleepy Hollow NY (not Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord MA). Younger Daughter and I have been watching that preposterously entertaining show about the former, and it tickled me to imagine RWE rising from his eternal sleep and dabbling in the dark arts. Our conference session is on Emerson the naturalist (and Dewey the Hegelian), so I was primed to hear "Sleepy Hollow" slant.

What a crazy-sane "wrong end of the telescope" moment it was the other day when our current favorite Major Tom went floating on the ISS in his ape suit. Welcome back, Scott Kelly. Thanks for all the sunrises.

Image result for scott kelly sunrise

podcast
5:45/6:17, 33/50


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