Drawing by Richard Diebenkorn
The Pleasures of Hating by Laure-Anne Bosselaar
I hate Mozart. Hate him with that healthy
pleasure one feels when exasperation has
crescendoed, when lungs, heart, throat,
and voice explode at once: I hate that! —
there’s bliss in this, rapture. My shrink
tried to disabuse me, convinced I use Amadeus
as a prop: Think further; your father perhaps?
I won’t go back, think of the shrink
with a powdered wig, pinched lips, mole:
a transference, he’d say, a relapse: so be it.
I hate broccoli, chain saws, patchouli, bra-
clasps that draw dents in your back, roadblocks,
men in black kneesocks, sandals and shorts —
I love hating that. Loathe stickers on tomatoes,
jerky, deconstruction, nazis, doilies. I delight
in detesting. And love loving so much after that.
Other poems I enjoyed reading this week:
"I have been studying the difference
between solitude and loneliness,
telling the story of my life
to the clean white towels taken warm from the dryer.
I carry them through the house
as though they were my children
asleep in my arms."
-White Towels by Richard Jones
"I was tired. So I lay down.
My lids grew heavy. So I slept.
Slender memory, stay with me."
-from Mnemonic by Li-Young Lee
"I want to grow
something.
It seems impossible that desire
can sometimes transform into devotion;
but this has happened.
And that is how I’ve survived:
how the hole
I carefully tended
in the garden of my heart
grew a heart
to fill it."
-from Desire by Alice Walker
"She wants a row of jars:
oats, coriander, thick green oil;
I want nothing to store."
-from Want by Joan Larkin
"I dreamed that you were a bee
That one day gaily flew along,
You came across the hedge to me,
And sang a soft, love-burdened song.
You brushed my petals with a kiss,
I woke to gladness with a start,
And yielded up to you in bliss
The treasured fragrance of my heart;
And then I knew
That I had waited there for you."
-from The Awakening by James Weldon Johnson
Recommended Listening:
Getty Podcast: Alice Neel Fly - Bloodwitch
Links of the Week:
The Last Woman on Earth (a graphic narrative)
Under Consideration The Mind At Work
Watch: Bloom
Words of Women Quarantine Cooking by Krish Raghav
Martin Usborne’s photos of dogs in cars speak to humans’ fear of abandonment
Instagram Finds:
(i'm in love with Andrea Animates)
Interview: Pattern maker Polina Oshurkova
"I enjoy working at my home on my sketchbook while there's still daylight out, sitting alone in silence or listening to a podcast. My desk is very big and it is rather clean because I have two little children. They are very curious about all my art stuff, and I love to keep my work safely. The desk is white and stands near big windows. There is a notebook, graphics tablet, scanner, computer screen, iPad, a lot of markers, a couple of sketchbooks, embroidery supplies (which I'm working on at the moment), planner, plants, lamp, and some embroidery and pictures on the wall. I need all of these to start the work quickly, without wasting time searching for the necessary media and tools."
-Polina Oshurkova
Read the full interview with Polina here.
Photograph: Edward Steichen
"I've written some poetry I don't understand myself."
-Carl Sandburg
36 days of Type is back!
It's 36 Days of Type 2020 time! From March 2nd to April 6th, every designer, illustrator or artist is invited to share their own creative take on the letterforms and share it with the world, as a global and simultaneous act of creativity exploring the boundaries of typography. #36daysoftype07
After years of following everyone else's experiments with type, I'm ready to plunge in myself, and take on the challenge for the first time on ro.doodles. I urge you to take part too! :)
Wishing you all a lovely week and month ahead,
Rohini