Interviewer: How much rewriting do you do?

Hemingway: It depends. I rewrote the ending of Farewell to Arms, the last page of it, 39 times before I was satisfied.

Interviewer: Was there some technical problem there? What was it that had stumped you?

Hemingway: Getting the words right.

(Via Shawn Blanc and Leo Babauta)

Here’s the email and attached photos I sent tonight to The Slickman Building (4th floor), somewhere in Britain. It documents my participation, again this year, in the SA4Q event, celebrating the 86th naming day of Russell Hoban. All around the world, pieces of yellow paper with quotes from Hoban books were left in public places – cafe tables, bookshops, park benches, telephone booths, train stations or anywhere the birthday celebrants deemed appropriate. The SA4QE (Slickman A4 Quotation Event) website lists 350 quotes that have been left, on previous birthdays, in big cities and small towns in 14 countries since 2002. Russell Hoban remains one of the most original writers of the twentieth century and one of my very favourites. Here’s what I sent:

Good evening,

Thanks again for this opportunity to participate!

Russell Hoban’s birthday began, in White Rock, British Columbia, Canada, with a menacing darkness squatted defiantly over Semiahmoo Bay. My yellow paper had been wrapped in plastic, as always, to protect it from an inevitable rain coast pelting – and subsequent melting – of Mr. Hoban’s words, but the particularly unwelcoming weather kept me inside until early afternoon …

At 2:00 PM Pacific Standard Time, on Russell Hoban’s naming day when he come 86, the dark clouds parted and the sun shone down. I headed down to the beach with my lovely wife, yellow paper in hand.

It was left on the best bench. Close to the water but distant from the action. A peaceful yet powerful spot. The wind was still whipping up the water. The gulls like that.

I am proud to once again represent for White Rock. I hear that, as of this year, I’m no longer the only Canadian contributor to SA4QE. This makes me proud as well. Here’s what’s written on my paper:

Reality is ungraspable. For convenience we use a limited-reality consensus in which work can be done, transport arranged, and essential services provided. The real reality is something else–only the strangeness of it can be taken in…

Russell Hoban
The Moment Under The Moment, Foreword

My best to all members of the Kraken Community …

And Thank you again, Russ, for the joyous mystery and the mysterious joy

Happy Birthday!

All best

Ra McGuire

Quantum physicist Richard Feynman is one of my heroes. This is from an interview I re-watched last night. I transcribed this bit so I wouldn’t forget it:

“You see, one thing is, I can live with doubt, and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it’s much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong.

I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of certainty about different things, but I’m not absolutely sure of anything – and there are many things I don’t know anything about, such as whether it means anything to ask why we’re here – and what the question might mean. I might think about it a little bit but if I can’t figure it out then I go into something else. But I don’t have to know an answer.

I don’t have to … I don’t feel frightened by not knowing things – by being lost in a mysterious universe without having any purpose – which is the way it really is as far as I can tell … possibly. It doesn’t frighten me.”

~ Richard Feynman

From an interview with the BBC Horizon program; “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out.” 1981

Richard was also a helluva conga drum player.

Connor’s photography has been featured on the UK Blog ‘G Squared‘ in a post called “and we Give You Connor McGuire”. Check it there and also stop by his Flickr page to see some more of his work.

Full band arrangement. Beautiful. And some pretty candid thoughts on the process.

Check it here, and, as always, please spread the word and subscribe to the Connor McGuire YouTube channel.

Ten weeks!! Ten!

I don’t think Connor expected his ‘Song a Week Project’ to develop into the creative journey it’s become. The process is taking him places he otherwise never would have ventured. Once again the new song has brain-bombed me and I can’t stop singing it …

Check it here, and please subscribe to the Connor McGuire YouTube channel.

Six weeks, six new songs! I can’t say he makes it look easy – as you’ve seen, it hasn’t been – but I can marvel at the fact that he continues to create a brand new, and amazingly good, new song every week! This week’s song is a hard-rockin’ full-band-style arrangement, leaving behind the acoustic vibe from weeks four and five. Check out “House of Cards” here or on the YouTubes. Send your friends. And if you haven’t yet, subscribe to the Connor McGuire YouTube channel.

Connor’s Week 5 song for his ‘Song a Week Project’ could be his best yet, despite the fact that it ended up being a ‘Song a Day Project’. The suspense is killing me! Please support Connor’s work by subscribing to his YouTube channel and leaving encouraging comments.

Every week of Connor’s ‘Song a Week Project’ has had it’s challenges. Week four was no exception. His plan to simplify the process by eliminating a full band arrangement and writing on an acoustic guitar just created a higher expectation for the lyrics – which became a struggle. I’m proud to say that Connor won that battle, and that “Getting Over It” (or whatever the official title will be) is a truly beautiful, thoughtful and damned catchy song. I’ve been singing it all morning!

If you know anyone who would take the time to view and comment on Connor’s ‘SWP’ vids (or, better yet, subscribe to the series), please direct them either to this site or to the YouTube page where it’s hosted.

What Connor is doing with his ‘Song a Week Project’ is brutally difficult work. Making something from nothing – the delicate alchemy of songwriting – can be a gut-wrenching endeavour at the best of times, and doing it on a schedule like this is something I don’t think I could do. I watch his progress with a mixture of fear and loathing … and pride.

Check this out to see a great song being created:

Best yet! This was a really good idea.

PART TWO: