LOVING WORDS

Oh wow. . . here I go again.  Do I mean "loving" as a verb, or "loving" as an adjective?    Has someone up here started to talk to me with "loving words?"   Or am I literally LOVING words????


This time it's the second example.   A verb.   LOVING words.   And I do.  I always have.  That's one reason why I do crosswords. . .not just to fill in the little squares, although I really love filling in squares,  but to find the right word. It's so satisfying.


If you go back through my blogs you'll see that I have a limited vocabulary.  Everything is "fabulous" or "spectacular" or "moving" or "provocative."   I just say the same things over and over.


I mean. . . . I start a lot of sentences with "I mean."   Or  "for the record."  I just have a limited supply of expressions it seems.


But oh, I love a person that can turn a phrase.  And turn it differently every time.


So, excuse me for repeating my self in two blogs, but today Geraldine Brooks spoke about her book, Caleb's Crossing.  And yesterday in her master class presentation with her husband, Tony Horwitz, she stayed off the topic of this book because she was going to talk about it today.  But let's just get this Geraldine Brooks thing straight right away. . . this woman is such a gifted user of words.  Her everyday language is fluid, and spontaneous, and beautiful.  She constructs her sentences when she is talking in the most beautiful way.  I wish I was her so I could really tell you how it is to hear her just speak!  She can turn a phrase.   It's fabulous!  It's spectacular!   Geez. . . .why can't I do better????


Today she approached the microphone and immediately the listener was aware that somewhere between yesterday and today she had pretty much lost her voice.  She apologized and promised to do her best, and cute hunky husband Tony was in the wings ready to step in should she faulter.  And then she proceeded to read her prepared remarks (which she wrote, obviously, so they were spectacularly [parentheses within a parentheses . . . give me a break] beautiful words).   The audience was carried away by the beauty of her words. She spoke of her life, of doing research for "Caleb" and of her views about life in general.  Every single word of the speech was carefully crafted. Not a word was wasted.   I had a momentary flashback to last year when I eagerly attended the presentation of Amy Dickinson who wrote The Mighty Queens of Freeville.  The book was cute and I had heard her on the program "Wait, wait, don't tell me!" on PBS.   I couldn't wait to see her.  And then she stood up at the podium and spent the better part of an hour READING from her book!   I had already read the book!  I was so disappointed!!!


Geraldine Brooks' talk was the polar opposite of that.   I don't think they make tapes of the authors' presentations, but if they do, I'm buying a CD of the talk I heard today.


Finely crafted words.  Billy Collins.  Geraldine Brooks.  Barbara Kingsolver.  It's just such a fabulous, spectacular gift (shoot me now!!!).   I'm so inadequate.  But I appreciate gifted people.  And it's always a privilege to be in their presence.  As it was today.