Sometimes I'm tempted to send my notebooks to a psychiatrist, just in case.
freewrite from October 14, 2003, at Peet's coffee (approximately 9:30 AM)
This year, I am staying away from the desert. I am folding the maps, crushing the sunglasses, unraveling the copper wire from my teeth, cutting off the dreads, erasing my footprints from the carpet , charting my progress on a GPS, calling dead friends on the cell phone, wearing red glasses in the rain, biting my tongue, taking my vitamins, getting my checkups, waiting for the cancer to return, waiting for the cancer to heal, learning to climb the cold mountain, picking away at the ice, setting my watch to the wrong time, learning what topophilia really means, tuning a direct frequency to Aristotle, asking what I can get out of it, locking the liquor cabinet, chewing the seal on the boric acid capsules, diving into the pathological river, wearing my socks to my knees, and scraping the blade down my molars. I am getting on the wrong bus and following you around town. Can you hear me? Did you know that antifreeze is being used to cure severed spines?
Comments (5)
I have received some emails about "cutting off the dreads." In response: yes, I had dreads. Past tense. Not so long ago, actually.
Posted by karrie | October 15, 2003 12:33 PM
Posted on October 15, 2003 12:33
And to the others who have written. . . A freewrite is done without paying attention to your "critical voice." Grammar, spelling, matters of fact, and "making sense" are of absolutely no concern or consequence in a freewrite. It is meant to free up the mind, and as a result, it embraces surprise. Strange images, nonsensical ideas, contraries - these are all par for the course. :)
Posted by karrie | October 15, 2003 3:00 PM
Posted on October 15, 2003 15:00
This is one hell of a freewrite--I especially like "I am getting on the wrong bus and following you around town." The style reminds me of the "white trash" section that is part of "Maslow's Hierarchy" (I think), which is one of my favorite things you have written.
Posted by dewi | October 15, 2003 6:03 PM
Posted on October 15, 2003 18:03
I'm blushing, Dewi. Thank you. :)
Posted by K | October 15, 2003 6:39 PM
Posted on October 15, 2003 18:39
I have written many freewrites and all kinds of crazy stuff comes out. It is a very different thing from writing a proper essay or blog post. It is a way to let the subconscious speak. If a person could write while dreaming, it would look a lot like a freewrite.
Posted by Michael J. Totten | October 16, 2003 1:20 AM
Posted on October 16, 2003 01:20