This Thursday (May 7th) at 11:30AM, I'll be joining the sweet people of the Nashville Cohort at the Flying Saucer (affixed lovingly to the back half of Union Station) for food and conversation. All are welcome. You're advised to call the place sometime beforehand if you're wanting to order a dish.
Not a whole lot to report upon here other than gratefulness for the good vibrations consistently sent my way from people who are reading the book. The "book launch" consisted of people who'd gathered at Portland Brew and it went on for maybe three hours. Sarah thanked everyone for coming. I expressed my desire that everyone would introduce themselves to someone they didn't know, and then we just yakked away. Every fifteen minutes or so I'd invite people to share a quote, a line from a song or a poem, or anything they had in their heads that seemed fitting. Lots of Willy Wonka gems, some Gerard Manley Hopkins, and even one instance where Tony Doling and Joe Nolan saw fit to re-enact a scene from Oliver Stone's Wall Street. It occurred to many of us that this sort of thing is probably what we're hoping for when we "go out" to a cafe or a bar or a party, and facilitating the now-people-share-words moment(s) seems to do the trick. I suspect we'll do it again.
One quote I didn't share but which seems to speak to what went well that night (and to what probably happens whenever we rightly say that anything at all goes well) is this: “Love is the perception of individuals. Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real. Love, and so art and morals, is the discovery of reality.”
Iris Murdoch, “The Sublime and the Good”
Hope this finds everyone feeling (or nearing) well.
5 comments:
Now, I think you have gone off the rails altogether.
You wanna believe in UFOs?
Wasn't sure where to write this but I am enjoying the new book BIG TIME. One of many things it got me into Arcade Fire, which I am ashamed took me this long. Cheers and thanks for the words to cause many thoughts and challenge.
No shame, B Holt.
Thanks for the shout-out, and I hope this finds you well.
First-time commenter, long-time reader.
I'm a fan of all your books and have used them in college ministry at my church. Did a 'Looking for Christ in pop culture' class that Apocalypse helped greatly in. And now I'm leading a group that's going through 'Sacredness.' (I lent my pastor GATA).
Your writing is always a challenge to me and a soothing encouragement. Finishing any of the chapters in your books makes me want to write all the more.
Anyway, I'm a fan of a band that brings back a lot of the points you make in your books: mewithoutYou. They bear witness to the apocalypse, question everything and just plain make quality music. Their newest album is a great example of...well, them: 'It's all crazy. It's all false. It's all a dream. It's alright.'
If you've never heard of them before, they're well worth the time.
Glad to hear from you, Eric. My brother-in-law, Michael, has been championing MewithoutYou for some time. I've liked what I've heard and I'll pay slighly more attention from here on out.
best,
jdd
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