Tuesday morning the sun, which had now swung right around, was casting great shadows through the trees onto the fence.
More about synesthesia, now in US spelling, in response to S. When I first realized my experience wasn't universal, was in my last year of high school. We got a new French teacher, new Oxford graduate, Daphne Nutbrown, great name and interesting teacher.
This was an advanced class, doing explication de texte, a kind of close analysis, and she introduced us to Rimbaud's poem Voyelles, on the colors of vowels. Here's an extract
I was thrilled about this, though my own colors were different, and plunged into discussion. I noticed a couple of other girls looking completely baffled, then one said "I've no idea what any of this means".
Then I realized most of the group agreed with her. Oh. To me it seemed obvious. I remember being amazed in my turn! Up to then I'd never discussed it, any more than you discuss other senses, so normal. I thought. But Daphne was on it, and her colors were different, too.
About what senses are involved for me -- some, not all, of them. Every sensation or sound doesn't have a corresponding reaction. Many sounds evoke color and shape, color evokes taste, but taste doesn't evoke anything, names evoke color, shape, movement. Touch doesn't evoke anything, I think.
So that's my best try for now.
I decided to skip the knitting group this week, a weird superstitious feeling that I'd rather not drive the car, just in case. I wanted it to be in good shape for Friday.
And I thought I'd wait on a ride service till next week, when I'll drop off food then go to the library to pick up my expected book and attend the group, all in one sequence.
Also I'm hopelessly congested, sneezing coughing. No it's not a cold. It's boyz with toyz.
Six guys with noisy tools and vehicles rounding up leaves and filling the air with dust and mold spores. I skipped walking, too. That's not fog, it's dust.
Textiles and Tea featured Andrea Blackmon, multi talented crafter, who aside from weaving, beading, crocheting, doll making and quilting, teaches weaving to young students with a range of learning issues.
Here the focus was on her own work which she has exhibited, and these pieces are from a joint exhibit with another weaver based on squares. Her smallest one, the beaded tree, is 4" and her largest is 30" square.
She uses a table loom, and it needs a skilled weaver to grasp what she said about weave pattern and structure. There's a lot of double weave here.
Happy day everyone, do what you can, don't pressure yourself the way I do!
Double weave reversible fabrics fascinate me. I have room divider curtains, leaping deer and foliage. One side is golden deer and black background, the other is red deer on gold background. How? Magic.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds amazing. And mysterious!
DeleteI can't pretend to understand synaesthesia but I believe you.
ReplyDeleteI might have the same suspicion about driving the car as it was about to be sold. Mind, I think I will be in a terrible accident with my car written off after I take it to the expensive car wash. Normal people only think of the just washed car being in the rain.
I totally get that comic take! We definitely go for the worst outcome.
DeleteThat is beautiful double weave...like the traditional 8 shaft woven Carthenni, blankets, from Wales
ReplyDeleteThank you! We used to have a couple of weavers helping with the footnotes but they're not active now. So you filled the gap perfectly.
DeleteI love Andrea Blackmon’s work, also that of her colleague. But especially hers! We stopped driving our car once we lined up the sale. I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it on my blog, but I te d to see words as pictures (literal, totems, abstracts). I arrange the letters in my head. I would doodle at every meeting and was finally inspired when I doodled the words F*** You during an editorial meetin, for a job I loathed, into a totem that my creative director saw and loved. I then told him what it said and he was generously awe-struck. I even started a business from the idea. Maybe time to write about it again.
ReplyDeleteI'd definitely like to read more about that, Mitchell. Please do.
DeleteYes, good choice to avoid as much dust outside as possible. I enjoy hearing about your synesthesia, but don’t share the experience. It is very interesting however!
ReplyDeleteI think the dust is getting in everywhere! We've had rain so maybe that will settle it.
DeleteI don't think anyone in my family experiences synesthesia. It's such an interesting subject. I wonder if it's inherited? Do you know if any other of your family members experienced/experience it?
ReplyDeleteI definitely think it's an inherited gift. My sisters had it, and we rarely mentioned it, so obvious!
DeleteI love the story about your teacher Daphne Nutbrown and how you came to realize you were uniquely gifted with synesthesia!
ReplyDeleteIt was a before and after moment. Life before and life after realization. My peers already thought I was weird, and now they were sure of it.
DeleteDust is invasive and all encompassing. Such a nuisance and lots of work!
ReplyDeleteIt's the sneezing that's getting me nuts.
DeleteDo you find your synaesthesia overwhelming at times?
ReplyDeleteI understand your reluctance to drive your car when it has so nearly almost passed out of your realm.
Not overwhelming, just normal perception. Interesting that a couple of readers understand my not seizing the last chance to drive the car!
DeleteWe assume that we are normal when we are young. We also assume that we are well made -- good brains, personality, body etc. Then comes reality -- eventually.
ReplyDeleteYou sound a bit disillusioned!
DeleteI read a great deal as a child, and sometimes developed my own understanding of words, later being surprised to discover how they were actually pronounced or what they actually meant. All these later, it still seems wrong to me that vermillion is red and chartreuse is green.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny. My dad had some interesting pronunciations because of being a great reader in an environment where he had no opportunity to hear the words in use. So he rhymed mature with nature, that kind of thing.
DeleteAlthough my first thought is that it would be overwhelming or at least distracting. Then I realized that if it's always been part of you, it's just you. I think this does add to your creativity.
ReplyDeleteI think it's all part of natural perception, yes. It's no more distracting than breathing is. I sometimes think that with few internal barriers between the senses, there are fewer internal barriers to thought processes and ideas, so they flow more easily.
DeleteI can understand wanting to keep your car safe at home until the sale. I would worry about that too.
ReplyDeleteToday I get to have brunch with some of my high school friends. We meet once a month and we always have such great conversations and lots of laughter.
That brunch sounds great. I have brunch envy.
DeleteI would not have driven the car, either. ;)
ReplyDeleteDoes it add to your appreciation of textures along with colors? Seems it likely adds to all your creativity. Yu are so lucky! :)
I am very sensitive to texture, visually, not tactilely. I literally get nausea seeing certain textures, and have nightmares consisting totally of shifting textural planes. Some visual textures are fine though. Some names bring up texture and taste. Griffiths is one, though I'm enjoying her books. But that rough spiky moving grey mass I get with her name is difficult. I just note it and move on nowadays.
DeleteI’m glad you listened to your intuition and stayed home.
ReplyDeleteThat dust would of set me off too. I’d be taking antihistamine tablets like they were lollies
Like lollies!! LOLLLL!
DeleteOh, thank you for describing your experiences a bit more. So interesting! We each experience the world differently, and it can be hard to describe because it's our own "normal". I always enjoy insight into other people's worlds though, so thank you. Daphne Nutbrown is indeed a wonderful name. Like something out of a book! Your peers found you weird? Well, other words for that are unique and interesting, as I'm sure you know :)
ReplyDeleteWhat they didn't know was how peculiar I thought they were, worrying about boys and makeup and cliques! Different strokes.
DeleteHopefully you get a nice rain now to wash away all the mould and dust. I would have been on the same page in being loathe to drive the car, just in case, but too bad you had to miss knitting group.
ReplyDeleteIt was funny, a kind of superstitious feeling. But now it's all settled, yay
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