I didn’t even have to walk outside to reach the 25-meter pool in the fitness center, thanks to a sort of tunnel connector to my dorm room. It was my first long swim in a long time, so I feel tingling and virtuous as I begin Day 2 at Camp Blog. My goal is to be a good Blogscout by keeping my mind open and taking as few opportunities as possible to prove how little I know amidst this high-octane gaggle of generous geeks. It seems clear as I finish my morning meditation routine that the best way to learn new things is to embrace the full extent of my ignorance.
Now I dip into Ted Kooser’s new book, Writing Brave & Free, which is like a time warp back to the fifties, wherein this poet whom I admire extols writing longhand and even typewriters as opposed to computers. “Keyboarding, your fingers seem to race ahead of your mind,” he writes. “Or maybe they keep up with your mind without pausing for reflection.” Think about this. First of all, I doubt Ted’s mind or the mind of anyone with normal gray matter has any trouble staying five thoughts ahead of even the fastest typing. Secondly, in his preference for handwriting I’m not sure what is racing ahead and what is pausing for reflection; isn’t it the same mind in each case? But I’m confusing myself even writing about it and reflecting, deleting words and phrases, and all the while sensing how this whole project of communication among humans is undergoing vast change via the explorations of Blogocrats like those gathered here in Banff.
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