{"id":14180,"date":"2013-07-12T11:36:51","date_gmt":"2013-07-12T15:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/?p=14180"},"modified":"2013-07-12T11:36:51","modified_gmt":"2013-07-12T15:36:51","slug":"what-to-do-with-for-in-just-one-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/2013\/07\/what-to-do-with-for-in-just-one-world\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Do (with, for, in) Just One World"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script src=\"http:\/\/player.ooyala.com\/player.js?video_pcode=hhMnI6sYpNLKN_o5hP-1TMfZy1Zz&#038;height=338&#038;embedCode=twcjh5YzpL_XZc6jmRDwunExdzCJXtZA&#038;deepLinkEmbedCode=twcjh5YzpL_XZc6jmRDwunExdzCJXtZA&#038;width=600\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p class=\"smalltext\"><em>[Video from the Slashdot &#8220;News for nerds, stuff that matters&#8221; discussion forum: Sarah Campagna<br \/>\ndiscusses her <a title=\"CyberCraft Robots: home page\" href=\"http:\/\/cybercraftrobots.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">CyberCraft<\/a> robot-rescue project: building new robots from scraps of old ones. The finished<br \/>\nworks are statues &#8212; immobile, fine-art sculpture &#8212; rather than machines, but they do arrest the<br \/>\nattention. The company slogan: &#8220;Robots, Rayguns, and Spaceships You Will Covet.&#8221;]<\/em><\/p>\n<p>From <a title=\"whiskey river: 'Long Point Light' (excerpt), by Mark Doty\" href=\"http:\/\/whiskeyriver.blogspot.com\/2013\/07\/blog-post_5.html\" target=\"_blank\"><em>whiskey river<\/em><\/a> (italicized portion):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Long Point Light<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Long Point&#8217;s apparitional<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: .5em;\">this warm spring morning,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">the strand a blur of sandy light,<\/span><\/p>\n<p>and the square white<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: .5em;\">of the lighthouse&#8212;separated from us<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">by the bay&#8217;s ultramarine<\/span><\/p>\n<p>as if it were nowhere<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: .5em;\">we could ever go&#8212;gleams<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">like a tower&#8217;s ghost, hazing<\/span><\/p>\n<p>into the rinsed blue of March,<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: .5em;\">our last outpost in the huge<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">indetermination of sea.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It seems cheerful enough,<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: .5em;\">in the strengthening sunlight,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">fixed point accompanying our walk<\/span><\/p>\n<p>along the shore. Sometimes I think<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: .5em;\">it&#8217;s the where-we-will-be,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">only not yet, like some visible outcropping<\/span><\/p>\n<p>of the afterlife. In the dark<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: .5em;\">its deeper invitations emerge:<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">green witness at night&#8217;s end,<\/span><\/p>\n<p>flickering margin of horizon,<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: .5em;\">marker of safety and limit.<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">But limitless, the way it calls us,<\/span><\/p>\n<p>and where it seems to want us<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: .5em;\">to come. And so I invite it<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">into the poem, to speak,<\/span><\/p>\n<p>and the lighthouse says:<br \/>\n<em><span style=\"margin-left: .5em;\">Here is the world you asked for,<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<em> <span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">gorgeous and opportune,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>here is nine o&#8217;clock, harbor-wide,<\/em><br \/>\n<em> <span style=\"margin-left: .5em;\">and a glinting code: promise and warning.<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<em> <span style=\"margin-left: 1em;\">The morning&#8217;s the size of heaven.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>What will you do with it?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(Mark Doty [<a title=\"The Atlantic (Dec. 1994): 'Long Point Light,' by Mark Doty\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/past\/docs\/unbound\/poetry\/atlpoets\/doty9412.htm\" target=\"_blank\"><em>source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;<a title=\"whiskey river: Freeman Dyson, on this interesting universe\" href=\"http:\/\/whiskeyriver.blogspot.com\/2013\/07\/i-suggest-following-hypothesis-about.html\" target=\"_blank\">and<\/a>\u00a0(in slightly different words):<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>As a working hypothesis to explain the riddle of our existence, I propose that our universe is the most interesting of all possible universes, and our fate as human beings is to make it so.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(Freeman Dyson [<a title=\"Google Books: 'Infinite in All Directions,' by Freeman Dyson\" href=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=pr00T_i2BqYC&amp;pg=PR11#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\"><em>source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;<a title=\"whiskey river: 'Today,' by Mary Oliver\" href=\"http:\/\/whiskeyriver.blogspot.com\/2013\/07\/blog-post_7.html\" target=\"_blank\">and<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Today<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Today I&#8217;m flying low and I&#8217;m<br \/>\nnot saying a word.<br \/>\nI&#8217;m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.<\/p>\n<p>The world goes on as it must,<br \/>\nthe bees in the garden rumbling a little,<br \/>\nthe fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.<br \/>\nAnd so forth.<\/p>\n<p>But I&#8217;m taking the day off.<br \/>\nQuiet as a feather.<br \/>\nI hardly move though really I&#8217;m traveling<br \/>\na terrific distance.<\/p>\n<p>Stillness. One of the doors<br \/>\ninto the temple.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(Mary Oliver [<a title=\"Google Books: 'A Thousand Mornings,' by Mary Oliver\" href=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=_Kt5qe63_soC&amp;pg=PT19#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\"><em>source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Not from\u00a0<em>whiskey river<\/em>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>After Reading Tu Fu, I Go Outside to the Dwarf Orchard<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>East of me, west of me, full summer.<br \/>\nHow deeper than elsewhere the dusk is in your own yard.<br \/>\nBirds fly back and forth across the lawn<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 21em;\">looking for home<\/span><br \/>\nAs night drifts up like a little boat.<\/p>\n<p>Day after day, I become of less use to myself.<br \/>\nLike this mockingbird,<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 12em;\">I flit from one thing to the next.<\/span><br \/>\nWhat do I have to look forward to at fifty-four?<br \/>\nTomorrow is dark.<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 9.5em;\">Day-after-tomorrow is darker still.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The sky dogs are whimpering.<br \/>\nFireflies are dragging the hush of evening<br \/>\n<span style=\"margin-left: 22em;\">up from the damp grass.<\/span><br \/>\nInto the world&#8217;s tumult, into the chaos of every day,<br \/>\nGo quietly, quietly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(Charles Wright [<a title=\"poets.org: 'After Reading Tu Fu...,' by Charles Wright\" href=\"http:\/\/www.poets.org\/viewmedia.php\/prmMID\/15273\" target=\"_blank\"><em>source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;and:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Request<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For a long time I was sure<br \/>\nit should be &#8220;Jumping Jack Flash,&#8221; then<br \/>\nthe adagio from Schubert&#8217;s C major Quintet,<br \/>\nbut right now I want Oscar Peterson&#8217;s<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You Look Good to Me.&#8221; That&#8217;s my request.<br \/>\nPlay it at the end of the service,<br \/>\nafter my friends have spoken.<br \/>\nI don&#8217;t believe I&#8217;ll be listening in,<\/p>\n<p>but sitting here I&#8217;m imagining<br \/>\nyou could be feeling what I&#8217;d like to feel&#8212;<br \/>\ndefiance from the Stones, grief<br \/>\nand resignation with Schubert, but now<\/p>\n<p>Peterson and Ray Brown are making<br \/>\nthe moment sound like some kind<br \/>\nof release. Sad enough<br \/>\nat first, but doesn&#8217;t it slide into<\/p>\n<p>tapping your feet, then clapping<br \/>\nyour hands, maybe standing up<br \/>\nin that shadowy hall in Paris<br \/>\nin the late sixties when this was recorded,<\/p>\n<p>getting up and dancing<br \/>\nas I would not have done,<br \/>\nand being dead, cannot, but might<br \/>\nwish for you, who would then<\/p>\n<p>understand what a poem&#8212;or perhaps only<br \/>\nthe making of a poem, just that moment<br \/>\nwhen it starts, when so much<br \/>\nis still possible&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>has allowed me to feel.<br \/>\nHappy to be there. Carried away.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(Lawrence Raab [<a title=\"Google Books: 'Visible Signs,' by Lawrence Raab\" href=\"http:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=Eq_xAvBdMmMC&amp;pg=PT37#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\"><em>source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;and (because I can&#8217;t read a reference like <em>Oscar Peterson&#8217;s &#8220;You Look Good to Me&#8221;<\/em> without wanting to hear the thing myself):<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 90%; line-height: 1.25em;\"><em>[Below, click Play button to begin <\/em>You Look Good to Me<em>. While audio is playing, volume control appears at left &#8212; a row of little vertical bars. This clip is 4:52 long.<a class=\"hidden\" title=\"9.5MB - you sure about this?\" href=\"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/audio\/youlookgoodtome_oscarpeterson.mp3\" target=\"_blank\">]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"border: 1px solid silver; margin: 0.25em auto 0.5em; padding: 1em 0.5em 0pt; width: 400px; float: none; text-align: center;\" title=\"Click Play button to hear 'You Look Good to Me'\">[audio:youlookgoodtome_oscarpeterson.mp3|titles=&#8217;You Look Good to Me&#8217;|artists=Oscar Peterson Trio]<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[Video from the Slashdot &#8220;News for nerds, stuff that matters&#8221; discussion forum: Sarah Campagna discusses her CyberCraft robot-rescue project: building new robots from scraps of old ones. The finished works are statues &#8212; immobile, fine-art sculpture &#8212; rather than machines, but they do arrest the attention. The company slogan: &#8220;Robots, Rayguns, and Spaceships You Will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","h5ap_radio_sources":[],"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":3,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[247,1393,74,250,5,251],"tags":[595,941,3545,3546,3547,3548,3549],"class_list":{"0":"post-14180","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-ruminations","7":"category-whiskey-river-runningaftermyhat","8":"category-music","9":"category-art","10":"category-06_writing","11":"category-poetry-writing_cat","12":"tag-mary-oliver","13":"tag-charles-wright","14":"tag-mark-doty","15":"tag-freeman-dyson","16":"tag-lawrence-raab","17":"tag-oscar-peterson","18":"tag-robots","19":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kZSG-3GI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14180"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14205,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14180\/revisions\/14205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}