{"id":7964,"date":"2010-12-10T06:47:55","date_gmt":"2010-12-10T11:47:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/?p=7964"},"modified":"2010-12-10T06:47:55","modified_gmt":"2010-12-10T11:47:55","slug":"ingredients-of-revelation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/ingredients-of-revelation\/","title":{"rendered":"Ingredients of Revelation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From whiskey river<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n

Shinto<\/strong><\/p>\n

When misfortune confounds us
\nin an instant we are saved
\nby the humblest actions
\nof memory or attention:
\nthe taste of fruit, the taste of water,
\nthat face returned to us in dream,
\nthe first jasmine flowers of November,
\nthe infinite yearning of the compass,
\na book we thought forever lost,
\nthe pulsing of a hexameter,
\nthe little key that opens a house,
\nthe smell of sandalwood or library,
\nthe ancient name of a street,
\nthe colourations of a map,
\nan unforeseen etymology,
\nthe smoothness of a filed fingernail,
\nthe date that we were searching for,
\ncounting the twelve dark bell-strokes,
\na sudden physical pain.<\/p>\n

Eight million the deities of Shinto
\nwho travel the earth, secretly.
\nThose modest divinities touch us,
\ntouch us, and pass on by.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Jorge Luis Borges [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and:<\/p>\n

To make art is to sing with the human voice. To do this you must first learn that the only voice you need is the voice you already have. Art work is ordinary work, but it takes courage to embrace that work, and wisdom to mediate the interplay of art and fear. Sometimes to see your work’s rightful place you have to walk to the edge of the precipice and search the deep chasms. You have to see that the universe is not formless and dark throughout, but awaits simply the revealing light of your own mind. Your art does not arrive miraculously from the darkness, but is made uneventfully in the light.<\/p>\n

What veteran artists know about each other is that they have engaged the issues that matter to them. What veteran artists share in common is that they have learned how to get on with their work. Simply put, artists learn how to proceed, or they don’t. The individual recipe any artist finds for proceeding belongs to that artist alone — it’s non-transferable and of little use to others.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(David Bayles and Ted Orland, Art & Fear<\/em> [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

Not from whiskey river<\/em>:<\/p>\n

I remember, some years ago, coming up with a perfect idea for a Sandman<\/a> story. It was about a succubus who gave writers and artists and songwriters ideas in exchange for some of their lives. I called it Sex and Violets.<\/p>\n

It seemed a straightforward story, and it was only when I came to write it I discovered it was like trying to hold fine sand: every time I thought I’d got hold of it, it would trickle through my fingers and vanish.<\/p>\n

I wrote at the time:<\/p>\n

I’ve started this story twice, now, and got about half-way through it each time, only to watch it die on the screen.<\/p>\n

Sandman is, occasionally, a horror comic. But nothing I’ve written for it has ever gotten under my skin like this story I’m now going to have to wind up abandoning (with the deadline already a thing of the past). Probably because it cuts so close to home. It’s the ideas — and the ability to put them down on paper, and turn them into stories — that make me a writer. That mean I don’t have to get up early in the morning and sit on a train with people I don’t know, going to a job I despise.<\/p>\n

My idea of hell is a blank sheet of paper. Or a blank screen. And me, staring at it, unable to think of a single thing worth saying, a single character that people could believe in, a single story that hasn’t been told before.<\/p>\n

Staring at a blank sheet of paper.<\/p>\n

Forever.<\/p>\n

I wrote my way out of it, though. I got desperate (that’s another flip and true answer I give to the where-do-you-get-your-ideas question. ‘Desperation.’ It’s up there with ‘Boredom’ and ‘Deadlines’. All these answers are true to a point.)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Neil Gaiman [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

…and:<\/p>\n

Bleezer’s Ice Cream<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
\nI run BLEEZER’S ICE CREAM STORE,
\nthere are flavors in my freezer
\nyou have never seen before,
\ntwenty-eight divine creations
\ntoo delicious to resist,
\nwhy not do yourself a favor,
\ntry the flavors on my list:<\/p>\n

COCOA MOCHA MACARONI
\nTAPIOCA SMOKED BALONEY
\nCHECKERBERRY CHEDDAR CHEW
\nCHICKEN CHERRY HONEYDEW
\nTUTTI-FRUTTI STEWED TOMATO
\nTUNA TACO BAKED POTATO
\nLOBSTER LITCHI LIMA BEAN
\nMOZZARELLA MANGOSTEEN
\nALMOND HAM MERINGUE SALAMI
\nYAM ANCHOVY PRUNE PASTRAMI
\nSASSAFRAS SOUVLAKI HASH
\nSUKIYAKI SUCCOTASH
\nBUTTER BRICKLE PEPPER PICKLE
\nPOMEGRANATE PUMPERNICKEL
\nPEACH PIMENTO PIZZA PLUM
\nPEANUT PUMPKIN BUBBLEGUM
\nBROCCOLI BANANA BLUSTER
\nCHOCOLATE CHOP SUEY CLUSTER
\nAVOCADO BRUSSELS SPROUT
\nPERIWINKLE SAUERKRAUT
\nCOTTON CANDY CARROT CUSTARD
\nCAULIFLOWER COLA MUSTARD
\nONION DUMPLING DOUBLE DIP
\nTURNIP TRUFFLE TRIPLE FLIP
\nGARLIC GUMBO GRAVY GUAVA
\nLENTIL LEMON LIVER LAVA
\nORANGE OLIVE BAGEL BEET
\nWATERMELON WAFFLE WHEAT<\/p>\n

I am Ebenezer Bleezer,
\nI run BLEEZER’S ICE CREAM STORE,
\ntaste a flavor from my freezer,
\nyou will surely ask for more.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Jack Prelutsky [source<\/em><\/a>])<\/p>\n

Finally… In a classic ten-minute cartoon from 1953, Disney animators taught their audience about the four elements of the musical-instrument universe:<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

In 1994, a thousand professional animators ranked Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom<\/em><\/a> #29 on their list of the fifty greatest cartoons of all time. (I wonder how it’d fare in a post-Pixar rating?)<\/p>\n

To be perfectly honest, although the title<\/em> was engraved in memory, I’d forgotten all about the content until watching that YouTube video. (Egad — what a fate for somebody’s work, hmm?) I might have been thinking of this shorter Donald Duck cartoon, which addresses something of the same subject, more indirectly:<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From whiskey river: Shinto When misfortune confounds us in an instant we are saved by the humblest actions of memory or attention: the taste of fruit, the taste of water, that face returned to us in dream, the first jasmine flowers of November, the infinite yearning of the compass, a book we thought forever lost, […]<\/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":[247,1393,53,74,250,274,5,251,324,372],"tags":[212,852,889,942,1459,2106,2107,2108,2109,2110,2111,2112],"class_list":{"0":"post-7964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-ruminations","7":"category-whiskey-river-runningaftermyhat","8":"category-movies-media","9":"category-music","10":"category-art","11":"category-cartoons","12":"category-06_writing","13":"category-poetry-writing_cat","14":"category-researchresources","15":"category-style-and-craft","16":"tag-creativity","17":"tag-neil-gaiman","18":"tag-ted-orland","19":"tag-david-bayles","20":"tag-jorge-luis-borges","21":"tag-toot-whistle-plunk-and-boom","22":"tag-lateral-thinking","23":"tag-ideas","24":"tag-jack-prelutsky","25":"tag-disney","26":"tag-stock-photography","27":"tag-inspiration","28":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kZSG-24s","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7964","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=7964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7964\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/johnesimpson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}