Late night thoughts on Zamboni drivers and other things
I am beginning to see that in the figure-ground divide, I've long had a soft spot for the ground. For the piece of paper and not just the word printed on it. For the road and not just the bicycle or car or bus. The sky, not just the fireworks. The soil and stake, not just the tomato plant. The rink, not just the hockey players. The background and not just the figure. Paul Simon has a line in a song on the Graceland album. In early memory Mission music Was 'ringing around My nursery door. The words depict a literal image in the listener's mind. This is the what of the verse, or the figure. There is also a how . The figure itself is figured. The how that works on me is in the alliteration of m and r sounds, and the way those consonants, repeated, produce a kind of gentle murmur somewhere in the background of my receiving equipment. As a child I struggled with two speech impediments. I couldn't say my r's. And I suffered with a stutter. Speech the...