Love Letters to Inanimate Objects

Day… almost done! Why so quiet?

05 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment

by Liz Argall in Letters

Why so quiet Liz? Well, I’ve only got one outstanding object to write a love letter to… and I’ve roped in the song writing skills of fellow write-a-thon participant Kelly Lagor to help me with that one (I believe my words were something like “Yaaaaaargh! Help me Kelly!”). That one might take a little while, might take us a little bit beyond the write-a-thon period so that we can make it rock (sorry Les R Evil).

I’m waiting from replies from a few mighty sponsors, so there’s a good chance a few more love letters will be written and posted up here over the next few months. If you want to pick an object for me to write a love letter to, but haven’t sponsored me yet, you have a day or so to get your $20 in.

Thank you everyone for sponsoring me. I’m truly astonished by how long that roll of honor on the side has gotten. Every time I get a donation I kind of stare at the screen for a while in a dumbfounded state with a puzzled, yet happy, smile on my face. This write-a-thon/creative project has been a crazy trip and I’m excited by all the ways I’ve challenged myself.

I’m tempted to find a way for this project to go on, I’m not sure. Life is a series of experiments – one building on the other. If you have some ideas about what I should do next I’d love your thoughts in the comments or drop me a line at liz@lizargall.com

Love letter to Ellaroo – a baby sling.

29 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment

by Liz Argall in Letters

For Alison Rose.

Dear Ellaroo,

Ellaroo baby sling, woven by women in Guatemala. When I think of you happy little tears form in my eyes and my throat feels tight.

We have never met, but I love you for what you give to my dear friend. My friend is a mother now. Her life is smaller and richer and bigger and she has what she has always wanted and fought for with more grace and grit than any other I know. She’s one of the bravest people I know.

Her life is smaller now and each freedom more precious as she walks steady into the mouth of this consuming path. She is woven into community that loves her, but there is much of this adventure that is just her in the whole wide world. We are not always there for her. But you are. You let my dear friend climb mountains, her little one snuggled safe against her chest. You cradle her baby, a baby I have never held but you joyously keep safe through adventure after adventure.

I imagine you blue like the ocean, green as the forest, a rainbow of hugs as my dear one holds her baby tight.

Thank you for helping her have adventures. To walk boldly through, bush, brush and in to town. That these adventures increase the bond between mother and her small person. That to go out into the world will not create distance but connection, heart beat to heart beat. As she climbs that mountain her heart pounds with a rhythm that pulses through her child. You are there to hold, you show that nestling and walking boldly are not adversaries, they are companions on this adventure of passing life from one generation to the next.

Thank you Ellaroo, a traveling cradle of adventure, hugs and capability.

Love

Liz

Day, less than 2 weeks left: Love letter to a lone sock – 7 fun ways to keep your lone sock feeling loved

26 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment

by Liz Argall in Letters

The fabulous Keith Baker sponsored this challenge. He is quite brilliant (game designer, novellist, creative head) and a lovely guy (we met when he stayed up very late to rescue me, a random stranger passed on to him by friends).

Lone Sockly Love

Lone sock, whose match was lost long ago and still it lingers in my drawer.

Lone sock, I love you. What can I do to show you how true my dedication is? How can I show you that I will never leave you? That I will never throw you away

How to let your sock know you still love it even though it has lost its partner and is now close to useless as it sits in your sock drawer collecting dust in seven easy steps. 

1. Write it a short note on beautiful parchment paper covered in glitter. The note doesn’t need to be long, sometimes shorter is better. Try something simple, like “Thinking of you, loving you always.” Spray your note with some of your favorite perfume and place it in your Lone Sock’s toe.

2. Try pairing your Lone Sock with other socks, possibly breaking up other pairs. Generally this doesn’t work in the long term, because the texture and thickness will be to different. Even though it doesn’t often work your sock will appreciate you trying and when it does work you have a fashion statement that rivals Punky Brewster.

Note: this should be done with care or you might generate further difficulties. If you pair your Lone Sock with a clearly inferior sock your Lone Sock’s feelings might be hurt and it might feel like you see it as a lesser object. If you pair your Lone Sock with a high quality sock you have two risks 1) your Lone Sock might develop feelings of inadequacy (you might even start to see your Lone Sock as a lesser sock) and 2) you might then get an uneven wear pattern on your other high quality sock and might eventually create a second Lone Sock scenario.

3. Create a special drawer or box just for your Lone Sock and redecorate it from time to time. Dried rose petals or love hearts cut out of Versace dresses can make a nice touch.

4. When you’re short of cleaning rags do not consider your Lone Sock for a moment. Pick a pair of socks that are wearing thin and you never liked it anyway. The sign of devotion that you would rather use a functional pair of socks than your lone beauty to clean up your chinchilla’s vomit will be appreciated. Actions are often more meaningful than words.

5. Some people recommend a sock puppet transformation, but this can be deeply traumatic and permanently scarring for your sock. You might think this way you can spend more quality time with your sock, but this is often a selfish form of love. If you are truly committed to your Lone Sock and love the sock for what it is you should not need to transform your sock to maintain a meaningful relationship with it.

Except for very rare exceptions socks want to be on feet. Socks feel uncomfortable being on hands for an extended period. Your Lone Sock might seem like it is ok with becoming a sock puppet, but you must remember that the dynamics of power are not equal and your Lone Sock might just be going along with your sock puppet wishes because it fears it might be thrown out or you might love it less. These dynamics make honesty around puppet transformations a fraught and difficult subject for your sock. If you truly believe that your sock wants to become a sock puppet it’s a good idea to make sure the Lone Sock has another support entity that your Lone Sock trusts that they can talk through their sock puppet decision with. Becoming a sock puppet is a substantial, life-changing decision for any item of footwear. Make it clear that your Lone Sock does not need to become a sock puppet to feel safe and loved.

6. Regardless of usage launder your Lone Sock at least once a year. This will refresh your Lone Sock and every sock likes to get out and about for a quick tumble.

7. When you’re throwing out old clothes make sure you pick up your Lone Sock early. Hold it against your cheek and purr softly, “Don’t worry, I could never throw YOU out.” Socks like purring. They do not like cat claws.

What to do if you rediscover your Lone Sock’s partner:

This can be a time of great rejoicing and celebration. But it is useful to be prepared, sometimes this can be bitter sweet reunion. Especially if a long period of time has passed or if you have a large number of almost similar socks. You might have uneven wear that makes what should be a rejoining a tragic mismatchery of what should be sole partners. At other times dust accretions, small animals or children may have caused discoloration or textural shifts. Even if to your eye the re-united socks no longer match it is important to conjoin them with a simple fold and wear them as soon as possible. You might miss the vivid purity of the lone sock cluttering up your sock drawer, but in time you will come to accept your Lone Sock’s re-pairing and be happy that once again it may clothe your feet.

Even if the reunion is joyous you must also be prepared for your Lone Sock to age at a faster rate once it has been re-paired. Lone Socks can last for decades without the wear and tear of shoes, meaty flesh, sweat and gravity. You might be shocked at how quickly your Lone Sock looses some of its luster. Just remind yourself that this is part of the natural aging process. You might prefer your sock to reign eternal as sock drawer padding, but your sock will be happier with a life fully lived that is vibrant, vital and aromatic.

Conclusion

By following these simple steps you should be able to have a long, happy and fulfilling relationship with your Lone Sock.

Next week we will cover the unlikely, but possible, scenario of having two socks missing their partner at the same time!!!

Day 26: Performance Poem to Corruptions (an unread book)

21 Jul 2011 1 Comment

by Liz Argall in Letters

Jim Shea sponsored me to write a love letter to Corruptions: A Novel of Washington.

I have not yet read Jim’s book, although my parents were at the Australian Embassy in Washington in the late 70s and I’m quite curious to explore Jim’s Washington (purchasable on Amazon).

So here is my love letter to a delicious and mysterious thing. An unread book. Go to and explore something new and outside your normal reading habits today!

It is a performance poem, so it will probably work better spoken out loud with a variety of tempos, extreme enthusiasm and hand flailing.

 

Love letter to Corruptions: a Novel of  of Washington

Book

BOOOOOOOOOK!

Book

Reddit reddit reddit reddit

 

Haven’t read it

Oooooooh….

 

Once upon a time in a book I read the words: More

Day 23: Love letter to a love letter I could never finish

18 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment

by Liz Argall in Letters

This one was hard to finish. I feel like I haven’t completed it and have a dozen other half written versions. Which is as it should be. The brainseed was planted by Mr Ferrett, devious mind that he has.

Dear Love Letter I could never finish,

You were so fine. The sky wept with the joy of it, that incandescent love that was as fierce as the storm and as gentle as starfall. You spoke of a better tomorrow. You spoke of love, a love that does not diminish or die, but burns like coals in the heart. A fireplace at wintertime, a sheen of sweat on my brow in summer.

You spoke of all things possible and impossible. You declared yourself, open to the world with every scratch every scar, every wound fresh and bright and you said, I am, this is me and I will love. You made your declaration to the world, you cannot tear my love, my heart, my ability to feel from me. I will feel and there is nothing you can do to take away my tears.

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Day 20: Hand-drawn love note to a set of printed assembly instructions

15 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment

by Liz Argall in Letters

This work is Ken Schneyer’s fault! As, once again, the Write-a-thon pushes me in interesting directions.

I’d been umming and ahing over what to do for Ken’s challenge “A love letter to printed assembly instructions” for quite some time. Then inspiration for this struck me, almost physically, while I was being served coffee at Inner Chapters and wishing I had more time to work on comics.

Fortunately Kristina at IC is a champion and I was able to shout “Quick bring me plain printer paper and a pencil”… shortly followed by “And an eraser!” and “And ink! A finer tip than that if you please!” (and that is why it is good to be a regular who is nice)

I scribbled away like a demon for more than two hours straight and this is what emerged! There are certain clues (including the preponderance of words) that indicate I am a writer of comics, not normally a drawer of them.

Day 18: Darned Sock Song

13 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment

by Liz Argall in Letters

Pinky Racer sponsored this song. Thanks Pinky!

The Darned Sock Song

Process:

Some of you might be familiar with the tune, I must confess I filked one of my own songs. It was so much fun to play with my own stuff in a new way.

I had a lot of technical issues recording this beasty. I wanted to record this one at home and I don’t own a microphone stand. I kept blowing out the mic, or being inaudible. I tried to  creating some frankenstein song stitched out of the good bits of different takes… it almost worked, but the mic blowouts were still terrible regardless of filters. My frankensong attempt did help me understand the basics of Audacity (I like that software, once I grocked you have to press stop to make stuff happen. I actually had to read a few instructions rather than dive right in!).

I decided discard my frankensong and this morning I sat down to record again. After a lot of trial and error I finally got it right in one take. No editing required, no filters applied.

The secret? Changing the way I sang so the microphone could deal with it! If the mic was on a stand I could have moved my body away to protect the mic, but when you’re cradling a mic between your knees while strumming guitar you have fewer options. Limitations certainly make you think about different techniques!

Now on to fresh words!

Day 17: Guest poem – Limerick for a stone

12 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment

by Liz Argall in Letters

For your delectation today I have a limerick by William Alexander. He had to write a limerick to a stone because I sponsored him to bwhahahahah (you too can bend him to your will)! I am most pleased.

Limerick for a stone

by William Alexander

There once was a very small stone.

Out over a pond it was thrown.

It felt freedom and glee

To skip through gravity

And learn physics it never had known.

Day ummm: Love letters between two objects

11 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment

by Liz Argall in Letters

My Dad sponsored this. He was the first person to sponsor me and I wanted it to be something special. Hopefully this does the trick!

 

ThingFinder.com

Name: BIF

Build: Chunky yet streamlined. Mobile, functional, spacious and accessible. Gross tonnage: 12689.

Active community oriented public utility seeks entity of substance. Seeking friendship, adventure or romance.

 

Name: SSN

Build: Tall with a slender waist. Bulbous yet charming head. Static tourist location (605.0 ft).

Classic Futuristic public entity seeks robust entity who is prepared to look beyond their city block. No buses or tourist coaches please.

 

Dear SSN

I saw your message in a bottle while checking my own entry. You sound intriguing and I’d love to get to know you better. My schedule sends me back and forth all the time, but lets chat!

- Bainbridge Island Ferry.

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