Thursday, April 12, 2007

Episode Forty-nine: Waiting For The Shoe...

And So It Goes...
I recorded last night and woke up today to find that Kurt Vonnegut
passed away last night. It's like my own personal Mark Twain died. So sad.

I started reading Vonnegut when I was in fifth grade. My parents let me read almost all of his books (except Player Piano) and I literally wolfed them down--most of them I've reread at some point. He wrote a two page "how to write" flyer that I THINK is still in my box of "school junk". Brilliant.
I'm so sorry he's not public domain. We wont be able to listen to him here, but I so deeply urge you to pick up something he wrote. Slaughterhouse Five (riffs on his experiences IN a Dresden meat locker (!) during our (secret) WWII bombing campaign) or Cat's Cradle (riffs on life, the universe, and everything) are good places to start.
"See?...no damn cat...no damn cradle..."


Back to Craftlit:

I am sad about Vera; don't forget your shirt; check out some neat yarn stores (now and pending) I came across; a cool thimble; nifty blogs to read; a Knitty Coffeeshop (no really); a knitalong for this (which I covet); and more on the mysterious "Hilary Term".

And I promised a pic of The Shirt:

4 comments:

  1. I read a huge amount of Vonnegut in late high school and college. He made a deep impression on me. I'm sorry he's gone.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good luck in your oral surgery. I was glad that my wisdom teeth only came out once. I have been thinking about you today.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm a bit behind in my web surfing and posting duties as of late, so I haven't listened to the latest episode yet, (that's for tomorrow ;) ). Seeing that you had a Vonnegut tribute up, I thought I'd pass on this in case you hadn't heard it. The Time Traveler Show has a tribute featuring a Vonnegut short story called2BR02B.

    Kurt Vonnegut was the man who got me started on audiobooks. When I worked as a library page when I was 13, I'd spend the time shelving listening to his books on tape from the collection. He was the narrator and sang all of the songs. Next to the Harry Potter audiobooks, I have yet to come across readings I love so much. For anyone who enjoys his books I strongly recommend his readings, if they are still available. I think the newer versions feature actors like -Ethan Hawke.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous2:20 AM

    Just thought I'd let you know - a knitter friend of mine (who's anorexic) checked herself into hospital a while ago, feeling - amongst other things - rather depressed. A week later, the tshirts came available. I ordered one for her from cafepress, it came really quickly and I gave it to her as a present.

    She's wearing it, and it has cheered her up slightly during a difficult period!

    ReplyDelete

and then you said...