Sometimes I get bored of my brain. Not bored out of my brain--although sometimes that happens, too--but, I mean I get bored of being in my head with my same old ideas, worldviews, thought patterns, etc. One of the things I like best about teaching is I get to see the workings of other brains, on paper, a couple times a week.
My best students are often not humanities or English majors, like you might expect, but science students. There are a bunch of engineering kids who have to take my writing class and they inevitably think they will hate it, and wonder why the eff do they have to take it when all they're going to do with their lives is design geodesic domes and map the human genome--or whatever it is they learn to do in those science classes.
Anyway, the science kids think differently, and I love their approach to problem-solving and structure and ways to use words and, well, I love to see the way their little brains work. On the last day of class one of these engineering students, who we will call Chen, brought in this sort-of prose poem, an ode to U Writing, made up of his Facebook statuses over the course of the semester.
U Writing Related/Inspired Facebook Statuses:
Chen-Chen's way to type 300 words: write 3,000, then cut out 2,700 words.
Chen-writing when God sleeps. 7 am.
Chen-ambition will kill me soon.
Chen-it did.
Chen-wow, I'm done with U Writing for 2 minutes?
Chen-thoughts of UW creep in...creep Chen out...creep out.
Chen-life has a lot of doing that does nothing...wrote two pages i had to completely delete...full of sound and fury signifying nothing.
Chen-verisimilitude of being.
Chen-the king of thwarted time.
Chen-is shocked at minimalism...aka, shocked at myself.
Chen-high from insanity.
Chen-I BLEED SLEEP
Chen-I DON'T BLEED BLOOD, I BLEED CAFFEINE
Chen-lost in the maelstroms of the mind.
Chen-genius lacks cultural precedence.
Chen-thinking deep thoughts with a shallow mind.
Chen-400 standard deviations below myself.
Chen-has IQ(-1) after -100 hours of sleep.
Chen-ode to the essay: Oh cursed be the spite-that I was ever born to set you right.
Chen-senseless all-nighter number infinity.
Chen-sleeplessly.
Chen-uni writing existentialism.
I probably wouldn't have liked this list so much except I knew how much he started to like writing, and the amazing, sometimes oddball connections he could make in his essays. In one piece he successfully linked the wilderness vs. civilization debate to the black widow living behind his bookshelf to Huck Finn to the Ford on cinderblocks on his neighbor's lawn.
I also like this little list because it's emblematic of his unusual way of doing things, but at the same time reveals the same frustrations that I, myself, often have with writing. These could have been my writing Facebook statuses. In class we often talk about what makes writing so hard is that it's a massive act of translation--an attempt to encapsulate the context, logic, memory, etc. in your own brain in a way that makes sense to another brain.
This prose poem reminded me of what's so great about writing in general: it provides us with the comfort of knowing that we don't all think alike, and at the same time, it provides us with the comfort of knowing that our experience is not vastly different.
My best students are often not humanities or English majors, like you might expect, but science students. There are a bunch of engineering kids who have to take my writing class and they inevitably think they will hate it, and wonder why the eff do they have to take it when all they're going to do with their lives is design geodesic domes and map the human genome--or whatever it is they learn to do in those science classes.
Anyway, the science kids think differently, and I love their approach to problem-solving and structure and ways to use words and, well, I love to see the way their little brains work. On the last day of class one of these engineering students, who we will call Chen, brought in this sort-of prose poem, an ode to U Writing, made up of his Facebook statuses over the course of the semester.
U Writing Related/Inspired Facebook Statuses:
Chen-Chen's way to type 300 words: write 3,000, then cut out 2,700 words.
Chen-writing when God sleeps. 7 am.
Chen-ambition will kill me soon.
Chen-it did.
Chen-wow, I'm done with U Writing for 2 minutes?
Chen-thoughts of UW creep in...creep Chen out...creep out.
Chen-life has a lot of doing that does nothing...wrote two pages i had to completely delete...full of sound and fury signifying nothing.
Chen-verisimilitude of being.
Chen-the king of thwarted time.
Chen-is shocked at minimalism...aka, shocked at myself.
Chen-high from insanity.
Chen-I BLEED SLEEP
Chen-I DON'T BLEED BLOOD, I BLEED CAFFEINE
Chen-lost in the maelstroms of the mind.
Chen-genius lacks cultural precedence.
Chen-thinking deep thoughts with a shallow mind.
Chen-400 standard deviations below myself.
Chen-has IQ(-1) after -100 hours of sleep.
Chen-ode to the essay: Oh cursed be the spite-that I was ever born to set you right.
Chen-senseless all-nighter number infinity.
Chen-sleeplessly.
Chen-uni writing existentialism.
I probably wouldn't have liked this list so much except I knew how much he started to like writing, and the amazing, sometimes oddball connections he could make in his essays. In one piece he successfully linked the wilderness vs. civilization debate to the black widow living behind his bookshelf to Huck Finn to the Ford on cinderblocks on his neighbor's lawn.
I also like this little list because it's emblematic of his unusual way of doing things, but at the same time reveals the same frustrations that I, myself, often have with writing. These could have been my writing Facebook statuses. In class we often talk about what makes writing so hard is that it's a massive act of translation--an attempt to encapsulate the context, logic, memory, etc. in your own brain in a way that makes sense to another brain.
This prose poem reminded me of what's so great about writing in general: it provides us with the comfort of knowing that we don't all think alike, and at the same time, it provides us with the comfort of knowing that our experience is not vastly different.
6 comments:
I liked-thinking deep thoughts with a shallow mind.
I am so thankful for others insights into life.
I think that some of my favorite conversations have been about movies. Someone always seems to see a deeper meaning that I've missed. After watching Saving Private Ryan my sister in law laid out a huge theory about how Ryan is a metaphor and that he is the people at home. That he was expressing our helplessness and fear. And when they are all trying to protect him it is actually the troop trying to protect the people at home etc. I remember thinking I have got to watch that whole thing again now thinking of it like that. Maybe the relation was obvious to everyone else. Or it may have been off but it was still fun to hear another take on the movie.
Sorry for the random sharing.
Once again cool post.
I get tired of my brain, but I don't think I would ever get tired of yours. :)
But perhaps that's because yours aren't as sexy as mine.
I LOVE this! So much meaning in just a few words. My kids have a poem in one of their books:
August Ice Cream Cone
Lick
quick.
It's my favorite! I love
minimalism. I totally relate with Chen's tumultuous writing experience. So cool that it was a new discovery for him. I know, some of the best writers are those who might never pursue it on their own. My friend Staci can write magnificently with little effort, yet has never had a strong desire to do so. It's maddening to someone who wants to do nothing else! Our ambitions and natural talents aren't necessarily linked.
This was thought-provoking and interesting for me. Thank you!
thank you, I throughly enjoyed this post. I too am a science student, I love to read but am not skilled in writing. I find it extremely difficult.
bored of my brain! seriously. I know that feeling. love the writing!
love it.
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