I call mine "snippets," and they're a mess, they're everywhere in my journals and random documents. Sometimes I record where they came from, sometimes not. But whenever I encounter them, it feels a bit like bumping elbows with someone, feeling the accidental warmth of skin on skin.
First, the line that will now live in my head forever - “I think AI is quite clearly walking around with a disguise mustache.“
Second, a line that has lived in my head ever since my very first class as a lit major in college - Terry Eagleton and his description of poetry as “language made strange” which your words suddenly brought back to me.
Love that. I had a poetry professor who demanded we “make it smell good,” meaning, we couldn’t fall back on abstractions. Describe it to me! Make it strange!
So many notes and I don't doubt some of these come from your own work. You've shared so many relatable, beautifully described feelings... as you say "living like a stray thought I had once except someone else had it first and said it better." These are a few notes I found scrolling through my phone, with no attribution written down so they may come from shows, podcasts, articles, or books:
"That's the thing about getting older. You get to choose what you take from your parents, and what you leave behind"
"You make extortion sound like progress." - a powerful one that truly resonated
I love writing magical bits down! I want to be in a book club that's also a writing club and probably also a hiking and cooking club with you and soft_coded readers.
Til then, I'll keep on jotting bits and bobs and spells and lists in my tiny Field Notes notebook <3
Your post reminded me of the commonplace books Renaissance and early modern readers used to make. They would group quotes, sentences and memorable passages in personal notebooks, often organized under topics like Love, Virtue, Memory or War. I'm sad that after learning about them, I always wanted to make one but never did.
you know i do record and timestamp quotes from people irl, but i do also collect snippets i read and leave them out of context! my favorite are misheard lyrics. most recent one was: "Meaning returns on the downbeat,"
"I find I have a splendid appetite for the kindness of those I respect."
I sometimes record where they came from, but more often they're on a random slip of paper. Disorganized! But that somehow increases their value when I run across them again, like the delight of bumping into an old friend who I love but never spent enough energy to keep in touch with.
I call mine "snippets," and they're a mess, they're everywhere in my journals and random documents. Sometimes I record where they came from, sometimes not. But whenever I encounter them, it feels a bit like bumping elbows with someone, feeling the accidental warmth of skin on skin.
My last microfiction touches on this notion a bit--the idea that language has a depth when it comes from a human: https://buttondown.com/jennydwilliams/archive/microfiction-15-tonight-i-want-to-devour-the-moon/
I love that Jenny. So good to hear from you! This is perfect: “But when I write, I mean exactly what I say and a thousand other things besides…”
First, the line that will now live in my head forever - “I think AI is quite clearly walking around with a disguise mustache.“
Second, a line that has lived in my head ever since my very first class as a lit major in college - Terry Eagleton and his description of poetry as “language made strange” which your words suddenly brought back to me.
Love that. I had a poetry professor who demanded we “make it smell good,” meaning, we couldn’t fall back on abstractions. Describe it to me! Make it strange!
So many notes and I don't doubt some of these come from your own work. You've shared so many relatable, beautifully described feelings... as you say "living like a stray thought I had once except someone else had it first and said it better." These are a few notes I found scrolling through my phone, with no attribution written down so they may come from shows, podcasts, articles, or books:
"That's the thing about getting older. You get to choose what you take from your parents, and what you leave behind"
"You make extortion sound like progress." - a powerful one that truly resonated
Thanks for sharing! I love that last one too. And no no no I did not share any of my own work 😅 it’s all other more talented ppl
I love writing magical bits down! I want to be in a book club that's also a writing club and probably also a hiking and cooking club with you and soft_coded readers.
Til then, I'll keep on jotting bits and bobs and spells and lists in my tiny Field Notes notebook <3
That sounds like a dream club, I’m in! What’s one magical bit you wrote down? 👀
Bits of overheard conversations are wonderful! Like this little koan: "Oh my God I love her, I LOVE her! Who is she?"
Haha I love that
Your post reminded me of the commonplace books Renaissance and early modern readers used to make. They would group quotes, sentences and memorable passages in personal notebooks, often organized under topics like Love, Virtue, Memory or War. I'm sad that after learning about them, I always wanted to make one but never did.
Never too late!
you know i do record and timestamp quotes from people irl, but i do also collect snippets i read and leave them out of context! my favorite are misheard lyrics. most recent one was: "Meaning returns on the downbeat,"
I stopped jotting down lyrics because I wanted to get them all tattooed 😶🌫️
"I find I have a splendid appetite for the kindness of those I respect."
I sometimes record where they came from, but more often they're on a random slip of paper. Disorganized! But that somehow increases their value when I run across them again, like the delight of bumping into an old friend who I love but never spent enough energy to keep in touch with.
Exactly! 🫶
Absolutely do this! Most recently,
“They didn’t know how not to quit.”
I think it means they only knew how to continue, but I’m still not sure.
THANKS FOR AFFIRMING YOU DO THIS