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the Make-Believe Library Dreamsicle
experiment #3: I am not a snail. I am three snails.
Saturday, September 29th, 2007
call numbers, creative commons, ex libris, experiments, hidden hands, incantations snails
Posit: We are not one thing, we are many things together. To wit, you are three snails.
In this experiment you will need: an academic or research library using Library of Congress classification system; a stapler; a name; a voice
1. Enter the library. Discretely strip the initials out of your first and last name. Example: Darren Chase/ arren hase = DC
2. After stripping the initials, assign the first two remaining letters of your first name their number position in the alphabet. Carefully place a period after those numbers. Example: ar = 118.
3. Reserve the third remaining letter. Speak its name aloud to the circulation clerk, reference librarian, or lab assistant (see fig. 1). Repeat. fig. 1
4. Take ablution. Wash your socks in the bathroom sink.
5. If you have more than one remaining letter in your first name beyond the third (after stripping the initial), assign those letters their number position in the alphabet; if you do not have more than one remaining letter, use the single remaining letter and the number 3 (or the number 3 if you do not have any remaining letters). Example: en = 514
6. Set the first number after the period at the end of the set of numbers developed in step 2. Example: 118.5
7. Place the stapler against your mouth and answer it like a telephone. Repeat.
8. Marry the remaining numbers (or use the number 3) developed in step 5 to the letter reserved in step 3. Example: R14
9. Sequence the letters and numbers vertically in the order they were obtained (steps 1,6,8), concluding with the best year of your life. Example:
Present this sequence to the reference librarian while uttering the incantation: “I have this call number/ can you help me find this book?”
Eventually the reference librarian will ask you for any additional information concerning your “book”. Respond by crossing your fingers while hiding your hands behind your back and stating: “The name of the book is I am not a snail. I am three snails.” Repeat.
fig.1 from a photo by rmoniz510, downloaded from Flickr via a Creative Commons license. Many thanks.
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ghost powered electrical machinery
Monday, September 24th, 2007
electrical, ghost powered, machinery plug in put down something I love
let’s play w/ ghost powered electrical machinery
if you are my friend you will plug in your ghost powered electrical machinery
put down that loaded rifle and turn off that ghost powered electrical machinery
ghost powered electrical machinery is something I love
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hex-a-meter
Tuesday, September 18th, 2007
bright nothing or nirvana, random hexameters, sestina slimy rainbow
Goodbye slimy rainbow. It’s time for me to go.
I don’t know where I’m going so don’t ask.
You made quite a strong impression on me
even though you are a rainbow. Even
though you are slimy. What can I say: most
rainbows are gauzy smears of bright nothing.
When I say nothing I don’t mean nothing.
I mean you’re not solid. We didn’t go
anywhere together. That’s not to say that most
‘goings’ and ‘togethers’ mean more. I ask
you again like I did this afternoon-even
as I recall a warm light that touched me,
horizon bit by marsh, a dolphin calling me
by my last name, Chase-how hard nothing
can be, is anything harder? Even
the way I remember it (less than nothing)
slams my brain like a shining glass brick. Ask
a dream for instructions. Feed a fear. Most
dolphins don’t talk to me. Ever. The most
any marine mammal has ever said to me
is that one word ‘chase’ and I did not get to ask:
What are you talking about? Nothing,
no sound from the sea is transparent. Go
stick a shell in your ear. Smile, even.
I built this Hex-A-Meter to measure even
the slightest (and in some cases the most)
vibrations of bright nothing. It can go
underwater. I built it to prove you’re near me.
Even now I’m enveloped by nothing.
I can’t feel, see or hear you. I ask
“How much do you think this thing costs?” I ask
for a tissue in which to wrap my pure, even,
undiluted joy, my clean-burning clear nothing.
Let others concern themselves with the most
fraught aspects of our relationship. For me,
I will never stop loving you. I go
knowing there was once a slimy rainbow with me
on a perfect afternoon (though we could not go
beyond that shore wrapped only in warm, bright nothing).
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out-of-library experience
Sunday, September 9th, 2007
how many days do we have?, Melinor Vix, villanelle write speak share love
Can scientists make your soul fly away?
And do scientists want to capture
it? Is the only escape decay?
I watched you lock your soul in clay.
While you nakedly crave rapture
can scientists make your soul fly away?
Meet me at the library and pray
that we have access to the scriptures.
It is the only escape. Decay
has no interest in power. Stay
awhile. Read about your future.
Can scientists make your soul fly away
like a cat startles a bird with its gaze?
The cold, tender need for departure:
it is the only escape. Decay
provides opportunities today.
Don’t be nervous-it’s an adventure.
Can scientists. Make your soul fly away.
It is the only escape: decay.
Many thanks to the excellent Melinor Vix!
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o out-of-library experience Can scientists make your soul fly away? And do scientists want … September 9th, 2007 One comment
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