Synthesis

Lanes
Originally uploaded by Oblivia.

Talking and bowling have two things in common. They should not be over-considered and go well with beer. Talking gets my juices flowing, as it were, and makes me realize that I need to be not afraid to engage myself in more conversation. (try “writing”, Oblivia). I’m inexorably attracted to people who give good voice - like a moth to the proverbial flame. I find lisps endearing though I’m not partial to any accent as a turn on. I tend to use accents and cadence to read ethnic and class cues (which can be the result of careful stage managing, of course) and often complicated by the content of speech. The trade of the con artist is to orchestrate the parts into a convincing, harmonious whole. The most vulgarian members of this guild are called “phonies” because you can hear the dissonance (or it might just be the faint hiss of your skepticism).

Vocabulary is the lipstick on your collar. The people who seduce you leave their traces in your choice of words be they Homer or Kafka or your first love. I have recently become more aware of what I like to call verbal burrs – hurtful habits of the mind that manifest on the tongue - and would love to find a way to purge them. I think I would include many types of speech in this category including (but not confined to) the language of prejudice, over-reliance on received knowledge, unacknowledged verbal jabs from others that creep their way into your speech and negative self-talk.

These things form underneath the radar and then - pow! - they hit someone who has done nothing to deserve it.