Simple, hard

I'm working on a scene in a new novel, scene with a World War Two Royal Navy veteran flashing back to battle at sea while a thunderstorm crashes. The character, Dick Harnum, is based on my maternal grandfather, Harold Francis, a Newfoundlander who served with the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit and then the Royal Navy in WW2. My grandfather hated thunderstorms; I never knew why until about a few weeks ago.

Thunder dragged him back to the guns.

My father found him one day, hunched in his chair, gripping his head, pale and terrified when he finally looked up: -- Oh God, b'y, the thunder.

The low storm that day made everyone's ears vibrate.

Being at sea makes my ears hum and slush, and occasionally vibrate.

My grandfather's head, reinforced by a metal plate after injuries in a blitz -- did that also vibrate with each bang of thunder?

Bent at the waist, gripping his head ...

Try sitting in a chair, bent forward at the waist, holding your head. Either bit of flesh on your belly, and your breathing's cut. So, head pain, ear pain, fear, memory, shallow breathing, ears sloshing -- body memory of being at sea -- ship up, down, port, starboard BOOM up, down, port, starboard, smoke and screams and alarms and BANG dark mystery Where the fuck are we silence silence silence mouths just dark holes ears unblock BOOM ...

A half hour listening to RN footage on Youtube, bang of the naval guns. Five minutes hunched in a chair, elbows stabbing my knees, hands caging my head and those cut short breaths --

Trivial bit of method acting. Pathetic, really. And the comic-book diction of "boom?" Failure of words. And imagination.

Imagination here not just a gift but a duty.

So. Head pain, ear pain, fear, memory ...

Video: Persecution of the Baha'is in Iran

Link to a video on the status of the Baha'is in Iran

Mic

The Order of the Dusty Owl's mic. Loved reading into this one -- not invasive, like those phallic ones.

Photo (c) Copyright 2009 Michelle Butler Hallett.

Bytown -- Joy, by Bruce Garner

One of my favourite sculptures: Joy, by Bruce Garner, on Sparks Street in Ottawa. Taken Sun Jan 19, 2009, after dark. Photo (c) Copyright 2009 Michelle Butler Hallett.

Sky Waves -- errata

Chapter 37, "On the package" should have the dateline "February 17, 1999" and not "February 17, 1979."

I fucked up a bit on the Sputnik program in chaper 65, "Ohm 2," implying that Laika the dog has gone up Sputnik 1. Laika blasted into orbit in Sputnik 2 and died shortly after leaving Earth.

The Baha'i Question -- Cultural Cleansing in Iran

A site that explores the outrages committed against the Baha'is in Iran.

http://www.question.bahai.org/

Dusty Owl notes

Best time I've ever had at a reading, guaranteed.Also the best mic I've ever used -- pic to come later. The Order of the Dusty Owl is packed with sweet and generous people.

I met two photographers, Charles Earl and John W. Macdonald. They each took shots of me -- me, who normally coagulates into mud before a camera -- and put me at ease. I;m flattered to be part of their work.

Charles Earl:

http://www.brokenviewfinder.com/index.php?id=996


John W. Macdonald:

http://blog.johnwmacdonald.com