‘General News’ Category

  1. For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought

    9 March, 2012 by Alexa Chipman

    For whatsoeuer from one place doth fall,
    Is with the tide vnto an other brought:
    For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought.
    — Edmund Spenser Faerie Queene V.ii

    I posted earlier about the beautiful little book that had vanished and how heartbroken I was about it. Thanks to several friends urging me not to give up but keep looking for it, I wiped my tears away and went to what I do best—more research. Thanks to the reference librarians and a determination not to give up, the exact book was not only recovered but is now officially in a place of honour beside me as I type.

    I cannot remember a time when I was more overjoyed in my entire life. It was an absolute miracle—like seeing a friend you thought was dead walk down the street toward you in a small seaside village and rushing to their embrace just to feel they are really there and well and happy.

    The wonders did not cease, for soon after I found a short story I wrote at 19 that I thought was lost forever shoved into a forgotten school notebook pocket. I shall retype it in later for your enjoyment. I was so disappointed that it had been lost I wrote a rough draft one act play based on it, so finding the original spark was incredibly meaningful.

    What I learned from all this is that even when it looks like that which you love has been ripped away never to return, it will always come back. Maybe it will not always return in so solid and perfect a way as the copy of the Pearl, but it will come back in some form someday if you only keep hope and dare to dream it will, just as Edmund Spenser reminds in his poetic epic Faerie Queene.

    Category General News, History, Personal, Writing | Tags: ,,,,,,,, | 3 Comments

  2. Pearl without a price—do not wait to speak up

    23 February, 2012 by Alexa Chipman

    Just when I was thinking I had successfully switched to a comfort zone with e-books, an extraordinary event changed my mind again. The most beautiful book in the world to me is gone. It was a small hand-held edition of The Pearl by an unknown 14th century author and poet known as “The Gawain Poet” because he also wrote Gawain and the Green Knight which was a favourite of J.R.R. Tolkien. I first came across it when reading through the Middle English shelf at my university library. From the start the lovely volume captured my heart. It was unique—small, diamond textured leather, with a simple yet elegant title. Inside were notes from the Victorian era in perfect spindly handwriting. From the frontpiece I knew the last person to check it out was from the 1930s and that connection across time was very special to me.

    The poem itself I had not read before and it captured me immediately with a quiet emotional style. It was not overt, it spoke through images and beautiful words, yet brought me to tears. It is about a father whose young daughter died—his pearl who was lost. It is a stunning poem that I would recommend in any form, yet in this it became very special to me. Whenever I was stressed out and upset over my huge classload I would trot over to the shelf where the book resided and pull it out for a bit. I must have read the opening pages hundreds of times. Even after I left university, I would picture the book in my head and think through some of its images when I was upset. That book was the closest friend I had back in school at first. It came just at a time when my old friends had moved away for college, and I was a studious quiet sort and was in the library most of the time. That edition of the Pearl I loved more than anything in the world. Sometimes I would daydream that I owned it, but alas always had to return it.

    In my graduating year I realized I would have to bid farewell to that book, save for occasionally requesting it via my alumni card. As I held it I thought about how I would give anything to own it. I considered going to reference and offering $1,000 for that book I loved it so much. After all, there were other copies of the poem in the library. But I never got up the courage.

    This week I had been feeling particularly stressed out by a paper I was writing. After three or four hours of reading through Mark Exegesis scholarly manuscripts I desperately needed a break. I went to the shelf where the Pearl should have been, and it was there no longer. At first I thought someone had checked it out, but a few other books were missing and it just didn’t feel right. I had a cold feeling in my stomache, and a sense of terror. I went to the library catalog and it was no longer listed. Frantic now, and nearly in tears I went to reference. The book is gone. Like I had realized before there were duplicate copies in the library. My pearl was redundant. My pearl, like that in the poem itself, was gone. I felt like crying in earnest then.

    In the Bible there is a story of a pearl without price that a man sells everything he owns to buy. Now I know what he would have felt like had he passed the opportunity and regretted it the rest of his life. Don’t make my mistake—if there is something or someone you love and you know action is needed to keep that person or that treasure then go now and do what you need to do. Is there someone you love and have not told? Go tell them right now. Is there something that has great meaning that you could lose forever? Don’t daydream about it—do something about it.

    Category Book Club, General News, Personal, Writing | Tags: ,,,, | 3 Comments

  3. Just Say Hello—”Why How Are You” is Overused.

    5 July, 2011 by Alexa Chipman

    Although this is a subject that I think about a great deal, it was especially driven home tonight as I came through a checkout line at a shop.

    Shopgirl: How are you today?

    Me: Hello!

    Shopgirl: Good, thanks.

    What is wrong with this conversation? It shows that people in California are so used to the “How are you” “Good, how are you” “Good, thank you” exchange that they don’t even realize when the other person is not saying their lines, as it were. I could probably have said almost anything in between and still had a “Good, thanks” response in return. While you could use this social phenomena to great comedic effect, it goes to show how utterly pointless the whole thing is. Nobody bloody cares how each other actually is feeling—they just spout out the lines like robots. I bet if I had answered “horrible, you?” she would not have even noticed.

    Example B happened to me when running into an acquaintance of mine at the fair this year:

    Friend: Hi, how are you?

    Me: How are you?

    Friend: Good. Have you seen the art building yet?

    This shows that some people find themselves incapable of having a conversation without going through the ritual exchange first. I have run into this problem countless times, to the point where some people keep repeating “How are you” over and over until I reply with “good, how are you”, even though again they have no interest in my actual state of being at all. It is long, drawn-out, and artificial waste of time that a simple cheery “hi!” would have sufficed for. Notice that they did not even respond to the fact I left out my state of being? I just responded with “How are you” and never answered their question. Did they realize that? Nope, because they weren’t actually listening.

    Example C is when someone is having a really bad day, and is at the verge of tears about their situation, when somebody comes by and throws a “hi, how are you” at them. Things like this tend to happen:

    Passerby: Hi, how are you!

    Distraught Person: *holds back sobs* I…can’t handle it any more…I’m horrible. Everything is going wrong!

    Passerby: *awkward pause* Um… [insert quick excuse to leave]

    The person in a traumatic place in their life just got a reminder of that fact shoved at them. It is like slapping a person when they’re down. I’ve seen it countless times at work—that meaningless exchange suddenly becomes an extremely hurtful exchange, unless the person asking is a very good friend at which point they will stop and comfort the person they just asked.

    The problem is, when it comes to people we know, one can never tell if they are asking “how are you” because they actually are worried about you, or if they are using “how are you” as a statement alternative to “hello”. So please, if you just want to greet someone, don’t force them into a silly exchange that can even be potentially hurtful. If you really want to know how someone is feeling, be specific about it. Say something like “are you okay?” if they look upset, or “you look cheery today, what’s up?” if they look happy. Otherwise please just say “hello” and have done with it.

    Category General News, Personal | Tags: ,, | 2 Comments

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