As I awoke at my usual 4am this Sunday morning, I grabbed my newly purchased copy of Lame Adventures: Unglamorous Tales from Manhattan . This book is a very delightful and humorous read. I have been savoring each chapter so much so that I only read two entries a day. Virginia lifts my spirits with her wit and dry humor. She shares her mundane, yet very interesting, daily NYC travels with her readers. If you have a moment, check out Virginia’s blog, Lame Adventures, then if you are as enamored as I am, read her book.
I then selected Letters of Edna St. Vincent Millay off of my nightstand. I brought this book home from the library after I found it in the return box. I love finding treasures that others have borrowed.
As I was reading the foreword, a sentence jumped out at me, “The telegraph, like the telephone, is a monstrous destroyer of leisurely correspondence”(MacDougall). He wrote this passage in May, 1952. Do you feel that texting and email have destroyed or enhanced the art of leisurely correspondence? I feel a little of both. It certainly has made it easier to communicate but it robs us of certain connections to words and to the scripted letters, an identity of the writer if you will. I love receiving notes and cards in the mail. I save every one and often the envelopes as well. Seeing and feeling someone’s handwriting, are like obtaining another whisper of them, their personality.A penned thought often brings forth a connection, one that might be absent in a text or email. Do you agree? I know that when I have recently received a card or note from a few of my blogger friends, it has been a warm and welcome surprise. They have given me an added perspective into themselves, a bonus view (smile).
Do we preserve emails and texts the way we do letters? I don’t, but finding this book has made me pause. Maybe,perhaps I should. With all this online communication and sharing- I feel like a whole a generation of pictures and writing preservation is being lost. Forever.
In closing, I thought I would share some treasures from the book. I love the way Millay signed off on her letters, her adieus are one of the main reasons I retrieved this book. Her quirky personality and humor as well as her love for words really shine forth.
Some of my top picks:
- Love, quickly
- As ever,affectionately yours
- Goo’bye,darling, and ever and ever so much love
- from his faithful Krazy
- gosh, Goodbye!
- Yo, lovin’ chile,
My absolute favorite:
Oh’ Hal, you abysmal nut!
Oh’ Lord—oh Lord– oh Hal!
Apopolectically yours,
Edna
I am now going under the divan and have a fit
her signature varied quite a bit as well, which humored me:
- Vinnie
- Vincent
- Ediner
- Miss Edna
- Eddyner
- Bincent
Ok enough, I could go on but I have probably bored you enough already.
Tootle looo,
Audra
more on Edna St Vincent Millay click here and here
excerpts are from Letters of Edna St. Vincent Millay, edited by Allan Ross MacDougall. 1952
