Writing Lessons From a Bathroom in Greenwich Village
A French philosopher interrupted me while I was taking a leak. The French are like that. WRITTEN & ILLUSTRATED by PETER MOORE from THE ROAD2ELSEWHERE
YOU NEVER KNOW where you might learn a lesson. All the world’s a classroom!
Last Friday my wife and I were in New York to visit elder son Jake. The two of us began the day chilling out at Uniqlo in Soho, because you can never have too many cheap white tee shirts or colorful socks. Afterward we walked over to Washington Square Park and sat in the shade outside Jake’s freshman-year dorm at NYU. Legend has it that on the roof of that very building, Winslow Homer tossed buckets of water onto models, to help him execute one of his oceanic masterworks.
Jake arrived with a big smile on his face, having purchased a $3,500 camera lens that would allow him to film inside a coffee cup. Or inside a person’s mouth. I guess there’s a demand for that?
To celebrate his purchase, he led us down 4th Street to a restaurant called Joseph Leonard. (If anyone knows why a restaurant would be named after that dude, drop it into “comments.” The restaurant did not respond to my inquiry. And I left a good tip!)
We were seated at a table on the sidewalk, and because the temperature was in the high 90s, we began gulping Arnold Palmers. That eventually led to a visit to the bathroom, where I spotted a framed essay from the French Philosopher Roland Bartels.
Only in Greenwich Village, right?
Bartels was famous for his consideration of how the act of writing alters reality—for the author, and for readers.
And I’m all about altered reality through writing. It’s like the Observer Effect in Quantum Physics, applied to ink-stained wretches like me!
The bartender shared a copy of Bartel’s Letter from the Loo, which I harvested for career clues.
Wby write? Because some dead French guy tells you to, that’s why!
You need a better reason?
WHY WRITE????
Why do I spend so much time at this broken down typewriter? Is it just a big waste of time? I could be watching television or get into a game of cards or some other recreation.
And what is so great about writing? There is an answer and I will try to tell about why in the following paragraphs:
Something happens to the inner side of me when I sit down to type.
I just get completely lost in what I am doing. It is just like I have entered a different world. My imagination is at it’s [sic] highest peak. I am kind of floating in a sea of thought. I am lost in thought, please don’t disturb. I want to be alone.
The spoken word is very volatile. It disappears into the atmosphere and does not stay with us. It is gone until spoken again. It only has instant impact.
Words are usually soon forgotten.
A written message is different, it does not disappear and cannot be altered, unless rewritten. Interpretations by others might differ, but the wording remains the same.
Sometimes I have an instant desire to say something, but when I do say it it doesn't come out right. What I say and what I mean are often different. I am not a good speaker.
But, let me at this old typewriter biding my time, I think I do a much better job of expressing my true feelings. Something just builds up inside of me and my one finger just keeps on telling what I am thinking.
I think that I do a better job when this old machine and I are together. We get along. I just love to type. Ideas come easier when I do. I wish I had found this out earlier in my life.
ROLAND BARTELS
50 Oak Pk Dr • Shavano Wis. 54166.
Thanks for joining me on the Road2Elsewhere.
If you want to help me survive here on Substack, but don’t feel you can afford the $5/month fee…
…hit any of the buttons below, which will tell my Substack overlords that I am not just taking up space on their platform.
Want to split a dessert?
Peter, I'm so confused! Roland Bartels is just some schmo from Shawano; he is NOT the famous French philosopher Roland Barthes. Did you get scammed, or am I too earnest to see your wink?
I vant to be alone, unless it's a coffee date with friends!;)