Our unfinished masterpiece, our incompleteness theorem
There will
come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning. –Louis L’Amour
In 1927, mathematician David Hilbert
put the capstone on mathematics. Mathematics was done, he asserted in his proof
theory. Less than five years later, in 1931, Kurt Gödel
developed the incompleteness
theorem, basically starting everything over again. So, in such a way, what
people thought was the end of mathematics was really a new beginning. So, too,
it is with years, or lives.
New
beginnings require summary of some sort, it seems. Or at least that is our
impulse—to review, tie up neatly, categorize. And so, a wee accounting of the
past 365 days in Blog World:
My favorite posts from 2007:
Let go of
the monkey bar
Learn your
shadow
Daily
poems posted for April’s National Poetry Month
Let it be
a barn
Eat
breakfast on a lake
Go see the
tiny Ninjas
Send leaves
Bust your
toast rules
C is for
compass
P is for
Pentimento :: Palimpsest :: Paint :: Pen
R is for rightness
Explore
your prison cell
Y is for yearning
U is for unlearn
A few blogs I enjoyed
reading in 2007:
Christine Kane’s Blog
Redemption Shoes
How to Save the World
Anecdote
Zen Habits
Networks, Complexity, and
Relatedness
Light Skinned-ed Girl
Fatfree Vegan Kitchen
Gluten-Free Girl
Woolgathering
Yarnstorm
Ben Casnocha: The Blog
Some of the people who had
the biggest impact on me in 2007:
Mr Brilliant, of course, and
Emma and Tess
Singer
Paul
Potts
Author
Richard
Powers
Hip-hop
artist Mic Crenshaw
Percussionist and interculturalist Rafael Otto (as emcee)
Artist David Robinson
Philosopher Kichom
Hayashi
Interculturalist Bob Elsen
Photographer
Miguel
Gandert
Interculturalist
Esther
Louie
Writer
Amy
McCracken
Consultant
and juggler Andrew Rixon
Artist
Donna B. Miller
All
the fantastic, brilliant artists who participated in the 37days art challenge
Thinker
Dave Pollard
The
Time of Our Singing - Richard Powers
She’s
Not There: A Life in Two Genders - Jennifer Finney Boylan
Stuart,
A Life Backwards – Alexander Masters
When
the Emperor was Divine – Julie Otsuka
Songs
of the Gorilla Nation – Dawn Prince-Hughes
Burro
Genius, A Memoir – Victor Villasenor
Translation
Nation – Hector Tobar
My
First White Friend: Confessions on Race, Love and Forgiveness – Patricia
Raybon
Some of the books the Book
Club will read in 2008:
Drown
– Junot
Díaz
Sula
– Toni Morrison
Planet
of the Blind - Stephen Kuusisto
No
God but God - Reza Aslan
Zigzagger
- Manuel Muñoz
In
The Name Of Identity: Violence and The Need To Belong – Amin Maalouf
Nine
Parts of Desire – Geraldine Brooks
No
contest – it was The
Time of Our Singing by Richard Powers
Not only is Richard Powers brilliant
and an exquisite writer, but I had the opportunity to interview him this year and
he is also one of the most generous, gentle, and well-spoken people I’ve ever
had the opportunity to speak with. This is the best book about race in
the U.S. I've ever read.
And as we end 2007, I’m reminded of that artist in Balzac’s Unfinished Masterpiece (also known as the Unknown Masterpiece) who cannot leave his masterpiece alone, but keeps getting up in the middle of the night to work on it, effectively ruining it. I’m reminded also of a quote from Orson Welles: “If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.” Let’s stop here and start again tomorrow in a whole new year of possibility, our own incompleteness theorem.
Patti, Happy New Year! I look forward to reading and participating throughout the year at 37 Days!
Posted by: Steve Sherlock | 31 December 2007 at 12:17
I look forward to reading your blog throughout 2008! Happy New Year.
Posted by: Frivolitea | 31 December 2007 at 12:32
Patti, Happy New Year! Thanks for the insight and wisdom. You're the best! I can't wait to see what you've got in store for us in 2008!
Posted by: Ronnie Brown | 31 December 2007 at 20:15
what a lovely blog - visiting here from creative everyday, bookmarked you and will return. wonderful photos,lovely images, terrific messages.
Posted by: AscenderRisesAbove | 01 January 2008 at 08:59
Happy New Year to you Patti and many thanks for all the wonderful posts of 2007. Your wrap-up of the year is a delight.
Posted by: Jill | 01 January 2008 at 10:05
So much good stuff here to explore! (Which will require multiple visits to linkety-link.) :) Love Geraldine Brooks (she's a friend of a friend)...that book looks intriguing. I think the post that made me laugh the most was "R for Rightness"...not that I could relate or anything...
Posted by: Marilyn | 01 January 2008 at 12:35
I am unbelievably flattered and humbled to be on your list. What a wonderful way to start the new year. Thanks for all you do to make us think and grow.
Posted by: Donna | 01 January 2008 at 14:50
patti-- i've been curious about the book list that you, john and emma were compiling to read in 2007. which ones did you end
up reading?
Posted by: jylene | 25 January 2008 at 14:20