On Martin Luther King, Jr Day, Las Cafeteras, one of my favorite bands, offered a free download of their album It’s Time. I’ve been listening to the song Trabajador – Trabajadora. In the song, they repeatedly sing the words thank you.
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Today I was going to say thank you for having me as your January Saturday Editor. Thank you was going to be my way of saying goodbye. It usually is.
As it happens, I’m not leaving. The Rumpus asked me to stay and of course I said yes. I am now your permanent Saturday Editor.
I’m thrilled and grateful and honored and of course want to do good. Starting February, I promise to publish one feature per Saturday. It may be an interview or essay or comic. I will also post “Links I Like.” It should be fun!
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I’ve been thinking of this quote I read somewhere but can’t remember where. The quote is by Meister Eckhart. The quote is, “If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is ‘thank you’ that would suffice.” I’ve been wondering if that’s true.
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Little known fact: I’m really good at typos. People have paid me to edit grants and books but there you are. I’m good at what I’m good at. This month, Kelly Opdycke and Allen Strickland Williams assisted me in proofreading. Big thank you to Kelly and Allen!
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I am in the process of rereading several books. Didion, Duras, and Lawrence Chua. Tonight I reread this passage in Gold by the Inch:
“Thank you, you say to neither of them. Thank you. The waiter returns with your order. Rum and Coke. Gin and tonic. Seven and Seven. You count out your money and drop a fat tip for the waiter. The bills seem to fall out of your hand with no sense of time. Endless. Thank you, you yell above the staccato rhythm of the night. Thank you. You lose count of how much money you have put on his tray. Thank you. You lose track of how many times you have said thank you tonight when you really meant to say I love you.”
