I had the most fantastic English professor at York– Thomas Golden. I left his classroom with a head brim-full of wonder at the universe nearly every time we met. One of the first days of freshman comp, he talked about writing with “sentient details,” and then he lined us up and asked us about our childhood Thanksgiving holidays. He was getting frustrated with our trite descriptions of how the house smelled like a simmering Thanksgiving feast, and he sighed and exclaimed “SMELL THE ONION!” Beyond the obvious application to writing with detail enough to transport an audience, I think smelling the onion is a fantastic metaphor for being really present in each moment of my life.
So, there you go.
Emily | 19-Jul-08 at 8:00 pm | Permalink
I like it
Tim | 21-Jul-08 at 8:41 am | Permalink
Oh, I can smell it
Sarah | 31-Jul-08 at 8:21 am | Permalink
But it makes me cry?