The Moment under The Moment

I printed a dozen copies, leaving one on the southbound tube train that took me to Clapham Common, another on a park bench, and a couple more at a bus stop I walked past. A couple more I tucked into newspapers at cafes near my place of work, and another in a phone box - not that anyone much uses these nowadays, except for non-telephonic purposes. After work I left another on the train that took me back to Elephant and Castle - noting en route that the park bench copy was still there, although thumbed; left in situ I hope in a spirit of generosity rather than indifference.

For the last few years I have put up quotes in my village for sa4qe on my own, so it was lovely to be able to do it this year with my boyfriend, Rik, whom I met through a conversation on Twitter about Hoban. We bonded through our mutual love of The Medusa Frequency in particular. I live next to a river and wanted my first quote - sellotaped to the local lifebuoy - to be one of Hoban's lyrical evocations of the natural world; this mix of lyricism and natural elements feels romantic too.

This year I thought, 'Short excerpt, bigger type', and fixed my offerings in otherwise desolate or dispiriting purlieux.

Happy Russmas, one and all.

I found this superb quote on the first page of the first book I opened at random yesterday. It is from the essay "Pan Lives" in THE MOMENT UNDER THE MOMENT. I pinned the yellow paper to a bulletin board of the Upper St Clair library. Everyone who goes in and out will see it today.

4qating is 4weirdos. And I love it. On the 4th of February this year, I saw a band at an ex-Convent here in Melbourne: Kurt Vile and The Violators. Vile is from Landsdowne, Philadelphia, which is not the same as Russ' hometown of Lansdale, Philadelphia. On the night I thought it was, however, and so it felt great to 4qate at the gig. I think a few drunk hipsters made notes in their phones.

My 107 students in various classes are all reading Hoban this semester. I handed out these quotes to everyone, asking that they place them wherever they like here in San Diego. So I have no pictures but am quite sure the quotes were left in a wonderous assortment of places.

Both quotations were included on one sheet of paper with the following header:

Happy FEB. 4 Birthday, Russell Hoban!

I first became aware of the SA4QE in about 2005 from an article in The Guardian. At that time I was mainly housebound with chronic illness, and knew no one else who participated, so I did the event solitarily for several years, leaving sheets of (I have to admit non-yellow) paper around the local village green next to the river. Leaving Hoban’s quotes here felt playful and subversive, a fitting tribute to a quixotic writer.