i have the room next to the boss’s, and i love that he talks aloud to himself all day about his cases: not thinking through legal issues, you understand, but taking stock mentally of what he has to do, as if until he has vocalised something he cannot quite conceive or visualise his calendar.a typical soundtrack from the next room goes like this: “file… file…” [and then the thumps of case bundles being thrown somewhere]….. “mr x, mr x, ah!” [this happens regularly — repeating the names of the clients, mantra-like, as if trying to remember who they are and the facts of their case, until the smokey wisps of information about them swirl together suddenly and they stand as fully-formed shades before him, bow-headed, summoned at last.] .. “8th july…8th july! today, tomorrow, tomorrow. ptc 1030. ah email client!” [the rapid clatter of keys, his fingers flying over the keyboard], “file, file, ok!” [thump thump thump.]
in this soundtrack i recognise, with much affection, the constant checking, rechecking and stocktaking of the perpetually scatty. for the superorganised plan once, have everything in neat compartments in their mental filing cabinet, and sail on confident they have forgotten nothing, everything is in hand. naturally scatty people — and i am one myself — who have a full slate go into obsessive checking mode — too well accustomed to having something go awry, anxious to guard against their — i should say our — own preoccupations and absent-mindedness.
time and again i think i’m enormously lucky to be shadowing such a lovely genius.
Best of the Transparent Hummingbird