Dialogue

Blah Blah Blah

blah noun
ˈblä

Definition of blah

(Entry 1 of 2)
1 or less commonly blah-blah ˈblä-​ˌblä
: silly or pretentious chatter or nonsense
2 blahs plural [ perhaps influenced in meaning by blasé ] : a feeling of boredom, lethargy, or general dissatisfaction

blah adjective

Definition of blah (Entry 2 of 2)
: lacking interest : dull, boring a blah winter day

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blah#synonyms

Interlocution with Udit Thakre, Psychology student at Sheffield Hallam University, September 2019

To begin, we discuss defining dialogue and Udit gives the following: the function of dialogue is to help the other person understand. It is giving something to another person and an extension of who you are. Udit is interested in the lack of dialogue, oppression and the complexities of gendered pscyhodynamics. He is preparing for a PhD studying politeness in British society. He mentions the Occupy movements and suggests an occupy and reclamation of dialogue. This leads us on to discuss who owns dialogue? Is it culture? Institutions? He is interested in the culture of silence as passive and active aggression and the dark side of politeness (being central to British culture). He cites Dr Brené Brown whose work looks at shame and vulnerability. She talks about clear dialogue being kind whilst unclear dialogue is not kind. Udit also recommends a book The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje depicting betrayals in times of war as opposed to times of peace. He notes that the English ‘stiff upper lip’ element of British politeness and lack of dialogue is a consequence of the war. We discuss lying and inequality in dialogue and the oppressor and the oppressed. Finally, and more generally, we discuss practising dialogue like training muscle or a skill like swimming which is learnt and must be practised to be proficient. But it’s also important to make mistakes in dialogue, Udit says, as this is how we learn.

I was thinking about how much food is the basis of dialogue. I received the gift of onions and squash from my friend’s allotment and I’d promised potatoes from my veg patch in return. This itself prompted a conversation about growing but also prompted a conversation with a woman in the nearby seat, so impressed with the produce.

As it turned out, the potatoes were few but there were beetroot and spring onions so I turned it all into a borscht inspired soup and will share it with my friend over a conversation soon.

I’ve long been impressed and inspired by the gesture of art events with food and I provide snacks and home baked cakes at Art Lab. Whilst I was artist in residence at 34 Boar Lane, Leeds, there were ‘junk food fine dining events’ alongside exhibition openings. Helen the curator considered everything from the table decor, the seating and layout to the lighting, along with close corroboration with the chef. Coming from a catering background also (9 years through college, uni and postgrad self-reliance), this seems like a natural progression. Perhaps what I should do, time permitting, is make my interviewees/interlocutors a cake.

I had a day full of everyday dialogue in chunks of minutes and hours: Almost non-stop dialogue in fragments and compartmentalised pieces. Some of the dialogues were about similar/the same things but with different people so different levels depending where we were in each dialogue. The repeating and re-telling of stories and of dilemmas in various capacities: From glossing over the day in a bitesize chunk at the supermarket checkout to revealing the horrors in full and laying bare vulnerabilities.