I had a great time at the Montevallo Literary Festival. I saw some writers I knew, and some I didn’t, and enjoyed all the readings and associated festivities. Click on the hands to see a few Flickr pics from the trip. I tend to associate colors with trips, and in this case it was [...]
Also tagged Books, WritingI haven’t posted about books lately. Here are a few I’ve read recently, and that you might want to explore:
Aimee Bender’s Willful Creatures, making a repeat appearance (I think) because this is my second time through the collection.
Angela Carter’s Burning Your Boats. I’ve always enjoyed re-imagined and re-told fairy tales, and it seems like that [...]
I’ve seen a lot of “artisan” goods lately. Artisan cheese. Artisan bread. Artisan beer. I haven’t thought about the term “artisan” much, but my impression is that artisan products/wares/foods are marketed as such because they are hand-crafted with loving care by actual humans, as opposed to mass-produced by soulless machines. Makes sense. There’s Wonder Bread, [...]
Also tagged Ain't That America, MFAThough I was born in Minnesota, I didn’t hang around long enough to learn to accept snow as a fact of life. It still feels special. A day off from school, maybe, or simply a day or two a year with magical flakes falling from the sky. That might be happening today in Nashville…rumor has [...]
Also tagged MFAI wrote about nasty new Twizzlers last week, and also mentioned Steve Almond’s book “Candyfreak,” and now I’ve found a clip of him reading from the book. What does he talk about? Hating Twizzlers! I understand hating new sour Twizzlers, but come on, Steve…there are worse candies out there. Candy corn. Mary Janes. Boston Baked [...]
Also tagged Ain't That America, FoodYou could say I’m obsessed with hand sanitizer…
And you would be correct.
That short piece was inspired by, you guessed it, jugs of “Endure” hand sanitizer in my classroom.
Endure. Endure. I’m fascinated by that product name. What names didn’t make the cut?
Prevail.
Succeed.
Defer.
Equivocate.
Congeal.
Reply.
Rationalize.
I have two water pistols loaded with antibacterial gel and I squirt people if [...]
I apologize for the lack of posts lately. I’m writing a lot of other things — critiques of student stories, critiques of fellow MFAs’ stories, my own nonfiction and fiction, random e-mails — and it’s more and more difficult to think of blog-worthy ideas. I may be swamped for a few weeks, so I will [...]
Also tagged Ain't That America, MFAPearl Jam’s latest album “Backspacer” hit stores today so you should probably go buy it. Despite past anti-corporation leanings, idealistic populism, what-have-you, the band chose Target and iTunes for the initial distribution. So it goes… I’ve said to several people, after listening to the album a few times, that I think it accurately represents where [...]
Also tagged Music