Vicariously Yours

Pre-united and it feels so good

2012-01-03T10:24:00.002-05:00

Please join my obsession with the Bourne franchise of films as I pitch prequel ideas at Punchnel's. It is my irrational expectation that one of you, via six degrees of separation, will get this to Matt Damon. Don't make Bourne come after you.

Spreadsheet No More! A tale of liberation.

2011-12-31T15:30:00.000-05:00

In 2008-2009-2010, I have read 61 books, 70 books, and 40 books, respectively. I tallied my reading habits on nerdalicious spreadsheets, sharing and comparing with my readerly friends. We had some great conversations over those lists, didn't we, friends? Didn't we? Lookit. I wimped out this year. No spreadsheet. No list. Occasionally I updated the column on the right side of this page, the "

11 lines in 11 minutes

2011-12-14T23:17:00.004-05:00

1. When I was in college, we called an automated line to find out our grades in advance of receiving paper copies; you had to listen to a maddeningly slow voice spell out the course and section number and then likely you would hear, "GRADE. NOT YET. SUBMITTED." 2. The message I'd like to send at present: GRADE. NOT YET. SUBMITTED. 3. During the Victoria's Secret Runway Show tonight, with

It's here. Welcome, book.

2011-11-27T22:49:00.001-05:00

Sudden Flash Youth, a new collection of young adult flash fiction from Persea Books, is out now. It includes my short piece, "For Good," about Juan and Cece at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. You'll find work from Steve Almond, Richard Bausch, Stuart Dybeck, Dave Eggers, Pia Z. Erhardt, Meg Kearney, Paul Lisicky, Naomi Shihab Nye, Pamela Painter, Robert Shapard, Alice Walker, and many, many

A funny thing happened on the way to the dinner

2011-11-09T22:55:00.001-05:00

So there I am, at the gorgeous Central Library as part of the Indiana Author's Award event. I have two back-to-back sessions during the day, and before the first one starts, I have a minute to duck into the Author's Fair and say hello to Bich Minh Nguyen, one of the finalists for the Emerging Author award (the other finalists were Micah Ling and Aaron Michael Morales.) Bich was kind enough to

In which I want a crepe but do not get one

2011-10-25T22:34:00.000-04:00

Indianapolis Monthly has just made me swoon, via "The Dish," with mention of banana and Nutella crepes. It is too late to get some, hour-wise. Must distract self. And perhaps you! Me, in words: A headline poem, "Monkeys Ponder What Could Have Been," in Gargoyle 57 An interview with PANK Magazine, at their blog Short fiction, "Arrested Development," in Midwestern Gothic Me, in events:

Uh-oh

2011-10-18T12:53:00.000-04:00

Today's horoscope: "Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The answers you need may be lost in the mail or floating in cyberspace. You and your can-do attitude will prevail." That's a nice little uplift at the end. Still. THE ANSWERS I NEED MAY BE FLOATING IN CYBERSPACE? Super. I'll just get started tracking them down. Because cyberspace is small, easily managed, and it shouldn't take me, oh, more than an

Ten lines in ten minutes

2011-10-11T22:31:00.000-04:00

1. Life observed from the car window is removed times two, yet feels sped up. 2. The dancing Cash for Gold man usually wears a gold lame suit and plays cardboard guitar, though lately he has taken to wearing a vampire costume for Halloween (presumably.) 3. Once I watched a special on TV about a man who claimed, from jail, not to have killed a woman he seemed guilty of killing; during the

Lost Dissertation Opportunity #267

2011-10-08T20:21:00.000-04:00

Degree Candidate: Sarah A. Layden Degree Sought: PhD in Popular Culture and Fast-Food Studies Working Title: Color Me with Condiments: Representations of Race and Class in Burger King's 1974 "Have it Your Way" Campaign Research questions: What is the cringey to sassy ratio? Is that Jon Voigt asking for four Coca-Cola? Why not colas?

15 lines in 15 minutes

2011-09-14T23:00:00.003-04:00

1.) The deadline forces the mind to mind. 2.) I am writing about personal things, potentially exposing things, which feels hazardous and risky; but I'm telling the story as best I can, which means being honest, which can be incredibly difficult. 3.) There are many, many jobs that are more difficult than writing, chief among them police officer. 4.) The IMPD officers wear bulletproof vests

Click publish

2011-08-28T23:11:00.002-04:00

Sometimes it seems there are too many ways to express the self, including this mode, le blogger, and we have to choose which method for which situation, which place in time, which people will see which thing, how those people might react in their particular places and times, the fallout or repercussions of those reactions or potentially the lack thereof, a silence that speaks to being ignored or

Dissonance

2011-08-19T09:32:00.003-04:00

I have spent the last two weeks talking, teaching many classes. I used to think I was an introvert, and Myers-Briggs even said it was so. But teaching has turned me extroverted. Truthily. The last M-B personality test I took placed me squarely in the "E" category. Who knew? Hectic as summer programs are, I had a blast. But boy am I sick of the sound of my own voice. Let's listen to other

Close to Home

2011-08-14T22:44:00.005-04:00

The Indiana State Fairgrounds are a mile-and-a-half from our house. We can walk there, or run past on the Monon Trail. Saturday night, we were at home, not at the fair. We were on the couch, enjoying Mexican takeout and a drink and the Colts game interspersed with The Dark Knight, enjoying the fact that the baby was sleeping so we could do all of the above. We were not at the fair. We were not

Sometimes you search the Internet, sometimes the Internet searches you.

2011-07-28T22:27:00.007-04:00

I can't believe I found this. My search terms were "egg commercial wagon wheel." Can't really pinpoint why I was looking for it -- maybe I want some cheese? -- but it instantly brought me back to my youth, watching TV, and these wonderfully bizarre PSAs on behalf of whatever food needed promoting that month. (Such as the Incredible Edible Egg. Brilliant. Though just came across some 1980s

Cool it, now

2011-07-21T22:33:00.000-04:00

People. It is hot. It is the kind of hot that bakes our brains, and the only thing we can say to each other, all day long, is: "It is hot. It is HOT." And our wilted companions try to nod, but their sweaty hair weighs down their head and neck and they look a little Muppety. (No offense.) "Hot," they agree, weak but emphatic. So we head indoors. Yesterday the newspaper's front-page story was about

Special Summer Blockbuster Trailers Edition

2011-06-24T09:50:00.013-04:00

BOOK TRAILERS, of course! Books I'm reading/want to read. What other trailers are out there? Please do share. Enquiring minds, etc. etc. I can't think of any movies out now that I'm really excited about seeing. This is mainly because I've been living in a cave, but also because there's an awful lot of dreck out now, therefore I stop paying attention. I see two-and-a-half stars from my trusty

Notebook detritus

2011-06-14T13:47:00.009-04:00

Yesterday I came across an old "ideas" file on the computer, a place I'd intended to jot and stash images and material for stories, poems and the like. I'd forgotten the file and hadn't opened it in ages, since I usually turn to notebooks and scrap paper. There were only a half-dozen items on my list, which is actually titled "idears," because that seems a little amusing and vaguely British and

Piece of advice overheard in a restaurant on Elmwood Ave. in Buffalo, N.Y., from a grandfather to his granddaughter, at a post-graduation lunch:

2011-06-11T15:53:00.006-04:00

"Stay away from writers and artists. They only make money after they're dead."

Putting the End in Friend

2011-05-27T08:24:00.004-04:00

Writers get rejected a lot. As far as I can tell, it's simply a fact you learn to get used to, and then you move on. Submit somewhere else. Write something new. Take up ice dancing or handicrafts, for the love of Pete, if only for the diversion. You'd think that all that rejection would prepare a person for the tricky-to-navigate world of Facebook unfriending, but no. Yours vicariously recently

I had to stop watching Oprah after every episode provoked sobbing, even (especially) the "favorite things" *

2011-05-25T20:30:00.010-04:00

Man alive, have I been posting a lot of man-with-guitar videos lately. Lest you think I'm not up on current events, I happen to be aware that today is the last broadcast of the Oprah Winfrey Show. I haven't seen the episode yet, but I got this spoiler alert from a friend: BEES. Just went on an online Oprah smorgasbord. The Onion's Oprah Viewers Patiently Awaiting Instructions, the one where Tom

Make a New Plan, Stan

2011-05-19T10:14:00.000-04:00

I've been hearing a lot about May 21, which is just around the corner, the alleged Judgment Day. The Internet is a-buzzing like a hive of angry bees. Just to be clear, the world is not going to end on Saturday. I bet you three dollars. What are you doing before the Rapture? I might head to the record shop for the new Paul Simon. Mine is a modest bucket list. Says Simon in a recent interview: “If

Carpe Vita

2011-05-13T14:55:00.005-04:00

May I?

2011-05-09T17:07:00.009-04:00

May I please tell you that the month of May is for writing? For me, that is. It's not, like, a national event or anything. No gimmicks. No tricks. Just writing. And MAYbe occasionally shopping online for adorable baby clothing, but mostly writing. And emptying the spam folder, which includes missives from Lisa about Amazing Scholarship Opportunity. I know, I know, hilarious spam is old news. But

Some random pieces of information that loosely cohere via association

2011-04-29T09:02:00.012-04:00

My story White Hands, published by Zone 3 in their Fall 2008 issue, is now online. They've added lots of content to their website. Look for the issue with fiction/an interview with Michael Martone, U of Alabama professor, who is in Tuscaloosa, dealing with the aftermath of the tornadoes. He is OK, and is busy making sure everyone else is OK. Stacks of paper are piling up here in the haushold. We

Sudden Flash Youth

2011-04-19T08:06:00.001-04:00

Sudden Flash Youth: 65 Short-Short StoriesFrom Persea Books, now available for preorder. Includes my short piece "For Good," about Cece and Juan at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Contributors include Dave Eggers, Pamela Painter, Alice Walker, Ron Carlson, Naomi Shihab Nye, and more. It's edited by Christine Perkins-Hazuka and Tom Hazuka, and Mark Budman, who also edits Vestal Review (which

Your mission for the day

2011-04-14T09:04:00.005-04:00

(From MAKE Magazine, out of Chicago.)

The magical UPS truck

2011-04-08T10:05:00.008-04:00

...has delivered my copy of The Pale King, David Foster Wallace's last -- and unfinished -- novel. Sorry, other books. Putting you down for awhile. The foreword tells how editor Michael Pietsch worked on the book from drafts, notes, and how he interpreted Wallace's vision for the work. On the subject of DFW, this article says more than I could, presently. Writer Maria Bustillos spent three days

"Some things stay the same. Like time."

2011-03-21T09:02:00.003-04:00

Gray Monday with a chance of warm. High probability of coffee in orange mug, possible cold front sweeping through sinuses. Thunder rumble, or truck of insanity on road in need of paving. Grading done, writing commenced, baby "singing" to his toys on the playmat while music softly plays. A good start to the day/week/month/year. To wit: my March Madness bracket ain't shot yet. One side is

White Noise

2011-03-08T07:34:00.016-05:00

I've been wondering lately about images and associations, and how the brain does what it does when it comes to calling up random bits of information, culture, clutter, effluvia. The white noise of the brain, the distractable brain. The Retractable Brain, the brain that can be folded into a small case, potato-head-like!Sometimes I get certain words in my head and repeat them to myself in the

Book Me

2011-02-16T08:41:00.013-05:00

The ides of February have passed. What are we going to read next? At the moment, I'm itching for something relatively fast, with a minimum of horror/tragedy (unless, of course, the horror and tragedy are handled as comedy, in which case the experience of reading said events is much more enjoyable. For me, anyway.) But not too funny. And not too sappy. And with just the right amount of profound,

New Booth

2011-02-06T12:45:00.003-05:00

It's the second issue of Butler University's literary magazine, Booth.Fiction: John Baum, Aaron Burch, Edward PorterWinesburg, Indiana: Barbara Bean, Kate Bernheimer, Robin Black, B.J. Hollars, Michael Martone, Deb Olin UnferthArt: Austin KleonPoetry: Jason Bredle, Mary Buchinger, James Crews, Brent Fisk, Derrick Harriell, Lois Harrod, Marty McConnellInterviews: Jay Lesandrini talks with Nick

Writers of the Internet: Go Read This

2011-01-28T16:58:00.004-05:00

Amber Sparks writes about the hyper-anxiety social networking can provoke in writers at Big Other. As my dear friend Jennifer says about the pitfalls of Facebook: "Compare and despair." The comments after the article offer a pretty great conversation, too. I don't know Amber, but after reading this, I'd like to. P.S. I got my very special rejection T-shirt for Christmas. Boo yah.

Warming up

2011-01-10T07:24:00.004-05:00

It's a cold January morning, which I know without having to go outside. The birds scramble around the near-empty feeders. I'm drinking hot coffee from an orange mug. Making plans. Lists.Listing. Listening to: "It would be this, it would be this." I made no resolutions this year, so my January is freed up for hearing this song on repeat. May you enjoy similar small pleasures.

My Books of 2010: Lordy Lordy, Stopped at 40

2010-12-31T08:47:00.001-05:00

Not a record-breaking year, my friends, but a good one for reading nonetheless. Following the last two years' tallies of 61 and 70 books read, respectively, I'm weighing in with a mere 40 for 2010. Now, if you counted the number of times I've reached for "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and a dozen other like-minded tomes, you would have a slightly different number. Along with the

Cabletown

2010-12-17T13:56:00.001-05:00

I've taken up residence, it seems, inside my television. For the first time in my adult life, I have cable -- not counting basic cable, which we got for the reception, of course, and which included no fewer than seven public access government channels, featuring "Board of Zoning Appeals I" and "Board of Zoning Appeals II Fast II Furious." Which my husband and I actually watched, when we weren't

Some days my skin is plenty tough

2010-12-01T12:05:00.004-05:00

Other days, not so much. This makes me feel better: And a handy link, in case you wanted to get it for me for Christmas.

A slice of lemon cake with Aimee Bender

2010-11-15T16:42:00.007-05:00

I have an interview up at Guernica with writer Aimee Bender, whose recent book, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, was, as the critics say, un-put-downable. I'm glad she and I completed this prior to October, when my bouncing baby boy was born. He is also, as the parents say, un-put-downable. Because he likes to be held. And he cries when he is not. Which makes interviewing people somewhat

Vouched Presents Artifice Magazine Issue 2

2010-10-09T13:58:00.001-04:00

There's a fantastic literary event in Indianapolis tonight: the traveling show that is Artifice Magazine is appearing at Big Car Gallery, with readings from writers who appear in Issue 2. Details are here. And if you miss tonight's show in Indy, fear not. There also are dates set for Baltimore, D.C., NYC, and Cambridge, Mass. Wish I could go to any and all of these readings; the Issue #1 reading

Collaborate to fabricate

2010-09-30T21:24:00.008-04:00

Collaborate apparently is the one "ate" word that isn't in that one song by INXS. (I asked the computer. It told me so. The song's Mediate, by the way. At 98 we all rotate. Etc. Now try to get it out of your head. JUST GO AHEAD AND TRY.)I'm new-ish to writing collaborative fiction, but thanks to Indianapolis literary guru Bryan Furuness, we currently have a project up at Ninth Letter along with

True confession time

2010-09-20T22:55:00.002-04:00

Our confessional culture finally has come up with something more genuine than slickly scripted reality television "reveals," and it's coming to a stage near you. It's Mortified, a chance for people to dig up their adolescent writing, art, and media, then perform it on stage. It is described as a "comic excavation." Motto? "P.S. It Totally Likes You." There is a not-small part of me that wants to

It's September! Please remember...

2010-09-07T22:27:00.003-04:00

IN Rhyming, but not stealingHomemade decaf chai lattesReading soul-crushing allegories followed by lighter office romps Being Prepared, a la the Boy ScoutsToast. Yeah, toast. Drafting something new: it's done when it's doneThe new happyOUTStealing, but not rhymingAlmost all caffeine (sniff)Self-diagnosing at Big Al's Internet Health Source/Tackle & Bait EmporiumA whimsical "Que sera, sera"

Le Geek, C'est Chic

2010-08-24T14:16:00.015-04:00

My computer has sound for the first time since its epic tantrum in March. Nearly every day, someone would send me a link or I'd want to click on a video, only to remind myself that no, can't happen. When online access to information virtually is unlimited, any limitations appear ridiculously frustrating. A bratty problem to have, grand schemers. Still, being reintroduced to sound and multimedia

This thing is not like the other thing

2010-08-06T14:33:00.003-04:00

A chocolate chip granola bar is not a chocolate chip scone. Working at home is good until you realize that you have torn the entire house apart as a means of not working. This has become a large-scale reorganization project (how did we get so much STUFF?), and you don't particularly feel like putting it back together. And then you are trapped in the tornado aftermath you created. 89 degress and

On Goodness

2010-07-28T10:07:00.003-04:00

Just finished psychologist Dacher Keltner's book "Born to Be Good," subtitled The Science of a Meaningful Life.The book studies the science of human emotion: the logic of feeling. The author says we are "hardwired for good," that compassion and empathy are natural instincts that ensure our survival. It also repeats the theory that altruistic acts are borne out of selfishness: people do good

Shakedown 1979

2010-07-23T14:28:00.012-04:00

This is an American social studies textbook from 1979. Bask in its wisdom. I have things to decide. I have to do more things. And you? Yeah. Good call. That's the $20 million question, pardner.

I Will Choose Free Will

2010-07-09T15:26:00.011-04:00

Who reads the horoscopes every day? That's right. I do. While I am officially an Aquarius, I make a habit of reading other people's horoscopes, too, just to keep track of how they're doing. You know, according to the stars. Do I read yours? If you're reading this, I probably do. The daily paper runs short ones, which makes it easy for me to catch all the latest on how my planets and yours are

Summer Reads/Make Me Feel Fine

2010-07-06T12:33:00.011-04:00

The spreadsheet of books I've read so far this year is kinda sparse compared to the last two years. And the summer months, my dependable downtime for reading, have been busier than usual: I'm cranking out pages on a new project, taught for a few weeks in June, and have gone out of town for several long weekends. I've also been reintroduced to my love of badminton, which, as you may know, requires

Indy Underground Reading Series

2010-06-24T13:17:00.011-04:00

Do you live in, or near, or have means to travel to the greater Indianapolis area? Then you should come to the Indy Underground Reading Series next Wednesday, June 30. It's going to be fantastic.Writers, rock and roll, and Sun King beer. Eight o'clock at the Irving Theater, a great place to see a show. I can't remember if it was there or at The Emerson, but it makes me think of when I saw Social

The last person on Earth to see Avatar

2010-06-22T13:02:00.002-04:00

That would be me. And I somehow rounded up three other people who also had not seen the Movie Everybody Else in the World Had Already Seen to watch it with me. (The same group, incidentally, that gathered to watch "The Hurt Locker" earlier in the spring, a film which beat "Avatar" for Best Picture at the Oscars.) I did not want to like Avatar. I'm not a contrarian by nature, it's just that the

It's not like you don't have a calendar

2010-06-07T13:45:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite books that I read last year, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, has an entry about days of the week, and the importance of not stating the obvious about Fridays (yay!) and Mondays (boo). I originally started writing this on Friday, in one kind of mood. And now it is Monday, and I'm in another kind of mood.It is important not to state the obvious about

Go outside, already

2010-05-25T11:18:00.005-04:00

Sunshine's here.

Ain't No Sunshine. Not even a little.

2010-05-21T09:42:00.012-04:00

Is this a good version of the song? I have no idea; my computer is still without sound, a problem I have not tried very hard to fix. But it's Bill Withers, so it must be good. "Use Me" by Bill Withers is also excellent, and there's a pretty good cover from some years back featuring Mick Jagger and Lenny Kravitz. Now that your daily musical needs have been met, let me report there ain't no

First impressions

2010-05-13T08:17:00.003-04:00

The Internet is quiet at 4 a.m. The dream about desperately needing to find a bathroom means: get up and find one. I read about strangers' lives and feel as if I know these strangers. When it's fiction, I feel comforted. When it's blogs, I feel creepy. The kids now say "creeper" instead of "stalker." I feel as though I'm repeating myself on that point. But it clearly made an impression. 8:30

And then the Universe said HA HA!

2010-05-07T10:24:00.005-04:00

I recently learned that two articles I wrote for NUVO last year won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists' annual Best in Indiana Journalism contest. -“Unite! Hotel workers fighting to unionize” won first place for Social Justice Reporting-“A different kind of chance” won second place for Social Justice ReportingAnd yesterday, after receiving a rejection from a lit journal for a

Poems for Sale

2010-05-01T16:11:00.005-04:00

Whenever my husband and I pass a vacant storefront in the neighborhood, we jokingly discuss the logistics of renting it to turn into a writing shop. There I'd sit in front of the plate glass window, writing on demand. A While-U-Wait operation, perhaps with a laundromat nearby so customers can pass the time or buy a soda. In this scenario, I'd sell short profiles for fifty cents, and a poem for a

Cigarettes & Sporks: An Earth Day Report

2010-04-23T08:38:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, as I was driving to the mall wearing my eco-friendly brown polymer suit, windows down, Foo Fighters coming from the speakers, the woman in the car in front of me flicked her cigarette out the window. The forces of wind sent the lipstick-laced butt into my car window, where it landed smack-dab on my arm. I now have the circular initiation burn mark I've always dreamed of. When the

Whole Lotta Links

2010-04-02T14:11:00.001-04:00

Hello, beautiful nobody and everybody. Spring is all up in your business, no? Yes. Please take a moment from your frolicking to read my interview with writer Steve Almond, here at Knee-Jerk Magazine. Congrats to Knee-Jerk for getting honorable mention (along with Cerise Press and Slush Pile) as best new online journal/magazine from storySouth's Million Writers Award competition. Top honors went

You Wouldn't Understand

2010-03-25T14:38:00.000-04:00

An early-April deadline is a-looming, and a crazy couple days are a-coming. My superior math skillz indicate that means I must write 1,000 words between now and tonight's Syracuse game. But HOW? Sit down and do it, is the short answer. The long answer is a leetle more complicated. Because there's a list of other things to do, too. And not on that list, but already accomplished:1. Take a nap2.

Be the Bear

2010-03-11T22:01:00.003-05:00

I am coming out of hibernation, but slowly, so as not to startle my nervous system. Today I saw a crocus blooming. My crocus, because I planted it. As if I can stake a claim on such a thing. The end of hibernation requires sustenance. When I called the cajun eatery to see what was on tonight's menu, the man said my favorite vegetarian dish, the B&B (which stands for I don't know what), was

New fiction @ Wigleaf

2010-03-02T14:14:00.001-05:00

If you like the short fiction, then please point your world wide inter-browser to Wigleaf, which published my piece Hang Up. Go to the homepage here to read a wide assortment of fantastic stories, along with a postcard I wrote to the journal. No, not to the editors: to the journal. I love this idea, postcards. I still send postcards, and buy postcard stamps, though I may be the only person I

I feel very strongly about Thursday

2010-02-25T15:58:00.009-05:00

For years, maybe five or so, Thursday was the signifier of the weekend. My schedule worked out so that I didn't teach on Fridays -- No Class Fridays, I dubbed them, only realizing the double-meaning when my sister made fun of me and my classlessness. Partly it was being a commuter, and being lucky enough to get T/TH teaching assignments instead of MWF. Partly it's that colleges and universities

Little Round Mirrors

2010-02-18T13:03:00.005-05:00

My screenwriter/teacher friend John has an interesting project going: Little Round Mirrors, a blog about watching his immense DVD collection in alphabetical order and reporting on the experience. I'm enjoying getting to re-experience some favorite old films through his eyes. I have a generally good-to-excellent memory, except when I have a terrible memory, and I've been noticing lately that my

Steve Almond: Presto Book-O

2010-02-11T13:18:00.006-05:00

Up now at The Rumpus, candyfreak/Kurt Vonnegutphile Steve Almond makes the argument for self-publishing as one means of disseminating your words, on your terms. Pros? Cons? Regahhhdless, I feel strongly that my home office/decor would be vastly improved by the addition of an Espresso Book Machine. I believe I have established here my enthusiastic acceptance of robots, yes? The evolution of

PANK is fun to say

2010-02-04T20:50:00.010-05:00

And it's a literary magazine, collective, website, entity, group of individuals who are doing great things with and for writing. PANK 4 is available now, and contains my short-short story, "Comet's Return," along with new work from one of my favorite poets, Bob Hicok. Also included are Kyle Minor, Matt Bell, Jennifer Pieroni, Meg Pokrass, Coralie Reed, Ethel Rohan, Kathleen Rooney, Emily Rosko,

Jerome

2010-01-28T22:26:00.004-05:00

Or Jerry. That was the "J" in J.D. Salinger. On a kick during a couple months of college, because I'd already read his books, I turned to a bunch of Salinger biographies. Pretty much all of them lacked any input from the reclusive author himself, but there were plenty of snippets of trivia. About his diet. About his love life. About his home in Cornish, N.H. Reading about him, I remember

Stone Canoe | A Journal of Arts

2010-01-26T18:45:00.019-05:00

Last weekend I had the pleasure of returning to Syracuse, N.Y., for the Stone Canoe Issue 4 launch. Contributors include Hayden Carruth, Mary Gaitskill, Jennifer Pashley, Brooks Haxton, Juliana Gray, Megan Muldoon, Emily Farranto, and many more. The arts journal was kind enough to award my short story, "Hysterectomy," the Allen and Nirelle Galson Prize for Fiction. The story had been in progress

Ain't that a kick in the head?

2010-01-21T15:12:00.006-05:00

Dean Martin* wants to know. And so did the grocery store bagger, all those years ago, who proclaimed something to be "better than a kick in the head."** But what? What was better than a kick in the head? The price of ground chuck? A shopper's club card and its attendant savings? I have the sinking suspicion this isn't even my story: he was somebody else's bagger, remarking on somebody else's

It's 2010! What should I wear?!

2010-01-08T09:09:00.018-05:00

INStronger coffeeOrange bowling ballsTaking it out, chopping it upReading Knee-Jerk Magazine, which includes my interview with Porter ShreveGiving stuff awayPoetry, daily (and Poetry Daily)The number 8 Long e-mailsChatting with random strangers about Fela KutiOUTBenevolent gestures performed angrily (No, YOU go first!)Soda popThe number 10 Short n' pithy e-mailsHoardingAutotune Footage of

My Books of 2009: A High of 70, with a Chance of Eye Strain

2009-12-31T10:00:00.007-05:00

I'm sending out 2009 with 70 books read. This was my second year keeping track, and last year's book total was 61. My tally as of this Tuesday: 69 books. It was too close to 70 -- and too close to nerd dirty jokes -- for me to stop there. As we say around the holidays, "Why stop eating now?" So when 2010's breathing down my neck, "Why stop reading now?" Books! This year I considered rejiggering

Unburdening

2009-12-29T08:33:00.025-05:00

The research is clear: people are happier when they unburden themselves to others, whether it's face-to-face or written communication. In this spirit of sharing, allow me to unburden myself of this creepy-yet-compelling photo of Vladimir Putin. He appears to have a deep interest in this baby's nutrition. (Oh, I know he can't really see the baby. Or CAN he?) Will the spoonful reach the mouth, will

I, too, am a strange loop

2009-12-16T23:00:00.012-05:00

I don't expect to be amazed in the doctor's office,* reading the magazines. I don't expect to be amazed by a magazine I actually subscribe to, but haven't read yet. (I will, promise, even if they are stacked up accusingly with all the rest.). Yet: amazed. This interview Matt Gonzalez did with IU prof Douglas Hofstadter in Indy Monthly took up a single page. I can't stop thinking of it. Short

Highway of Vice Presidents

2009-12-11T11:23:00.003-05:00

This is the title of your next story or poem. Any length, any style. And...GO.

I was just talking about how I get distract--

2009-12-09T00:12:00.001-05:00

There are many things I could be doing, and in fact should be doing. But this is the time of year when I find myself...-Answering telemarketer calls-Completing annoying online surveys-Scrubbing the stove-Checking e-mail and Facebook 8 million times (but somehow not summoning the energy required to respond. I'm sorry: I probably owe you one. I'm sorry but I'm just thinking of the right words to

Escape (not the pina colada song)

2009-11-29T11:47:00.017-05:00

Last week I was in France, England, D.C., Vermont, and South Carolina. Or maybe just one of those places, where I landed on a very comfy couch and watched many movies that took me elsewhere. If there is a vicarious experience I enjoy more than reading books, it is watching movies. Sometimes I wonder if I should be troubled by the fact that escapism is my primary mode of entertainment. Still, I am

New fiction for the reading

2009-11-21T09:16:00.000-05:00

My new short story, "Marv's 11 Steps," is now up at anderbo.com.Anderbo.com is edited by Rick Rofihe, who was generous with his time and comments on this piece. I cannot vouch for whether he is like an owl, as this interview attests, but if that means wise, then yes. This character, Marv, appeared last summer during the Advanced Institute of the Hoosier Writing Project. I spent a week with other

The squirrels mean business

2009-11-18T01:18:00.000-05:00

This happened a few weeks ago. I am apprehensive about mentioning it, even now: the squirrels bogart the wireless from out back, up high in the trees that may soon crash through the roof. They hack my e-mail and agree to transfer funds to BANK OF LAGOS. They have grown as big as cats. They slam into the storm door, scrambling upwards to the decorative gourd display. They stash dirty magazines in

Sarah Layden is not the first person to speak in third person, you know

2009-11-06T01:11:00.000-05:00

Sarah Layden thinks there are compelling reasons to speak of yourself in the third person. In terms of point of view, it's a distancing mechanism, a means to evaluate and take a breath outside of the self and turn the subjective into something objective. In third person, one need not take any sort of real ownership over a statement. After all, Sarah Layden said the thing. Not "I," said the fly.

Pete Yorn is not my boyfriend

2009-10-28T12:05:00.000-04:00

My ears are getting old, my hearing a little, well, what?, but I still go to rock concerts. And at most of the shows I attend, a good chunk of the crowd is in my demographic, wearing earplugs and supporting whatever band is trafficking the latest brand of reunion nostalgia. It's a racket, but I fully participate. Sometimes I even buy the T-shirt. I am, however, a little old and a lot married for

Westside story

2009-10-22T19:52:00.000-04:00

It does not involve snapping, or a dance-off, or the inimitable Natalie Wood. No, this is the Westside of Indianapolis, arguably the most diverse side of town, thanks in part to an influx of immigrants over the last decade. The area's changed dramatically, which I wrote about for this week's NUVO. If you're in Indy this weekend (and really, who isn't?), the Lafayette Square Area Coalition will

Good morning

2009-10-21T08:05:00.001-04:00

Humanity everywhere

2009-10-18T14:49:00.000-04:00

You know when you're shopping for a car/suit/house/pet, and suddenly you can't stop noticing cars/suits/houses/pets? They're everywhere, all around you, and they always have been. You've just been oblivious because you've had no cause to notice them before.So it is this fall, sitting in on a Humanities lecture and leading discussion sections. All the texts, all the people, all the art and the

Oh crystal ball, save us all, tell me life is beautiful

2009-10-05T08:05:00.001-04:00

"You will live daringly. When afraid, you'll summon the courage to push past your fear. A powerful person admires your guts."-Holiday Mathis, Horoscopes

Night driving

2009-09-27T12:24:00.001-04:00

In the car, where I seem to live, I chanced upon Diane Rehm's NPR interview with the writer E.L. Doctorow. I like listening to invisible people's voices while driving. Voices that provide writing metaphors that invoke cars & roads. Says Doctorow:"Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."Nice, no?E.L.

(500) Days of Summer = (past)(present) + (soundtrack)(dance sequences)

2009-09-20T12:50:00.000-04:00

Maybe it's that the movie (500) Days of Summer is so clearly aimed at my age demographic (romps through IKEA! A main character in Clash and Joy Division t-shirts!) Or maybe it's the parenthetical title, which refers to the time span Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the now-grown kid from TV's "Third Rock from the Sun") and Summer (Zooey Deschanel, of the film All the Real Girls, which should be watched

I am looking at you looking at each other

2009-09-15T09:30:00.000-04:00

"We've become a race of Peeping Toms. What people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change. Yes sir. How's that for a bit of homespun philosophy?"-Stella, in Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW, 1954

Get a Gripz

2009-09-07T18:42:00.000-04:00

Monday. Grocery time. The empty fridge takes no holiday, nor do I. Today's majestic shopping discovery was a product called GRIPZ, which are not designed, as far as I can tell, to keep one upright in the shower. These snack foods come in specially designed pouches with instructions to "RIP n' TIP." It is not stated if the bag should be ripped open with one's teeth, though the tipping action, I

Mwah

2009-09-01T11:32:00.000-04:00

"Walk slowly and quietly. Do not wear brightly colored clothing. Your parked car can serve as a blind and birds will approach closer than if you are on foot. If you are quiet and partly concealed, you can often attract songbirds and draw them close to you by repeatedly "pshshing" or "squeaking" or noisily kissing the back of your hand."-Birds of North America: a Guide to Field Identification

Oh! Here is another thing to lose track of.

2009-08-15T21:29:00.001-04:00

I'm a big fan of placeholders. Objects or notes or bookmarks to remind me of the things I mean to do. I'm prone to slowness. Let's call it deliberateness: the page turned down, half the cookie saved for later, the flowerbeds unfinished as I wait to see how they fill in. So. This page is a placeholder of sorts, because it does not take a schedule-ologist to predict that this semester is going to

My Books of 2008: There's No Hall of Fame for Reading

2008-12-28T05:15:00.001-05:00

I am the Roger Maris of book reading, or so my husband/source of sports trivia tells me. As of today, I’ve read 61 books this year, which is the same number of home runs Maris had in 1961 to break Babe Ruth’s record.* I am especially Maris-like, my source adds, because I hit 60 books on Monday, and thought, You know, I could probably read one more before midnight Wednesday.** There’s no better