Dec 06
My wife and I have very specific dietary needs, you may have read about them. So the prospect of traveling is always something of an ordeal, and an understanding that difficult times and upset stomachs might be in our futures.
Oct 01
A while back a friend of ours came to visit. She told us about a new diet she was on. After a few minutes of description I began to realize that she was not on a diet, she had changed her diet.
Jul 23
As my undergrad studies drew to a close, I scrambled to prepare for postgraduate life. I intended to continue my creative writing career with a Master’s of Fine Arts degree. I registered, took, and earned a decent score on the GRE, the test required for most grad schools. I filled out my application for the writing program, collected samples for a portfolio, requested the necessary letters of recommendation, and got everything turned in one day before the deadline. Then I coasted for a couple of months. I expected to get in. I felt I had made a positive impression on my instructors, enough to give me an edge in the esoteric process that selection committees go through to choose the elite members of their graduate programs. I didn’t even consider applying to another school. As the summer progressed and I went about my quiet routine, I didn’t really think about it much. I simply figured that I would receive my acceptance letter, request my financial aid, and go about my business as I had for the previous four years.
Jul 16
In the second foreword (there are three) to this book, Stephen King says:
“This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit. Fiction writers, present company included, don’t understand very much about what they do- no why it works when it’s good, not why it doesn’t when it’s bad. I figured the shorter the book, the less bullshit.”
Say what you want about King, about his writing, or about his standing in the literary world. When it comes to the bullshit, he’s right.
Jul 06
My wife is a notorious party planner. Whether it’s a grand affair like a birthday or something smaller like a movie night, she never fails in getting things just right. And it’s not just decorations, it’s theme. And then she decorates to match the theme, and the food matches the theme, and the activities match the theme. She is the party master.
Apr 04
Growing up, music was a very important part of my life. Every member of my immediate family contributed to what would become my own particular taste in music. But it was not just about listening, we played.
Apr 03
Being a teacher has its perks, chief among them is tons of time off. But what most people tend to overlook when pointing out this acknowledged benefit is that without so much time off most teachers would probably quit. These strategically placed (thank you Christianity) breaks are needed and well deserved decompression and recuperation periods, without which a teacher’s brain would surely collapse upon itself creating a micro black hole whereby (mostly) innocent and (somewhat) undeserving students and/or any other bystander who might happen to be within the rapidly expanding void’s accretion disk would be irrevocably drawn in, only further feeding the mass until the whole world was consumed.
Feb 17
So, I have been fighting off a cold for the past four days. I seem to be losing the battle.
Jan 31
daily life, pop culture 2 Comments
A few months back a student of mine brought in a soundtrack for a movie that she was psyched about. It was some trashy goth affair with a mostly industrial grind aesthetic to it, which wasn’t to say it was bad. She explained that the film was actually a musical, and then she threw the title at me. I admit, I laughed a little at first. But I indulged her enthusiasm and looked up the trailer. Like the music, it was a trashy goth affair with a mostly industrial grind aesthetic. But then my mind was changed when a face appeared that matched a familiar voice in the music. Anthony Steward Head was one of the leads, I knew I had to see it.
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