February 2012
22 posts
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“I remember thinking, like I do now, that I would love to love something,...”
– Vanessa Veselka, Zazen
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So I’ve decided to introduce a new feature to my blog: carousels. Basically, every week, I’ll be taking you on trips around the internet (most of which are good poems, things about writers and books, etc.). If you ever wish to share any of your own travels, let me know! I’d like to make this a regular thing.
A question too: Who should I be following on here in particular?...
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Currently:
Submitting stories and articles and waiting to hear back from people.
Submitting poems for a contest, and if I don’t win the $1000 prize, I’m giving up writing forever.
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How many people would believe you when you used to say you were a loner who didn’t understand loneliness? You could be in a room full of people and wanted to scream, wanted to leave with the person who brought you to that awful place, or at least take a quiet stroll outside for a few moments. You could call these minutes “cigarette moments,” even though you didn’t smoke....
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My sister, free-associating on various things:
Me: Books?
Paula: Boring.
Me: Adele?
Paula: Horrible.
Me: Big Bang Theory?
Paula: Hilarious.
I wonder if it's really young adults reading more...
Angela and I have been having a nice discussion about books and bookstores here.
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“I must be a mermaid. I have no fear of depths and a great fear of shallow...”
– Anaïs Nin (via blankpagesandinvisibleink)
I just finished reading David Foster Wallace’s essay, “The Depressed Person,” and now I feel physically ill.
Ode to the Paper in my Hands →
Do you still write letters? Or is it just tweets and reblogs?
Oh, and I’m going to be writing more regularly on my blog (NOT this one) and rolling out new features on there I think. For example, maybe doing a weekly round-up of good writing that I found across the internet, so stay tuned.
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Allergic to Life, an ongoing series, starring me:
One of the most wretched, enervating experiences of adulthood is the fact that we constantly have to try to sell ourselves. I’ve always hated competing and I’ve always hated myself, so you can just imagine how this makes me feel all the time.
At the very least, let’s just say it makes me want to go bathe in that chocolate river...
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I don’t know if I really care too little. People seem to interpret me as impassive and unemotional, but I’m not so sure I was always like that. As a kid, I remember crying a lot and being excited, and flexing like an accordion between the extremes. I was quiet a lot, but you could tell: I was off and then I was on.
Maybe it was a hardening over time, or a quelling. My energy was...
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The greatest review of Twilight I've ever read. →
Highlights:
“He dressed very well, like someone who wears nice clothes.”
“But just then, I nearly tripped over my gas pedal and fell through the windshield. I am so clumsy. When we got to school, Edward’s well-muscled chest walked me to English class.” “Everyone stared at us in the hallway, which was a long interior space allowing access to various doors. The...
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I’m just a puppy.
I have this weird sort of understanding about myself through the behaviors of others around me: that people see me as a fragile thing, so naive and sheltered and neutered and completely lacking in street smarts and common sense; yet someone who is also resilient, unflinching, and won’t take shit. They seem to think I don’t care, that the words glance off, yet...
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Your Best Writing →
What is the best thing you’ve written? Is this question too difficult?
In other news: everyone I follow is dead.
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People Don't Like You
People don’t like you because you tell yourself you’re worthless and you find it hard to smile. Laughing comes easy enough, but only because you don’t know what else to do. You laugh, or else you keep completely quiet in hopes that they say something about themselves instead, in hopes they look at the painting on the wall.
People don’t like you because you take them apart...
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Trying to reach out to people is very difficult anymore. Being naturally very introverted has always made this more difficult and delicate, and has always made me latch on to the people that I can actually stand to be around for some time. But something I’ve realized from all the relationships I’ve had is that it always seems to be a bit one-sided: I’m always the one that has to...
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Relating to Unrelatable Characters →
Sometimes, when I’m reading book reviews online just to get a taste of what I may or may not be getting into, I manage to stumble upon something that never fails to irritate me: “Sorry, I couldn’t finish this book because I really couldn’t relate to the character at all.”
What do you think?
I’ll be posting much more regularly on my blog. At least a few times a week, hopefully.
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THINGS:
I promise I’ll continue to post more substantial things. But they’ll be mostly HERE instead. See? I already posted something. You can follow me now on there. It’s just not Tumblr. Don’t be scared…it’s gonna be okay!
I’ve written this great reaction to Never Let Me Go, but I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it. Should I submit it to a...
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How To Be a Good Writer
1. Write 2. Rewrite 3. Rewrite 4. Rewrite 5. Rewrite 6. Rewrite 7. Rewrite 8. Rewrite 9. Rewrite 10. Rewrite 11. Rewrite 12. Rewrite 13. Rewrite 14. Rewrite 15. Rewrite 16. Rewrite 17. Rewrite 18. Rewrite 19. Rewrite 20. Rewrite 21. Rewrite 22. Rewrite 23. Rewrite 24. Rewrite 25. Rewrite 26. Rewrite 27. Rewrite 28. Rewrite 29. Rewrite 30. Rewrite 31. Rewrite 32. Rewrite 33. Rewrite 34. Rewrite 35....
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The World Elephant →
Hello, people. I haven’t posted in a while because I’ve been rather busy lately writing things elsewhere and revising a lot of pieces. Some of you have been helping me out a lot with your input and I really appreciate it.
Another thing. Some of you may also know Allison. Well, I recently received a poetry recording of hers in the mail and I’ve been listening to it. It’s...
January 2012
23 posts
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I really wish Maurice Sendak was my grandfather.
He and I could be bitter curmudgeons together.
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“I dreamed vividly again, more in fact by day than at night. Images, pictures,...”
– Hermann Hesse, Demian
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A Place to Begin
I’ve received a few messages recently in regards to the topics of publishing and writing communities. Namely, where to begin and how to go about getting involved with these things. But I think what makes it interesting at this point in time is that there really isn’t a single answer. So let’s break down a few options for your literary adventures on the horizon:
1. You could do...
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Book Quest
So my sister and I found a used bookstore nearby! It’s been there for thirty years or so, and I think this was my second time being there (I vaguely remember stumbling upon it with my mom years and years ago). There were walls and walls and walls of books and it smelled like old yellowing paperbacks, as you can imagine. It was so nice. Maybe this isn’t a big deal to anyone else, but...
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I’m finally getting around to reading Never Let Me Go, and I feel like this is exactly the type of novel I want to write. Although I undoubtedly admire a lot of writers both dead and alive, I feel like this rarely happens. I actually want my name under the title.
Kick me in the heart, Ishiguro—the heart I’m not supposed to have.
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Falling in Love or Not
This was prompted by Gabe, an unflinching romantic who thinks anyone can fall in love. A few people have asked me about this over the course of this blog but I either ignored them or never really addressed it. This is kind of personal and I don’t really know who reads this or what, so I’ll probably delete this soon. Get it while it’s hot.
——-
I spent most of my...
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My sister and I had an idea to start compiling this encyclopedia of inside jokes in order to keep track of what we actually forget. Because that’s usually how it goes: funny things will happen, we’ll keep repeating them in everyday speech like it’s a fad or a cool thing to do, and then we’ll eventually forget where they came from entirely until they’re replaced by new...
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The Situation in American Writing →
mcnallyjackson:
Our friends at Full Stop are polling authors on the situation in American writing, an update of a 1939 questionnaire sent out by the ye olde Partisan Review. We recommend (Maud Newton, Marilynne Robinson, Gary Shteyngart, George Saunders, etc. etc. etc.)!
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Snow in Florida →
Here’s the mix I was making last night.
Bipolar weather means it’s time for a bipolar mix. Mercurial atmospheres and emotions - about amorphous as water (which is, ironically, a pretty consistent motif here).
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From being pulled inward like a whirlpool:
I feel like I could never kill myself properly when other people are too busy still existing. I don’t really care about my own life; I’m a glass where streams either pass through or bounce off. But that’s not what does it—I simply don’t want my existence to end because I don’t want theirs to end. I get a hold of some...
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My economics teacher told me once: “Joey, you should look into journalism, you should write articles. You obviously have a knack for catching people’s eye in just a few words, and the ones that follow always seem to matter. Not a huge part of the population can do that.”
Well, let’s take a look at the Big Questions and how they’re answered through the different types...
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Running Out
I never really know how to respond to people who ask me where I get my ideas or inspiration from. By far, this is Numero Uno in terms of my writing-related FAQ’s that I’ve gotten on here, or anywhere.
On a certain level, I just want to laugh. Partially because I’ve never had the problem of “running out of ideas” (I have writer’s block just like the rest of you,...
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Outside-In
I’ve always felt very unattached to my own body. When I’m trapped and moored by bones, I like to pretend I’m not. I like to imagine I can hover or morph.
I’ve never been a sensual person: I don’t really care for eating and tasting, and sex and touching. I’ve always looked at the world with my inner eye instead of the two pieces of blue that blink. I’ve...
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My sister goes back to school tomorrow and is currently experiencing some frustration with her final portfolio project for her art class—which pieces to select and which to leave out. She doubts herself a lot like I do. She can be very insecure about what she does. So I tried to console her and help her out a little by telling her which pieces I like, and to remember that all (good) art is...
December 2011
23 posts
6 tags
The Lions
My dear friend and comrade-in-quills, Larry (he used to be “mineralaccident” here on Tumblr—perhaps you’ve heard of him?), has been helping me out with some poems in their rough stages. He just compared me stylistically to contemporary poet Peter Campion, which was interesting and flattering. Flattering to know that he thinks I’m at this kind of level already for such...
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Ideas Down the Drain
Before Christmas came, I was trying to explain to my mom and my sister how they had these waterproof notepads for the shower (hint, hint) so that you could write your ideas down if/when they come. Sometimes, you’re just hit like lightning with the perfect sentence or poem or line of dialogue when you’re bathing (more often than not, I’ve noticed, since it’s such a nice...
REBLOG IF YOU'RE A WRITER WHO DOESN'T RELY ON...
I swear, I get more gift cards to Starbucks for Christmas every year just because everyone ASSUMES I run on it.
True story: I end up giving them to my mom.
Free Online Class from Yale on Modern Poetry
pilgrimsoulinme:
Yale has its entire Modern Poetry course, taught by Langdon Hammer, here. I can’t afford to go back to school, so I thought this was a great structured alternative. Happy studying all!
This is excellent.
I also highly recommend the Yale video lectures on Youtube, for those interested! Especially the literature discussions with Amy Hungerford.
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Machines and Dreams
Prompted by Gabe, since he asked me a few personal things and wanted to know.
——-
“I’d like to see you cry,” you said in between laughs.
I paused for a moment and let it get quiet. “What is wrong with you?” I said, getting to the point where laughs become more like coughs. “Are you some kind of sadist? Or just one of those girls that gets off on...