July 2010
13 posts
1 tag
People are worth investing in.
Jul 31st
1 note
1 tag
A few weeks ago—after returning from Singapore and California—I made a list of four goals for the rest of my life. It looks like this:  1. Not work in an office. (Although, there would be plenty of exceptions to this.) 2. Write books. 3. Travel. 4. Work towards the Ideal. The Ideal is a word I’ve stolen from Alfred Nobel when he set up the Nobel Prize in literature for people producing...
Jul 30th
1 tag
Jul 29th
4 notes
1 tag
The lovely K.M. writes in response to a previous post: When you lived in a small town, they told you it was an island. And perhaps it was. So, you stopped worrying about minor things like dandelions and made a B-line for the mainland. They insisted you take the charter boat over. You thought how you would’ve preferred to swim. On the mainland, eating unblemished tomatoes in January is important....
Jul 27th
1 tag
Current state of fame: Right between getting a shoutout from The Rumpus and still being rejected by McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. 
Jul 26th
2 tags
Jul 24th
1 tag
When you live in a small town, you live on an island, a small square of people surrounded by unpopulated lands. You hear news and rumors of other places, but it’s hard to know that how they live and how they think is different from how you do. You invent your own rules for yourself. When you’re in high school you think, why would anyone care about entrance exam scores? Those things...
Jul 19th
1 note
2 tags
Jul 16th
2 tags
Jul 13th
2 tags
Jul 9th
1 tag
I am reading All the Sad Young Literary Men by Keith Gessen today. Yeah, yeah, I relate to the title, and some of the book. I will admit weariness to the trend of generic novel titling. (Re:  • Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers • Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart  • The Financial Lives of Poets by Jess Walter • Anthropology of an American Girl by Hilary...
Jul 8th
1 tag
I have a story in the newest issue of Quick Fiction. They also published the story on their web page, so you can read it at this link: http://quickfiction.org/read/2112/bobby-kennedy-and-his-sea-lion-sandy/ It’s about Robert Kennedy, a man who I admire like hell for running for President in 1968. It’s hard enough to get out of bed in the morning because of this godforsaken...
Jul 4th
1 tag
Flights, June 2010 06/06—Singapore to Manila* 06/06—Manila to San Francisco †° 06/18—San Francisco to Salt Lake City 06/18—Salt Lake City to Denver § 06/18—Denver to Des Moines ¥ 06/26—Cedar Rapids, IA to Orlando  06/30—Orlando to Chicago ‡ 06/30—Chicago to Cedar Rapids, IA ƒ * After seven months in Singapore. † The Manila airport has a sign that points to: the gates, the restroom, the...
Jul 1st