Last night I went out with my friend Katherine and then met up with Stacy. Katherine bought dinner and drinks – apparently she thinks she owed me from last time. We ended up at Ernestine & Hazel’s where she thought a guy was cute. She left early, and then texted and asked me to find…
Category: Life
FISH BRAIN
For as prolific and almost buoyant as I felt two days ago, I didn’t write at all yesterday. I’m not even sure I jotted down a single note. Instead, I suppose, it was a day of intake (books, articles, videos, experiences, sunshine). I spent my morning taking care of some bills. I lost my main…
A MOMENT
Sitting on the sofa reading poetry I had just been laughing over the lines “If gratuitous suffering paid even minimum wage,/ and Carrie kept track of the hours,/ she could be behind the wheel of a late model car by now,” Of course I loved the wry turn of phrase. I paused and thought how…
LOVE DON’T PAY THE BILLS
I allow myself posts like last night’s because while they feel a little embarrassing (as if I’ve made no progress), they continue the theme of growth as an iterative process that is by no means linear. I’ve spent the earliest parts of my morning re-reading and editing – I’m not a huge fan of the…
A DAY IN OXFORD
Oxford, MS. Home to Faulkner and the University of Mississippi – Ole Miss. The town was worth the day trip. If I was in to shopping, it would have had more appeal. I was able to buy two books of poems by Tony Hoagland for $3 each. Lucked out at getting a bar spot in…
FAULKNER, PROUST, AND ADVENTURES PRESENT AND REMEMBERED
“It’s a shame that the only thing a man can do for eight hours a day is work. He can’t eat for eight hours; he can’t drink for eight hours; he can’t make love for eight hours. The only thing a man can do for eight hours is work.” “You don’t love because: you love…
A STORY: THE BEGINNING
***This may or may not be a running piece – meaning that I’ll add to it as I go. It is a bit of a thought experiment, a stretching of the rhetorical and imagination muscles. I have no idea where, if anywhere, it will go. I like that.*** Not quite late at night, I wanted…
QUIET WEEK
Quiet. That’s how the week has been. I’m not sure if it seems quiet by comparison to the noise of the last two weeks (it is), or if it’s quiet by my normal standards. My friend Lisa seems upset with me and has mentioned several times that I’ve been quiet (I have). She said if…
FREE WEDNESDAY AT THE BROOKS
The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art has free admission on Wednesdays. Today happens to be a Wednesday – score. After a long morning of writing, thinking, reading, and exercise – a visit to a museum seemed in order. It is a fairly small museum – though when I look at their collection online – I…
THE COMPLICATIONS AND FREEDOM OF CHOICE
Scrolling through Instagram yesterday I came across this ad on my feed. –> I’m sure it’s based on job searches I’ve conducted or search terms I’ve used related to existential crisis, dread, etc. etc. A few people have asked me what I’m going to do. My answer is the same as it was over a…
UNSETTLED LIKE NOVICE MOUNTAINS
Unsettled. That’s the word for tonight. Unsettled mind, unsettled interests, unsettled goals…. unsettled. For the few hours I’ve had after dinner, I basically did nothing. I had some music on. I had my laptop open. The phone was to my left, the set of paints to my right. I wanted to paint, but couldn’t think…