I haven’t been posting much in the morning this week. There’s no real reason for this other than I haven’t been writing as much in the morning – or what I’ve been writing hasn’t been finished. I’ve been reading a little bit about how different writers work and what they consider to be good output….
BICKERING: PERIMENOPAUSE
How I feel at the moment is the opposite of flow (and no, that is not a period pun, I wrote the title after I wrote the blog post). I’ve been having a tough time communicating with my friend Lisa lately. It seems that she’s been distant for a little more than a week –…
MORE THAN ERROR, LESS THAN PROVIDENCE
Words have come and gone. I’ve felt quiet. The night has been long without music and drink – intentionally so. My habit, if I write or paint or read, has been to have a glass or two of wine to ease in to things. When I first moved to Memphis, I went out several nights…
LEAP DAY
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…
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…
RELATIONSHIP ADVICE (ESTHER PEREL)
I need a word for these non-dating casual new friendships that I develop from time to time. Many of them follow a pattern of a few deep-ish conversations that can’t be sustained over a long period of time. They’re not therapy sessions, they’re not quite comparing scars, but more along the lines of matching up…
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…
IN SEARCH OF LOST… KEYS
Since I was mentioning Proust earlier, I figured I’d play off of the In Search of Lost Time thing. More than once, I’ve tried to write about time – it’s the only thing that just marches on – it gives meaning and urgency and definition. How we spend it and who we spend it with…
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…