And the work will never end for the man so alone, so old and staring so vacantly while he wipes clean his station so late at night with nobody to help even though a woman waits by the counter with a sheet in her hand and she is pleading with her eyes, tapping with her [...]
Archive for March, 2008
Two sentences for three strangers
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged answer, jeopardy, question on March 31, 2008 | 4 Comments »
long piece, second draft
Posted in Creative Nonfiction, tagged deity, god, hiking, mountains on March 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
This van is important. Without this van, we have no way of getting to the mountains. Without this van, we would lack a suitable period of time to settle together as a group before hiking said mountains. Without this van, we would have no opportunity to raise our eight talentless voices as one toneless [...]
Reading Response: Annie Dillard
Posted in Reading As a Writer, tagged Dillard, Response on March 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
One of Annie Dillard’s goal with “Total Eclipse” is to give the reader a sense of utter disorientation. In the very first paragraph, this theme of disorientation is already strong and present because she begins by describing an experience that was traumatizing and remains unidentified. However, she repeats “sliding down the mountain pass” (97) [...]
long piece, rough draft
Posted in Creative Nonfiction, tagged hiking, mountain on March 17, 2008 | 2 Comments »
This van is important. Without this van, we have no way of getting to the mountains. Without this van, we would lack a suitable period of time to settle together as a group before hiking said mountains. Without this van, we would have no opportunity to raise our eight talentless voices as one toneless [...]
Dialogue Exercise
Posted in Creative Nonfiction, tagged home, mom, son on March 14, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
“Oh, Gregg, I’m sorry I’m doing this.”
“It’s ok.”
“I have just always been a family person. After your brother left, and now you. And now it’s just me.”
“Mmm.”
“I miss having you boys all around. I’m managing most of the time, but sometimes it’s just lonely. It’s just me.”
“It’s ok.”
“You’re a great kid, Gregg. I’m so proud [...]
My Desk
Posted in Independent Work, Uncategorized, tagged desk, mess on March 13, 2008 | 3 Comments »
trying to write in another voice, this one a bit more juvenile, kind of a disaster:
There are piles of books everywhere. Sometimes I play a game and try to guess how many packets of paper I will find in one stack of books. I’m always wrong though. There’s lots of magazine clippings everywhere too! Sometimes [...]
Smoke
Posted in 100 Words, tagged fire, smoke on March 12, 2008 | 1 Comment »
For me, smoke is simply symbolic of something that is unquestionably more interesting: fire. I find fire to be one of the most dynamic events/things/chemical reactions in existence. I could stare at a flame for hours, and probably even for days. I love to get lost in its center or hypnotized by its unpredictable fringes. [...]
Isolated Integrity
Posted in Braided Essay, tagged cat, marble, teacher on March 12, 2008 | 2 Comments »
As construed by the Democratic platform, the antitrust law would, if it could be enforced, abolish all businesses of any size or any efficiency. The school teacher sensed that this report on an student-chosen book could have come from honest sources. Fourth graders as a demographic cannot understand economics. She made a note in the [...]
Braided Essay With Tony
Posted in Braided Essay, tagged bird, translator on March 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Unadorned raw wood posts support the high ceiling.
The translator sat at his desk, puzzling over obscure text wishing he was watching the birds instead.
Lumber comes from trees growing in an observant forest communally watching forever the transient bird tribes.
He’s translating the works of several obscure semitic tribes for reasons he doesn’t know himself; the birds [...]
Puddles
Posted in Creative Nonfiction, tagged anecdote, puddles on March 12, 2008 | 1 Comment »
My goal with this piece was to just try writing something in a different voice and get outside my own head. I’ve been using a pretty austere tone in most of my writing and I was trying to stay more light and playful with this. Comment please.
Walking on a dark night, one cannot prepare properly [...]
