Thursday, December 24, 2009

Textual Healing



Molly Gaudry's We Take Me Apart:
http://www.aboutjatyler.com/index_files/gaudry.html


And looking forward to reading J.A. Tyler's Inconceivable Wilson, available at http://thescrambler.com/books-tyler.html


Guitar Hero Christmas Lights






Saturday, December 12, 2009

Rock N Roll Is Here To Stay





Friday, October 9, 2009

Gang Signs














"Thieves"---Muscadine Lines

The short piece, "Thieves," can be found in Volume 28 of:





http://www.asouthernjournal.com/

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Sugar Cane Festival



http://www.hisugar.org/






Friday, September 18, 2009

[The Allison Bohl Reel], For Real





The People Of Earth
I Always Do My Collars First
Raised On Rice And Gravy
Pinpal
Congres Mondial Of Acadien
BeauSoleil

Music By Jon Brion

http://www.vimeo.com/6612552

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The Velvet Combo And The 5 Senses: A Scientific Report

After applying the Scientific Method, I have reached a conclusion about the Velvet Combo and the 5 senses.

Method (Scientific)

1.Define the question: Does the Velvet Combo appeal to all 5 senses?

2. Gather information and resources: Recipes, videos, compact discs, reviews, Bunsen burners, Petri dishes, napkins, karaoke machines, forks, headphones.

3. Form hypothesis: The Velvet Combo appeals to all 5 senses (in an enjoyable manner).

4. Perform experiment and collect data: Using recipes, first I made a red velvet cake, but I soon realized that I can't bake; therefore, I had to resort to another way to create a red velvet cake: Albertsons. Then, while eating a slice (slices) of this dessert, I watched and listened to "Black Velvet."


Red Velvet Cake:



Black Velvet Video:





5. Analyze data: There was taste, and my olfactory abilities were heightened through the red velvet cake. Both auditory and visual senses were captured through "Black Velvet."

6. Interpret data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothesis: At first I was like, I've achieved in reaching 4 senses, but what about the 5th sense--feeling? But then, I understood that after eating a slice (slices) of the red velvet cake while watching "Black Velvet," I was able to reach the 5th sense, because I was feeling delightful while doing so.

7. Retest: No need for other scientists to retest this experiment, I am more than happy to perform the retests. Over and over.

As a conclusion: The Velvet Combo is all you need to satisfy all 5 of your senses (hearing, smelling, tasting, seeing, feeling). It's a world of colors.

I do intend to submit my findings to scientific people for approval, including a possible proposal for an infomercial to help spread this joy.



Friday, September 11, 2009

Tommy James And The Shondells Cover Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now"



The original by Tiffany:






The cover by Tommy James And The Shondells:


Tuesday, September 8, 2009

George Saunders, "On Approaching Writing"


From Konundrum Engine Literary Review:


http://lit.konundrum.com/features/saunders_wisdom1.htm

"I don't believe at all in the Deep Dark Secret theory of literature: this idea that there is a right or a wrong about a given story or a given approach. My own pathetic output is proof that, at least in my case, Mastery is totally elusive. For me, every story is a whole new set of problems, expressed in a whole new language, plus my glasses are out of prescription, and its raining. So I am a very humble writer and a very humble reader, flinchy even."


Friday, September 4, 2009

{Artwork: Terry Grow}

http://www.myspace.com/26268240













Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Shelf Life Magazine #007



The latest issue of Shelf Life Magazine (#007) is available at:

http://shelflifemagazine.com/

It contains works by Gale Acuff, Kevin Brown, Sarah Cavallro, Greg Gerke, Kyle Hemmings, D.J. Kirkbride, Noah Lederman, Ravi Mangla, Jade Ramsey, and Changming Yuan.

Another neat issue edited by Ryan Dilbert, and Messina.





Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Lafayette (Louisiana) Public Library



"The mission of Lafayette Public Library is to enhance the quality of life of our community by providing free and equal access to high-quality, cost-effective library services that meet the needs and expectations of our diverse community for information, life-long learning, recreation, and cultural enrichment."


http://www.lafayette.lib.la.us/about_lpl.htm


http://www.lafayette.lib.la.us/Index_new.htm




Friday, August 28, 2009

"Whoa, RayRay, slow down! Do the loopty loop, Sally!" [Molly Gaudry Takes A Test]



Name: Molly Gaudry
http://greencitynews.blogspot.com/

Date: August 27, 2009
Class:
Molly Gaudry/ We Take Me Apart 101

Directions: Read each question and answer accordingly. Please use complete sentences and proper handwriting techniques. Ergonomics is a plus. To receive full credit, all work must be shown (for the most part).

Okay.

1. If a train is traveling north at a rate of 36 frames per second, and a duck is flying south at a rate of 14 quacks per beak, when will your novella, We Take Me Apart, be available?

As the crow flies over train quacks, December 2009.

2. If the current of a river is flowing at the same rate as the current of a stream, eastward—well, a little bit northward too, how long did it take to complete We Take Me Apart, from the first word or thought to the final draft?

If the river is the highway from Chicago to Philadelphia (it is not), and the title came to me on that drive (it did), and the current draft is the final draft (it is), then from start to finish it took six months exactly to complete (south by southwest).

3. If the sun's ray shines at 1,000 vectors/ latitude, and longitude didn't exist, and the equator consisted of pebbles, what were some of the difficult aspects of writing this novella?

In the beginning, the novella forgot to put on sunblock and its cover got burnt. This was before it had a cover. This was before it had a manuscript. This was when it was just a ten-page poem that thought it was too long to be a poem and too short to be anything else. Then, out of the vectors/latitude, swooped J. A. Tyler, who said, “Fear not. MLP is thinking of expanding and wants to read a full-length manuscript. Are you up for the challenge?” The novella answered, “Why, of course I am!” but for many weeks, possibly even months, it did nothing but eat peanut M&Ms (that resembled the equator in both size and shape) and obsess over how it would never become a full-length anything because everything that needed to be said had been said already in those ten pages. Approaching its first-draft deadline, the novella freaked out! The novella had a good cry and long bath and probably quite a few cigarettes (although it has since quit smoking), then deleted itself and started over! The novella made lists of words from Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons and very quickly became a series of stand-alone, word-association poems. The novella was pleased with itself. The novella offered itself to MLP, and MLP said, “Yes.” The most difficult thing the novella had ever done was delete itself and start over, at the risk of losing its potential publisher. But the novella believed in itself. The novella now encourages all brave souls to delete and start over, to always delete and start over in difficult times, especially in lands without longitude.

4. If RayRay is riding his bike around the block at the rate of 44 spokes per liter, and Sally doesn't tie her shoelaces at the normal, average rate of 1.01 laces per sole, what were some books that you first read that really hooked your interest into reading and writing?

Whoa, RayRay, slow down! Do the loopty loop, Sally! Oh, let’s see. The Wind in the Willows, Heidi, The Secret Garden, and Little Women got me hooked; I absolutely wore out the covers on the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books; I devoured all the Molly books in the American Girl series, and everything by Beverly Cleary and Judy Blume and R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike; probably the first handful of books that we would deem “serious literature” and that made me stop and go, “Whoa, kid, slow down!” would include Carson McCullers’s The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, Claude Brown’s Manchild in the Promised Land, and Richard Wright’s Black Boy and Native Son, which I read the summer before my senior year of high school. And then Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude solidified it all, when I was a sophomore in college. That was the book that made me get serious.

5. If DNA stands for deoxyribonucleic acid and if RNA stands for Ribonucleic Acid, what do you stand for (if you're standing)?

I am sitting, but I stand for equality for all things having DNA and RNA, especially human beings who identify as LGBT and/or Q.

6. If 3X + 2N = 14, and X and N are really whole numbers, but they don't equal 2 or 6 (respectively), and this mathematical equation didn't exist in other worldly forms, what is your writing process—are you a morning writer, night writer, anytime writer?

At 3X in the morning, at 2N in the afternoon, and at 14 past the hour, I am either writing X or thinking about writing N in one way or another. When I have the luxury of setting my own schedule, I prefer to write through the night, to sleep when the sun comes up, to rise in the early afternoon, to edit through the evening, and to get back to the writing when the sun goes down. When I do not have this luxury, I am an anytime writer.

7. If the water from a waterfall falls at the standard rate of twenty-three (23) Celsius per gallon, are you working on anything else right now?

I love waterfalls! And, alas, I have not really been writing at all lately. It’s refreshing, though, much like I imagine twenty-three (23) Celsius per gallon is also refreshing. I don’t know. I have a few things in the works, but I’ve maybe thought them into an early grave. One of them, a collection of stories titled Rosalia details the women in a town called Rosalia, as they prepare for Rosalia, an annual feast. There are logistical things I haven’t quite figured out, which have perhaps indefinitely stalled the project. I’m not worried about it, though. Something will come. Soon enough.

8. If the earth is on its axis, and the axis is made out of platinum, and the earth rotates no more that a billion (1 and I forget how many zeros following the 1) watts per voltage, what classes do you teach and what classes would you like to teach?

As the world turns, these are the days of our lives, and as the earth on its platinum axis rotates, I teach freshman composition courses and Introduction to Literature. Not long ago, I worked for a non-profit literacy organization and taught the GED to post-incarcerated men and women living in a halfway house. In a perfect world, I will one day teach creative writing courses full-time, at the university level. We’ll see how that pans out, though. The competition is out there, and it is not playing around.

9. If Lorrie and Chauncey are jump roping at a rate of 8X kilometers/mile, in 15 words or less or more, what is writing, or what is writing like to you?

Lorrie (1) and (2) Chauncey (3) really (4) have (5) a (6) rhythm (7) going (8) there (9), don’t (10) they (11)! A (12) puzzle (13), put (14) together (15).

10. If Cassius Clay's pen name was Samuel Clemens, and Jaleel White met Billy Crystal on the Walk Of Fame and they talked to each other at the rate of a truck passing up a car on the right lane on a Saturday afternoon with the humidity at 94% (non-windy day), what are your favorites—movies, food, writers, books, drinks, directors, music, weather, writing medium (pen, pencil, computer), place to write, colors, sounds, and anything else you can think of?

Favorite alliteration: Cassius Clay. Favorite name / pen name: Samuel Clemens / Mark Twain. Favorite romantic comedy that doesn’t star Cameron Diaz or Drew Barrymore: When Billy Crystal Met Meg Ryan. Favorite kind of Saturday afternoon: one without 94% humidity, spent in jeans and a T-shirt, with chamomile tea and good stuff to read, raindrops splattering the windows. Favorite movies: Pixar. Favorite food: Do peanut M&Ms count? Favorite books: Oh boy. How about Lydia Millet’s My Happy Life, Kate Bernheimer’s The Complete Tales of Merry Gold, and Anne Carson’s Autobiography of Red. And I can’t wait for Claudia Smith’s Put Your Head in My Lap (Future Tense, 2009). Favorite directors: I have no idea. There’s a young animator named Aaron Quinn who is known for his short films. I’ve been keeping an eye on his work, as I especially enjoyed his interpretations of “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “Through the Looking Glass.” Favorite drinks: hands down, a dirty martini (vodka, though, not gin. I know. I know!) and if I’m in a beer mood, Newcastle or Red Stripe. I absolutely need my coffee in the morning (although, oddly, I never know the difference if I have decaf). Favorite music: I’ve been listening to a lot of Dirty Three. And I love that song “Wake Up” in the trailer for Where the Wild Things Are. I also just discovered last.fm, which is way better than Pandora, I think, and I love the “Jason Molina” station. (His dad was my 7th and 8th grade science teacher!) Favorite weather: storms. I love storms. And I love fall days. I love hay rides and hot cider. I love people just hanging out on cold autumn afternoons. Favorite writing medium: for journaling, pen and notebook; for writing, computer. Favorite place to write: in public, coffee shops; in private, my desk. Favorite colors: all of them, I think. Favorite sounds: water burbling over stones and air rustling leafy branches. Favorite adjective: gentle.

Extra Credit (Optional): If a kangaroo hops at a rate of 11 square feet per geometry, on level ground, and it's dark outside, but it's almost about to be morning, what draws you to writing and reading?

I love that moment, the dark-outside-and-about-to-be-morning moment. It is one of my favorite moments to enjoy, truly. Maybe it is this moment that draws me to writing, the quiet feeling that no one else is here but me, at least for now, until the birds and traffic and neighbors and everything else all start humming, saying, “Hey, we’re here too. Hello. Glad you could join us.” Additionally, I was never big on wild animals, so becoming a wilderness guide was out (sorry, kangaroos), and I was never any good at math (although I did enjoy geometry more than algebra), so instead I turned to words. The words I find myself turning to these days are those less interested in what they are saying than they are in how they’re being said. Give me form, and give me form I’ve never seen, form that defies being form, at that.

Did I pass the test?

105/100!



Tuesday, August 25, 2009

[--LWPJ 7/FLM 8--]



Jac Jemc, the guest editor of The Little White Poetry Journal 7, was kind enough to accept "The Circus Crazy." The piece was roughly based on buying chocolate in a Kolkata candy store. It can be found and previewed here:

http://henrychalise.info/?page_id=272

It contains works by Joseph Aguilar, Diego Báez, Nicolette Bond, Jason Bredle, Laura Goldstein, Christopher Higgs, Devin King, Patrick Leonard, John Madera, Cinthia Ritchie, Erin Teegarden, Megan Thoma, and Kathleen Tooney.

Thanks to Henry Chalise, Jac Jemc, and Jennifer Patel for putting it together.


Also, this was a nice surprise--didn't realize this piece was accepted until after it was published, but "Carving The Air" can be found in Frame Lines Magazine Edition 8, a neat magazine out in Australia. For the full list of contributors and to read the issue:

http://www.framelines.com.au/index.html

Perhaps this was influenced by Whitney Houston's I Want To Dance With Somebody--one of the first songs I remember listening to on the radio, while in the car, going home from school.


Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Kahlil Gibran, On Writing


All our words are but crumbs that fall down from the feast of the mind."

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Jack London, On Writing


"You can't wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club."

Monday, August 17, 2009

Hemingway, On Writing (And Faulkner)


Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don't know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

P.G. Wodehouse, On Writing


"I just sit at my typewriter and curse a bit."

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Truman Capote, On Writing


"To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about, but the inner music that words make."

Friday, August 14, 2009

Virginia Woolf, On Writing


"A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in not out."

Thursday, August 13, 2009

E.L. Doctorow, On Writing


"Writing a book is like driving a car at night. You only see as far as your headlights go, but you can make the whole trip that way."

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

F. Scott Fitzgerald, On Writing


"All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath."

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Scarecrow Video


http://www.scarecrow.com/store/about-scarecrow-video/














Monday, August 10, 2009

Neo, Upon Walking Into The Grocery Store


5.95 4.99 11.39 24.75
8.45 9.30 15.35 29.99
2.29 6.35 17.15 30.45
1.25 7.15 18.15 21.20
3.15 3.25 12.99 22.99
9.99 4.29 12.25 24.89
4.45 9.25 19.99 44.25
3.05 7.75 13.25 31.05
1.79 5.25 11.99 23.05
9.75 8.79 16.45 28.99
4.75 9.10 15.55 23.45
7.25 7.99 19.05 20.99
6.10 3.05 22.05 27.45
9.88 4.45 23.10 35.99
2.07 3.99 34.05 20.99
6.45 7.85 19.75 15.75
2.35 2.29 11.88 13.78
7.99 6.35 12.45 12.45
8.25 1.89 13.34 13.99
7.10 3.20 28.99 24.79
2.05 3.25 33.99 25.05
1.99 8.15 34.75 17.07
4.99 9.05 15.20 19.85
5.05 9.99 12.05 35.99
3.99 7.59 12.10 31.09
1.10 4.90 18.95 11.99
0.99 2.25 20.99 14.55
0.99 6.20 21.65 22.39
8.35 1.79 28.77 12.99
9.25 8.99 24.88 12.10
6.88 5.55 30.05 17.45
5.10 4.29 44.35 20.95
7.30 7.45 20.75 16.35
6.25 9.85 14.35 18.99
2.29 5.25 14.10 22.89
9.39 5.55 17.35 28.75
4.30 6.30 13.77 30.75

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Saturday, August 8, 2009

{Carbon Dating}

Friday, August 7, 2009

Cats---Memory



Thursday, August 6, 2009

Michael Jordan





Wednesday, August 5, 2009

I Always Do My Collars First


A Documentary On Ironing In The Cajun South


Directed by Conni Castille and Allison Bohl:

http://www.collarsfirst.com/thefilm.html

and

http://www.filmbaby.com/films/1539


Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Kanye West Interviews Kanye West


Kanye West: Kanye, you consider yourself to be one of the greatest entertainers of all time.

Kanye West: I am exquisite.

Kanye West: Could you expand on that a bit more? Why are you great?

Kanye West: It's hard to explain, even to you--though you understand me the best. It's like--I feel like I'm the best. And it's not even that I feel like I'm the best, I know I am the best. And it's not even like I know I am the best--I am the best. I'm handsome.

Kanye West: You are sexy.

Kanye West: Do you like my sunglasses?

Kanye West: I do. Explain them to me.

Kanye West: They're the best sunglasses, because I'm wearing them. Anything I touch turns to platinum, you know. Like the present day Midas touch.

Kanye West: Midas?

Kanye West: It's like Greek mythology. It's the best mythology, because I know about it. Because I incorporated it into this interview, you know. Who else do you know that incorporates Greek mythology in their interviews?

Kanye West: Maybe theologians from Greece?

Kanye West: Good point. That's a good point. But you make a good point, because you're Kanye West and anything you say is a good point. It turns to platinum. Ask me another question. I like this. I like this interview. It makes me great.

Kanye West: So many people frown upon you. It's like, turn that frown into a clown and smile, don't you think? Why do they want to take you down?

Kanye West: I'm like Jesus.

Kanye West: Now, Kanye, what do you mean when you say you're like Jesus?

Kanye West: It's like my song: Jesus Walks. It's one of the best songs ever made. It belongs to a collection of all the best songs ever made, because I made them. Remember that front cover I had on that magazine? I looked like Jesus.

Kanye West: What's that song about?

Kanye West: It's about me and Jesus. Jesus and I. I go on about how we're not allowed to sing about Jesus. It's marvelous.

Kanye West: But what about Jesus Christ Superstar, The Little Drummer Boy, and Depeche Mode?

Kanye West: Man, Kanye--that's another good point. Only you can make such a good point. You're smart. You're intelligent. I like that. Anyway, everyone wanted to take Jesus down because he was number 1. Everyone wants to take me down, because I'm number 1. Now, I'm better than number 1; I'm the number that comes before number 1.

Kanye West: 0?

Kanye West: I'm like the number 0. And I'm on my way to even becoming the numbers before zero. I'm talking about negative numbers, like -1, -2, -3, and etcetera.

Kaney West: You're so cute.

Kanye West: You can tell me twice and it never gets old. It's always new, because anything I say is fresh. Like lettuce. Like fresh lettuce.

Kanye West: Lettuce pray.

Kanye West: Nice--I like that. I like that pun. It's great, because it came from you. I'm going to have to use that in one of my future songs, which will be one of the best songs ever made. The song is going to be called We Eat, and it's going to be about me and Jesus in the grocery story buying produce and what not. It'll show the similarities of how we both eat food.

Kanye West: You're the best.

Kanye West: No, you're the best.

Kanye West: How are you going to say that to my face? You know you're the best--you admitted it yourself.

Kanye West: Sorry man--I only said that, because I'm the best. Let's not argue here.

Kanye West: Cheers, man. Thanks for this interview--I hope people will get a better understanding of me, because of you.

Kanye West: They will get the best understanding of you, because of me, because I did this interview. I'm the best.

Kanye West: You're the best.

Kanye West: No, I'm the best.

Kanye Wst: What else?

Kanye West: I'm like sex.

Kanye West: Well, that's going to do it for this interview. Anything else you would like to add before I go?

Kanye West: It's like I'm Neo from The Matrix. Except, I'm better than Neo, because he wasn't real. He was just in a movie. I'm real, and I'm in life, you know. Like how he saw everything in green numbers? I see the same thing, except that everything I see is bigger and better and more musically oriented, and it goes from left to right rather than up and down. I wish Neo was real so that we could have a duel or something. I don't like those sunglasses he wears though. Mine are better. I can fly too and stop in the middle of the air and twirl around and all that--I just keep it a secret.

Kanye West: I think your sunglasses are the best I've ever seen.

Monday, August 3, 2009

[Rothko's School Of Paint Program 2.1]











Sunday, August 2, 2009

Are You Going To The Zoo,


Because there is J.A. Tyler's Zoo, A Going.

For more information:
http://thezooagoing.blogspot.com/

and

http://aboutjatyler.blogspot.com/2009/07/zoo-going-free-free-reading.html





Saturday, August 1, 2009

Joey, Ross, and Chandler: On Reading





Friday, July 31, 2009

"I'm a cocker spaniel"

The Triple Bye Bye Birdie

Friday, July 17, 2009

Pitcher Stats






GP: 33
GS:33
IP: 228.4
H: 198
R: 71
ER: 64
BB: 60
SO: 199
W: 17
L: 8
ERA: 2.60
Ideal for lemonade or ice tea


loud silent reader


i'm a loud silent reader. i snort and grunt; i shift about and fidget, or pant and sigh and cough. i sneeze and turn the pages over and over, making that swoosh or swish or swash sound; i tap my shoes together; i shake my knees and scratch my head or make that draining sound with a straw; i laugh and cry and point at the people around me, wondering if they're reading the same thing i am.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Writers Guild Of Acadiana



"WGA is an organization made up of local writers, published and unpublished, who meet the last Tuesday of each month to share and gain knowledge in the craft of writing. The organization's goals are to provide a strong support system for our members, one that includes networking opportunities, continuing education, and encouragement. We also promote literacy in our community through our annual high school writing contest."

http://www.writersguildofacadiana.org/index.html

"We're a diverse group with members focused on fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, screen writing, or poetry. A guest speaker joins us every other month to share their knowledge of the craft of writing or the business of publishing within the group. On alternate months, we have member reading events, where our members are encouraged to read an excerpt of their work before their peers."

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Hip, Hip Hop, Hip Hop Anonymous





Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Drums Across Cajun Field


http://www.ulbands.com/PageDisplay.asp?p1=2122

"A stop on the Summer Music Games Tour, Drums Across Cajun Field brings some of the world's most elite marching ensembles to the UL Lafayette campus."





Monday, July 13, 2009

Jhumpa Lahiri On Writing



"Fiction is the foreign land of my choosing, the place where I strive to convey and preserve the meaningful. And whether I write as an American or an Indian, about things American or Indian or otherwise, one thing remains constant: I translate, therefor I am."

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Raymond Carver On Writing



“I’ve done as many as 20 or 30 drafts of a story. Never less than 10 or 12 drafts.”

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Toni Morrison On Writing



“The best part of all, the absolutely most delicious part, is finishing it and then doing it over…I rewrite a lot, over and over again, so that it looks like I never did.”

Friday, July 10, 2009

Richard Bach On Writing



"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit."

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Willa Cather On Writing



"Most of the basic material a writer works with is acquired before the age of fifteen."

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Isaac Asimov On Writing



"If my doctor told me I only had six months to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster."

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Steve Martin On Writing



"I think I did pretty well, considering I started out with nothing but a bunch of blank paper."

Monday, July 6, 2009

Notes From Sentences And Paragraphs Lecture (Jim Krusoe)




--fiction, not about truth, but how the mind processes the world

--every sentence we write represents a day in our lives, have your day stand out
--connect to previous/future day, head in a direction
--find a sentence on the ground, that no one else will write

--advance the narrative
--increase level of risk
--don't use filler, have purpose

--how present do you want to be in your paragraph?
--consider level of readability

--sentences fall under aural (sound forces you to feel it, rhythm and emotion) or visual (stays out of the piece more, judge it, see it)

--every paragraph is a little crisis, leaves you in a different place from where you started
--what has changed from first sentence to last sentence?
--do they connect?
--does the paragraph leave the reader with an image

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Gulf Brew At Parc International



http://www.acadianaartscouncil.org/site325.php

http://www.lafayettedowntown.org/Default.asp








Acadiana Center For the Arts Gulf Brew at Parc International


Saturday, July 4, 2009

Alexander Books



"We specialize in used and out-of-print hardcover and paperback books with special emphasis on condition and quality. Alexander Books is dedicated to supplying our in-store and internet customers with their books in a timely and efficient manner."


Alexander Books
(337) 234 2096
2001 W. Congess St.
Lafayette, LA 70506

Store hours:

Tuesday - Friday : 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Saturday : 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday - Monday : Closed

http://www.alexanderbooks.net/about.html


Friday, July 3, 2009

Hint Fiction Anthology Guidelines

The guidelines for the Hint Fiction Anthology, which will be edited by Robert Swartwood, can be found here:

http://www.robertswartwood.com/?page_id=8

Definition--
hint fiction (n) : a story of 25 words or less that suggests a larger, more complex story

Thursday, July 2, 2009

The Dollar Store Show's Super Summer Tour



http://dollarstoreshow.com/faq.html

and

http://www.featherproof.com/Mambo/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1






Presented by featherproof books:


"An evening of readings and performances given by some of Chicago's top literary talents, monologists, performers, and drunks."



Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Mud Luscious, Issue Eight



Issue Eight of Mud Luscious is out, and it can be found here:

http://www.aboutjatyler.com/

Contributors include Rauan Klassnik, Eirik Gumeny, Tomas Weber, Peycho Kanev, Joseph Goosey, Lisa Ciccarello, Chris Wilson, Hoa Ngo, Robert Scotellaro, Ethel Rohan, Heather Anastasiu, Brian Edward Bahr, Russell Thorburn, Mike Meginnis, Tia Prouhet, and Crispin Best. And editor, J.A. Tyler reviews Andy Riverbed's Damaged, Magus Magnus' Verb Sap, and Blaster Al Ackerman's Corn & Smoke.

Monday, June 29, 2009

Leroy Smith: Get Your Basketball On










For more information about Leroy Smith's basketball techniques and strategies:


http://www.getyourbasketballon.com/home/







Sunday, June 28, 2009

Paperwall #15


The latest issue of Paperwall, edited by Sam and Katie Cole, can be found at:


http://paperwall.org/

Containing poetry and prose by:

Ryan Dilbert
Ankur Agarwal
Adam Moorad
Misha Delibash

Saturday, June 27, 2009

I Am Not Sidney Poitier




http://www.graywolfpress.org/

Friday, June 26, 2009

Acadiana Symphony Orchestra



http://www.acadianasymphony.org/



"The mission of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra and Conservatory of Music is to present the highest quality symphonic performances of diverse repertoire to a broad audience while providing musicians with a forum for artistic expression and learning."

Thursday, June 25, 2009

O. Pamuk's Nobel Prize In Literature Lecture, 2006



A writer is someone who spends years patiently trying to discover the second being inside him, and the world that makes him who he is: when I speak of writing, what comes first to my mind is not a novel, a poem, or literary tradition, it is a person who shuts himself up in a room, sits down at a table, and alone, turns inward; amid its shadows, he builds a new world with words. This man – or this woman – may use a typewriter, profit from the ease of a computer, or write with a pen on paper, as I have done for 30 years. As he writes, he can drink tea or coffee, or smoke cigarettes. From time to time he may rise from his table to look out through the window at the children playing in the street, and, if he is lucky, at trees and a view, or he can gaze out at a black wall. He can write poems, plays, or novels, as I do. All these differences come after the crucial task of sitting down at the table and patiently turning inwards. To write is to turn this inward gaze into words, to study the world into which that person passes when he retires into himself, and to do so with patience, obstinacy, and joy. As I sit at my table, for days, months, years, slowly adding new words to the empty page, I feel as if I am creating a new world, as if I am bringing into being that other person inside me, in the same way someone might build a bridge or a dome, stone by stone. The stones we writers use are words. As we hold them in our hands, sensing the ways in which each of them is connected to the others, looking at them sometimes from afar, sometimes almost caressing them with our fingers and the tips of our pens, weighing them, moving them around, year in and year out, patiently and hopefully, we create new worlds.

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/2006/pamuk-lecture_en.html

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

[Fresh Air: Writers Speak]


http://shop.npr.org/products/Fresh_Air_Writers_Speak-631-0.html

Includes:

Stephen King
Maurice Sendak
Richard Price
Philip Roth
James Baldwin
Norman Mailer
Allen Ginsberg
Joyce Johnson
John Updike
David Rakoff
Fran Lebowitz
David Sedaris
Billy Collins

Monday, June 22, 2009

Louisiana School Of Cooking


http://www.louisianaschoolofcooking.com/indexf.html

http://www.lafayettetravel.com/culture/food/recipes/



{For some of that Southern delight}
Soups, Gumbos
Appetizers
Salads
Seafood
Desserts
Lagniappe


Sunday, June 21, 2009

Dzanc Books Creative Writing Sessions



The list of awesome instructors include:

Mary Akers
Randall Brown
Blake Butler
Matt Bell
Michael Czyzniejewski
Molly Gaudry
Diane Goettel
Kyle Minor
J.A. Tyler
Laura van den Berg
Kevin Wilson
Claudia Zuluaga

And for the full list of writers and for more information:

http://www.dzancbooks.org/creative.html




Big thanks to Roxane Gay of PANK Magazine for the opportunity to enroll in a session. Too cool of her:

http://www.roxanegay.com/?page_id=2
http://www.pankmagazine.com/




Saturday, June 20, 2009

AAA Tattoo


AAA Tattoo:

http://www.myspace.com/aaatattoo
Open 7 days a week
12 PM-9PM
1548 Johnston Street
Lafayette, LA 70503
(337) 234-7121




Tattoo by Terry Grow:
http://www.myspace.com/86752809






Friday, June 19, 2009

Sunflower Seeds






Thursday, June 18, 2009

--tales of a fourth grade nothing--


First crushes, or whatever it was that resembled crushes were Kim and Aimee.

First time making the Honor Roll list for the whole school year.
Coz, Doug, Beth, Erin, and Blair were the fastest runners.
Ms. Hall was the teacher--real cool.
Sat across Mimmy, who had the most contagious laugh.
Rien, Daisy, and I always had to wait in Ms. Rita's office to be picked up after the school day ended.
Ms. Rita pulled out splinters.
Brett and Graham were the tallest in class.
Tim was the best bowler.
Classroom was on the second floor.
Coach Jordan/Coach Gibson: "Perfect practice makes perfect."
Bubbletape.
Shel (5th grade) fell and hit his head on the wooden deck--skin split open just above his eyebrow, and he needed stitches.
Pretended I was Wolverine when playing chase.
Football/Stuck in the mud/soccer/kickball in the parking lot (sometimes the ball would go over the fence, onto Johnston St.)
Rainy days in the Commons Room (bear-walking and wheelbarrow races, tripod handstands, handstands, headstands, cartwheels, rolling, speed-walking)
Read Indian In The Cupboard--"vittles" was a vocabulary word. It means food--only vocabulary term I remember remembering throughout my school career.
Wore knock off Agassi's from Payless.
Italy was my favorite soccer team.
Michael Jordan.




Etc:

Still listening to--
G N'R
Cinderella
Def Leopard
Bon Jovi
Ozzy Osbourne
Poison
Motley Crue

Movies--
Dick Tracy
Kindergarten Cop
Ninja Turtles

TV--
Looney Tunes