Saturday, September 30, 2006

Again: Why I am in Idaho

Last night was one of those nights that really made me understand why I chose UI. After going to a staged reading of a new play, I went to a reading by an awarding winning author. Both were great. Th eimportant part is something that wa said during the introduction of thw writer. Went something lik ethis:
"Many people wondered why Ernest Hemingway would choose to spend his final years in Idaho. Many people ask those who come here from other places the same thing. Hemingway knew why."
So, the next time someone asks me "why Idaho?" i will say, "Ask Hemingway. He knew."

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Father Figures

It is interesting that two of the men who have helped shape my life share a birthday today, and third has his birthday next week. Maybe that is meaningful in some astrological sense that I don't know about. As it is, I'm going to tell you a little bit about all three of them.

Stephen King turns 59 today. While horror was always an interest of mine (changed from being scared to scaring), through his books King let me know it was okay to write it out and want to scare people for money. He is the one who said, "It is okay to turn YOUR nightmares into OTHER PEOPLE'S nightmares. And I've been doing it in one way or another ever since. I've never met the man I call Uncle Stevie and I probably never will. I wish there was some way of letting him know how much his books have meant to me without seeming like a stalker creep.

Celebrating his 60th birthday today is my Pop. My stepfather. We didn't get along at first but somewhere along the road things changed. Maybe I grew up some and maybe he realized that no one could change me but me. Whatever it is, he and I get along great now. Without his assistance (he'll say he didn't really do anything but give me a hand up and I say going to war was a pretty big deal) i would not have gone back to school when I did. I wouldn't be writing this now. I tell him thank you, but it never seems like enough. Maybe telling everyone else will help. He doesn't have a computer so he won't be reading this, but it still feels good to tell him thank you in front of a larger audience.

Next week, my Dad has his birthday. He will be 47. He has it rough a lot of the time and loves telling me about it. I'll be honest, there are days when I wish he'd call someone else. ANd then I think about it a bit more and realize he tells me because there isn't anyone else. Not to say he doesn't know any other people, but I am his only son. I'm the one who will pass on the name. Sure, he missed out on my childhood, but that's okay. If he had been there things would be different between us and not neccesarily for the better. As it is, we can to each other like equals. That means a lot to me. He always says that I'm the only person he knows that is smarter than him. I love hearing that. He gets to compliment himself at the same time he compliments me. Any kid will tell you, sometimes it only takes a smile from a parent to feel like the king of the mountain.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

this is an audio post - click to play

Crossing the Black Cat's Path

Superstition says that if a black cat crosses your path, you will have bad luck. I take this to mean that the cat actually has to walk in front of you, literally crossing your path. But what if you come upon a black cat which seems to be headed that bad luck walk but then stops and not just waits until you finish your walk but actually turns around and goes the other way?

Yes, this happened to me this morning. I saw the cat and waited to see if it would indeed cross my path. It did not. It stared at me and turned around and hid behind a bush.
DOe sthis mean I will have good luck today? Or does it mean I will have no luck, good or bad? I don't know but it made for some interesting comtemplation.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

this is an audio post - click to play

Audio Blog!

So I just found this audio blog thing. You can listen to my voice. How cool is that? There should be a little link to click to hear me talk. This should be fun.

Monday, September 18, 2006

A Poem for y'all

Ok, here is a poem I am working on for class. Please, if you read it, let me know what you think.

Cook Off
Every house you visit someone next
door is barbecuing. On the second floor
the water tastes like blood running
down your throat. Midday haze
covers the valley sky. "Can’t stand
all this smoke," he says then proceeds
to light
a cigarette.

Where’s my invitation to the final
cook-off of the world? I can bring
my own sauce. The Earth burns but
I can’t play. "I should have known by
drinking from the fountain filled with
copper fire," he yells. Who ordered
their planet
well done?

But I'll Never Smoke Weed With Willie Again

Is anyone else surprised that Willie Nelson got busted for marijuana possession? If you are, you are an idiot. What does surprise me is the narcotic mushrooms. Ok, that's a lie. I'm not surprised at all.

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Cripple Fight

Today, my college football team won its first game of the season to go 1-2 for the year. But is this really a win? The vandals played in-state rival Idaho State, which is one of the few teams considered to be worse than UI. Throw in that the final score 20-17, the idea of "winning" gets slimmer and slimmer.
How good can it feel to beat a tem worse than you? isn't it better, or more gratifying, to defeat a team that should be better? Yeah, it was a close, hard-fought battle, but who cares? It isn't the NFL where the loser gets a higher draft pick.
And yet, I'm reminded of the South Park episode with the cripple fight. Now that was funny.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Untitled Number One

Let us just say that it has been a busy week. Homework, writing, reading; all that good stuff. My poetry is getting interesting. I'm not writing funny poetry like I thought I might do. Rather, I am writing horror poetry. Except for my first poem for the class which was about Las Vegas and purposefully copied the style of a Jack Kerouac poem.
As for essays, I had to do two separate "personal essays" about a "significant moment in your life." I've done these before. One was a rehash of an event I've written about often. I just wrote in a different way. The second, trying to think of another significant moment in my life, was a little different. I decided to write it about discovering Stephen King. If you know me, as most people reading this do, that really was a SIGNIFICANT moment. ANd it turned out to be a pretty good essay.
Not much else going on. I'm broke for the moment. i've been eating cereal all week because last time I had momey, I bought a gallon of milk. The cereal was leftover from the trip. Wednesday, there was supposed to be free pizza from a new place but their electrician didn't show up to wire their oven hence they could make no pizza. Yesterday there was a chili cook-off. i didn't find out until I showed up that it wasn't free. Not even for the newspaper. Bastards. I guess it's ok; I didn't have my chili boots on anyway.

Also on Wednesday, I was able to sit through a rehearsal of a play being done in town. Not only was it just about one of the funniest things I've ever seen, it got that acting bug of mine itching. Perhaps I shall make some time for that while I'm here. Can you believe it has really been over five years since I was last on stage? It is hard but that is what happened when the wrting bug itched harder.

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Date Night In Moscow

I'm trudging home, almost to the top of my hill when my pocket vibrates. It is my phone and a number I don't recognize. That isn't a surprise as I was expecting calls back from some sources for stories I was working on. Instead, it was a woman from my poetry class. We had been chatting and I gave her my phone number.
I answered, breathing heavily. (I'm still not back to my fighting weight, but I will be soon.) She asked me if I was ok, and I explained the hill. And then she asked me if I wanted to go to a movie.
Do you know how long it has been since I've been asked out? High school and that was almost ten years ago. I didn't know if her intentions were of the date type or the friendly-let's-go-hang-out type. Either way, it was being asked to go out.
I said yes.
We went to a movie (The old fashioned part of me took over and I paid even though I only had $20. Tickets were five a piece and large drinks were $2.50. We got the dollar bag of popcorn for free. I really liked this theater and will be going there more often.) We laughed at the show (a chick flick based on a chick lit book. It was what she wanted to see, so shut up.)
Even though we both had proclaimed that the shadow of homework lurked over us, neither of us felt like going home. We went to a coffee bar with live music. She had a beer and I had a hot chocolate. (I don't like beer or coffee so there wasn't much to choose from.) The three person group was pretty good, but we sat back in a corner and chatted. I found out she is older than me. That's cool. It means I'm not the oldest person in my poetry class. Besides, she looks at least five years younger than she said she is.
And eventually we left. I walked her back to her car, where we gabbed some more before she finally drove off. I walked home. It was nearly eleven by now. The movie started at seven.
I had a good time. It was a no-pressure situation. I'm sure we will hang out more. I make no predictions on anything else.
Total cost of date (combined spending): $20.55. She paid for the drinks at the cafe.

Yes, I am cheap. But I'm not easy.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

It just may be a Loooooonatic you're looking for!

I've had this Billy Joel song stuck in my head for over a week. It is one that really makes a guy like me think.

Yes, I am still single, depsite numerous attempts. I've not attempting any such thing yet here in Moscow. I'm still getting a feel for the playing field. And, let's face it, I'm way too busy an dway too broke. Maybe I'll luck out and the girl looking for a guy like me will ask me out. Then she can pay. Right?

Friday night I crashed your party, Saturday I said I'm sorry, Sunday came, we did it all again....

There is one thing I won't be doing again, at least not this semester. I had to withdraw from the Chinese class. The transport, while not an issue today, just can't be relied on 100%. I switched it with another writing class. So now, like I always wanted, my entire day is devoted to writing in one way or another. Reading is related to writing, so that counts. I'm keeping the Chinese books and CDs, though. Maybe I can learn a little on my own.
The class I replaced it with is great. It i staught by the same instructor of my creative non-fiction class. According to him, most of the stuff done in the new class is the same stuff I did in the other class. Hooray! I'm not behind. Plus, I already own one of the books and another book for the class is by David Sedaris, a writer i really like, many times over the past year, I had contemplated purchasing the particular book. What would have been funny is if I had bought it but left it in storage.

So that is all for today. I have some reading to do and some writing. Catch you on the flipside.

Monday, September 04, 2006

Oh, Wendy, why hast thou forsaken me?

About three hours ago, I ate my first fastfood hamburger in over three months. I had managed to avoid the burger joints but I gave in. And now, I am paying for it.
Imagine if you had quit smoking. You were completely over the physical symptoms but every once in awhile, that little monkey in your head starts scratching, telling you you want a cigarette. And let's say you give in. You buy a pack (or even better just bum one from a friend) and light up. And suck in. And get sick.
This is roughly equivalent to my fastfood experience today. I didn't get sick right away. In fact, it tasted great. Soon after, however, my stomach began clenching and I had to run for the restroom. I don't have the best digestive system in the world (due in part to the fastfood I am now condemning) but this was a new record and a new low. I won't go into exact details. Suffice it to say that it was not pleasant.
What does all this mean for me? Well, it means I will be eating more salad and more single slices of pizza from campus dining.
Just imagine if my craving had forced me into a McDonald's instead of a Wendy's. The horror...The horror...

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Burning Man Blues

I was there a few years ago. Seems so much longer ago than it really was. I want to go back. I think I would have more fun than I did that first time. I didn't know what was going on and, honestly, was a little afraid to join in. Many of those fears (like talking to strange people I don't know) have been overcome in the days since then. I'm a better writer than I was then, too. I'm more complete-- although not entirley complete-- as an artist and participant in life.
Burning Man is going on right now. In fact, The Man should be close to frying. I know a couple people out there. I know they are having fun. They, too, are wiser and more experienced than they were the year I was there with them. I wonder if they still have just as much fun? I'll have to ask.
In a strange coincidence, I was in a bookstore today and one of the random books that caught my eye was about Burning Man. I would have bought if I'd had any money. Maybe later. I don't think anyone else is swooping down to purchase it.
I'd rather be there than sit and read about it. That is a big step for me.

Then again, maybe I wouldn't. Even now, in a town with a healthy art scene, I'm sitting home on a Saturday night. I did go to a gallery today, after the bookstore. It is only 9:15. Maybe I should go out anyway.
I'd have to put on pants, though. If I were at Burning Man, no such requirement would exist.