I’ve done an insane amount of driving over the last few months, from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Oakland, California via Santa Fe and Flagstaff; and now to Austin, Texas, onto New Orleans and eventually Natchitoches (NACK-uh-dish), Louisiana, again via Santa Fe. Every time I drive across the Southern and Western United States, it strikes me again [...]
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Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, and Lubbock, Texas
May 31, 2011
10:48 am
Filed under:"cat" litter, "rugged individualism", america, buddy holly, lubbock, waylon jennings, west texas
Hayes Carll at Slim’s, May 14, 2011
May 18, 2011
1:53 pm
Criticism, Field Reports, Music, Reviews
Filed under:"rugged individualism", america, beatnik shit, country music, hayes carll
On stage at Slim’s in San Francisco last Saturday night, Hayes Carll sounded like the real thing, a bona fide Texas troubadour in the tradition of Steve Earle or Carll’s idol, Ray Wylie Hubbard. Obviously enjoying himself–more so as the free drinks arrived–Carll inhabited a stage persona somewhere between that of the drunken poet in his [...]
More ...Not That You’re Reading This Anyway…
May 16, 2011
3:52 pm
Criticism, Field Reports, The Program Era
Filed under:"cat" litter, "rugged individualism", america, bullshitting, can it be taught?, creative writing industry
For a long time, I’ve wanted to blog about some of the unpleasant truths about graduate education in general and about my experience at a state school in a major West Coast city in particular. Aside from the fact I think an MFA is of dubious value as an artistic degree–I had to get one [...]
More ...To Chase Bank
To Chase Bank, I’m filing this complaint because I’m being charged for three nights at the Auto Lodge in Flagstaff, Arizona. In fact, I only stayed two nights. The proprietor charged me for a third night because I checked out at 1:00 PM, three hours after the checkout time of 10:00 AM, on March 26, 2011, [...]
More ...Two Sonnets
[Welcome to Prague, city of melting clocks] Welcome to Prague, city of melting clocks; the cemetery’s closed on Saturday— the Jewish one, I mean—its gates are locked; I spent an hour trying to find my way. These smiling, aged folk seem so sincere but speak no English in this part of Prague; nodding, the gatekeeper [...]
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