Archive for the 'carson daly’s beautiful blue eyes' Category

WEST COAST: BEST COAST?

Published on August 22, 2011 in Angeline Gragasin, carson daly's beautiful blue eyes, J Ryan Stradal, Mary Hamilton, my girl lesley and Nick Antosca. 2 Comments

Los Angeles. Last year I was refusing to drive its highways, and now I’m here in Texas missing the feeling of smog on my teeth.

I was happy to catch up with J Ryan Stradal (lunch meeting turned into three hours of conversation), Nick Antosca (gainful employment has not spoiled his charm), Mary Hamilton (blooming like a bloom in that ocean air), Angeline Gragasin (energy soulmate and queen of collaboration) and Johnny Anthony (working with a focus I’ve never seen). Different people and different goals with the common bond of tenacity, ambition and talent. I felt so glad to spend time.

Home again. We’re looking at another 10 days of 100+ temps, not a cloud in sight. School’s starting and the college kids are getting their youth stink all over my haunts. My girl Lesley got a gym membership and I’m teaching her good squat form. My body bleeds iced tea.

LITERATURE

Please see a review by Laura Owen of a review of Museum of the Weird from Gulf Coast. Sorry about not trying too hard on the sentence structure there. Thank you Laura, and further thanks to Gulf Coast reviewer Dane A. Wisher.

I’m finishing a good long story and working through edits on a shorter one that is set to appear at some point in McSweeney’s.

Advising Lesley’s niece Rhi on dance class: “You never know when you’re gonna need to know how to waltz.”

HOT CITY

Published on June 23, 2011 in carson daly's beautiful blue eyes and Museum of the Weird. 4 Comments

My house is quiet but for the farts of a cat.

Good readings happened in Portland and Seattle, including a good new find in the poetry of Portland poet James Gendron. You used to could buy his book at Poor Claudia but it’s sold out. Maybe it will come back sometime. In Seattle, Matthew Simmons and I had a tweet-off and everybody lost.

Thanks to Matty and Carrie at Smalldoggies and the folks at SPLAB in Seattle for the hospitality.

Supposedly there’s a Studio 360 piece floating around out there about the idea of narrative medicine, where aspiring doctors read fiction in order to achieve some aim, maybe empathy, and apparently some class is teaching my story “Babies” to this end. I am tickled by this and would love more information if anyone out there has some.

There’s a very kind review of Museum of the Weird up at BookPeople’s blog. The review aims not only to look closely at the book but to contextualize it with other pieces of experimental fiction and to define the genre itself. If you were looking for a reason to support local bookstores, perhaps their care and attention to the books could suffice. I’m reading at BookPeople on Friday at 7pm with Dan Boehl.

Texas tip: have you ever had frito chili pie? Check it out.

LOOP

Published on May 3, 2011 in carson daly's beautiful blue eyes, Ethel Rohan, Matthew Simmons, stories and team discovery. 2 Comments

Please find a new story, LOOP, at Everyday Genius. All month, Justin Sirois is curating the site, posting a new story every day inspired by an animated GIF. He says I got the only gross one.

I found a new coffee shop to sit inside! The man who makes the coffee looks like maybe he’s from Canada? And the door to the bathroom keeps slamming really loud, which keeps me on my toes creatively. Also it’s right next door to tacos. Things are pretty good.

The past few weeks have been a true discovery voyage. Susan and I drove to Victoria and found out what it feels like to have carpet in a bathroom. We stood in the Gulf and saw dolphins, and then we drove home. Last week, I flew to McAllen and asked Brian for a tour of the true McAllen, a request I will never regret. I found a swimming pool and a cheeseburger in that place. Everyone was nice everywhere. Texas is the greatest state in Texas.

Now I’m watching some ladies have a professional lunch. They are wearing blazers. One of them said, “Should I also ask Holly?” and then they all laughed kind of knowingly. Ha ha ha, hmm, mm-hmm.

LITERATURE?!

LITERATURE NEWS

All week I’ve been reading the incredible new collections of two writers: Matthew Simmons and Ethel Rohan. Just you wait.

James Hynes just won The Believer Book Award.

I have readings upcoming in NYC, Portland, Seattle, Austin. Make like Carson and KEEP IT LOCKED.

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