Good News on Short Notice

So today at work (my 8th day in a row of a 10 day stretch), I saw an email congratulating me on taking 2nd place in Fiction for the Kentuckiana Metroversity Writing Contest for my story "Runaway." And it was kind of one of those slo-mo moments because, well, my computer was really slow at the moment and the Gmail notification bit creeped on screen with the power of a sloth on Luudes, but anyway, it was some very good news considering that every day I spend at work is nothing but another pile of bad news. And if you can't tell that I'm rather sleep deprived, well I must be hiding it well, but in any case, I shook my fists mightily in the air and gave a single hoot and hollar in celebration before going back to the grindstone of getting ground down by THE MAN.

The only bad thing is the folks at the contest want me to come down and do a reading on April 15...kinda short notice, and there's probably a good chance I won't even have the day off, so I'm guessing that there's no way for any intervention there, but none the less, maybe "Runaway" will get her five minutes of fame during a reading at residency....

I miss all y'all Spalding folks, and can't wait to commiserate in a month and a half.

And if you're interested, here's a brief bit about "Runaway:" The story is told as a triptych and follows the life of Clare (another self, somewhere). Clare lives a life of self inflicted isolation, and when her past comes up to bite her in the ass (her father, that she hasn't spoken to in 12 years up and dies), she falls apart and goes into downward spiral of misery and regret. The whole thing is paced by Foreground/Background scenes that more or less reveal Clare's life and (somewhat poor) decisions.

*Edit: Here's what the Judge had to say about the story: "'Runaway' succeeds by blending its fractured narrative with fractured formal structures. While the visual imagery flashes all over the periphery and the reader's eyes must at times dance across the page, the narrative is strengthened rather than obscured by these well-considered features of the story's construction."

Another Big thing

So over the last few weeks, the whole of my existence has been changing rapidly--rearranging itself in a lot of ways. In six months, I'll be a dad. Seven months ago, I became a homeowner. We have a car payment, and bills and live in a dense suburbia type area. We have a Wii and Cable Tv (well the Discovery channel at least), and a rowing machine and some karate mats down in the basement. All these changes have really gotten me to thinking about myself and my future and my role in this big ole game called life that Milton Bradley copyrighted before I was born.

So all this thinking has really kept me up later at nights and generally opened my eyes, if you will, to the world around me. I've come to realize that I'm pushing myself way too hard. All this reading books and trying to write stories with some vain vague notion that I'll somehow make a difference. Really it's silly. And selfish.

So I've decided that I'm going to give up on writing completely. And reading for that matter. I'm also going to give up on this blog, because it too involves writing. Instead, I'm going to do like everyone else in America: Vote the Republican Ticket, let New Conservatism take over and rule the country hand in hand with the religious right. I'm going to start nodding my head to everything they say on Fox news, and I'm going to definitely start going to church. Not that I'll believe in any specific religion anymore than I already do, but because that's what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm going to get a keen interest in football and yell at the tv when my shitty team doesn't win. I'll call the players fuckups and cowards and bitch about how much money they get paid for being as such. In short, I'm going to take up the American Dream and live it baby. Live it large.

No more obscure music, movies, art, anything. It's going to be MTV, FoxNews, and Motherfuckin Will Farrel movies every goddamn day.

My kids will likewise play team sports and eat McDonalds cheesburgers until at age 10 they're 195 pounds and then we'll all go on Biggest Loser together, because a family that eats together can starve together too.

Oh and while I'm at it, I'll buy myself a Mustang on credit, and start cheating on my wife with some gap-toothed chick from work. Because infidelity and wanton materialism is also part of the American Dream.

I'm going to have it all..........

On second thought, nevermind. Happy 4/1