Hey! So it's been a couple of WEEKS? A good amount of shit has happened (good shit) since my last post on March 7th. Thankfully, I've faithfully taken notes on most of what's been going on. SO when I write my book "Gone Gay" then I will at least be able to look back at this blog and be like OH RIGHT.
SO, Since March 7th, let's play catch up using my notebook as reference/direct source.
3/7 - "From Shadow Falls" (From when I was still in St. Paul)
Writing from the bottom of Shadow Falls on the Mississippi. This is a subtle waterfall, gentle & half-frozen. It runs down to the river over/down a series of mud & logs that form a shallow stairway. The air smells clean, a bit muddy but crisp. It's cold, but not bitter, probably cause I was warmed a bit by my hiking and climbing. There are some great vantage points here. I was CHASED by the strong smell of ganja--I practically ran from it--the inviting smell of negation. Were I high right now I would be a Past Version of myself that I wish to remain DEAD--or slumbering at least. Comatose? My feet are still warm but I can feel the wetness creeper further in. Is it purposeful that from the falls, looking up, the cross of the war memorial is still visible? Monument builders rarely make accidents? A few moments meditation, then we shall head back up.
3/7 - Reading Mark Doty in the Library
"Of all our locations/ their favorite is the library;/ the director pictures them perched/ on the balustrades, clustering/ on the stairs, bent over/ the solitary readers as if/ to urge us on, to say Here./ have you looked here yet?"
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Original poem "LOL EMO BITCH" (inspired by Shawn Mendes Song "Wonder" & after reading Mark Doty's poem referenced above)
My man body/ conditioned to/ give no water/ away, to bear/ my Pots, my Jugs,/ my crystalline/ decanters- never/ letting a drop/ escape. Better/ to let the wind/ on the beach-/ High Head/ near Provincetown/ pull them, drop/ by drop. Stolen/ is taken/ is not given./ Better to let/ the winter fingers/ of Niagara/ slip sly & steal/ the precious liquid life./ All around me/ attendant angels/ marble eyed, loving/ but stern, impatient/ for my blocked/ humanity to unleash/ itself on the wind,/ on the cold air./ Finally, in the/ province of demons,/ in the deep dark,/ in the shadows--/ I give, I relent/ I sob, I repent.
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3/14
Happy Pi Day! Sitting on a fallen tree that's perched over the Mississippi. This is the closest I've gotten to America's Nile. And it's a beautiful day. I reconnected with Kareem today. I also slept in WAY too late so hopefully we can tucker ourselves out with this hike so we can get back on a normal enough schedule for our afternoon horseback riding tomorrow. Making money has been on my mind. Strangely NOT in a stressed out way, more like, I know I need to take pressure off my family at some point & the sooner the better. Behind me are hills, a gorge really, the sides leading up to the main trail. It's nice to be in a city & still be able to feel so isolated. To listen to the river lapping against the snowy banks. Getting out of the house each & every day is the one way I'll be able to "outrun" my melancholic tendencies. I am happy to still be alive, even though sometimes I'm lonely.
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3/16
Writing from Mankato. I'm on a hill overlooking a Bison Range. Saw a herd of the beasties near a muddy waterhole. Sun is shining overhead, bright blue skies, yellow grassy prairie dotted with a truly amazing number of of Bison poop mounds. Two quail flew nearby but I didn't manage to catch them on my phone camera. The Bison Range smells like sage & manure & hay. Has an almost farm like smell to it. My shirts off so I can feel the sun on my chest. Today or tonight I REALLY have to work on Psalms. Putting the work into print is more permanent & thus more anxiety inducing BUT fuck it. We've already come this far.
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3/21 - Writing from North Dakota (Fargo)
Original Poem "Glacial Erratics"
Continental glaciations/ scouring Canada's bedrock/ & bringing fist & car sized/ boulders great distances./ lichen colonies--green flake-like/ organisms--made up of fungus/ & green algae--symbiotic migrants/ none aware of the transportation/ from Winnipeg here to Buffalo River/ State Park, where a strange poet walks/ along the Wide Sky trail/ & mourns the loss of home.
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3/24 - Grand Forks
University of North Dakota Writer's Conference Notes
Jessica Bruder, Sarah Vogel, Cal Lane.
The COVID pandemic made everyone realize how important local food is. Where do we source our supply? Knowing your farmer becomes important when supply chains break down. [Write a piece about Virginia's food--where does it come from? How far? What are the local sources and are they as expensive as one would imagine?]
Mutual Aid & Solidarity -- "Invisible Hands" group in Brooklyn & "Free Stores." People coming together against common enemy of the pandemic. Forced community building.
"We The People" Civics engagement program for high schoolers. [What can we do to get more engaged with local politics & influence politicians to create sustainable wages, bring down housing costs, ensure Virginia farmers are taken care of? Small business needs are met?]
If farmers had their choice they would choose LESS corporations, stay small & family owned. They are trying to survive & make the most of what they have. Economic health of towns & cities is tied to farms in their area. "It takes a town to raise a farm"?
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3/24
From Jessica Bruder reading from "Nomadland"
Immersive Journalism as "Productive Hanging Out"
Look for the "Haunted Nugget" -- what piece of information sticks out and makes you want to do Google searches, what keeps you up at night?
"New kind of wandering tribe emerging."
"Driving away from the impossible decisions facing what used to be the Middle Class."
"They are surviving America."
"Being human requires more than sustenance. It requires hope."
Rubber Tramp Rondesvouz?
"Subcultures on margins as harbingers of whats to come."
"Breaking the shackles of rent and mortgages"
Joan Didion "Writers are always selling someone out." When writing about someone--there's a GAP between how YOU perceive them & how they perceive themselves. (This reminds of the Mothers reading)
The best answer is always MORE truth. Show the reader EVERYTHING. Point of view comes from what you've seen, so if you show the reader WHAT you've seen--they will understand your point of view.
Also--Tom Wolf & Truman Capote were at the UND Writers Conference in '76?!
Use narrative tools-- scenes, character, dialogue-- to inform rather than "just the facts."
Showing respect to people via immersive journalism by staying in their worlds with them. Shows their stories are worth telling, their worlds are worth spending time in.
If it works, make it a workflow! "Scraping Names" for source lists, interviews.
"Plot Points" = amazing, surprising, interesting gems that you DON'T want to get lost. The "tasty veggies" in the stew. Keep them separate so you don't have to sift them out again.
Otter = audio transcript app. Text comes through slightly garbled BUT helps with fact checking.
Through line characters & themes. Creating a BACKBONE for book/piece and then the Vertebrae branch off from there.
CHRONOLOGY OR THEME as linkages, both work.
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