Death and an Essay by Randon Billings Noble

I awoke at three this morning to utter silence in my neighborhood as what I imagined must only have been the eye of Hurricane Sandy drifted over my house.  The rain had stopped. The wind was barely a breeze, and I could see the full moon between gaps in the clouds. I lit a candle and sat down to read. By six there was enough light to clear some branches from my driveway. Outside in the now drizzling morning, I looked over my head at the huge oak across the street; I was ready to run at the slightest sound of creaking, groaning, cracking--whatever warning I might have before a limb (or more) comes falling toward me. I gathered branches with that understanding of what I was risking. I didn't really need to gather those branches then, but it comforted me to clear a path for my car--whenever I would need it. Why am I telling you this? Because I couldn't put words to my feelings until I read this essay by Randon Billings Noble. She captures what I was feeling so much more eloquently, and with so much more depth and complexity, that my words above still pretty much sound like some kind of extended belch. I also appreciate the risks taken by her essay, "Memento Mori." When I finished it, I literally said, "Wait. What? Really? Woah." It's about the DC Snipers. It's about being a better person. It's also about some monks, a crypt, a short story by Flannery O'Connor, and shopping for placemats. And, it's about death.  It's in the fall issue of propellermag.com. I highly recommend it.

Reading during Hurricane Sandy

What will you be reading by candlelight?

Wait. The Pen and Pencil is open before 2am?

Yes, it's true. I know that many of you think of the Pen and Pencil as the next destination when the restaurants and bars close, but the Pen and Pencil club is open for early-evening fun, too. In fact, it's open for a fiction slam this Thursday night at 7:30PM. Free admission. And just so you know, this is not your usual slam.

For those of you not familiar with the Pen and Pencil, it's located at 1522 Latimer Street  Philadelphia, PA 19102. The Pen and Pencil is the oldest journalism club in America, and it is the gracious host of Painted Bride Quarterly's monthly fiction slam series. The fun starts at 7:30PM on the fourth Thursday of every month. You had better come this Thursday, the 25th, because, well, Painted Bide Quarterly won't be at the P&P on Thanksgiving night. Sorry, that fourth Thursday is out.

See you Thursday night.

Enjoy this colorful flyer. 

Top 3 Reasons for Writers to Visit Bryn Mawr College this Fall

The next six weeks are good ones for lovers of good writing who live near Bryn Mawr College (101 North Merion Ave, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010).

Jean Valentine, Mary Gaitskill, and Terrance Hayes are reading there. These readings are free and open to the public.

For details on the specific location and time, visit http://www.brynmawr.edu/arts/cwprs.html If you're not familiar with these authors, the bios are also at that link. I have heard each of these authors read before, and each time was an eye-opening, educational experience. What they do in their genres is worth paying attention to.

First up is Jean Valentine. She reads tomorrow night, Wednesday, October 24th, at 7:30 pm. I was lucky enough to be instructed by Jean several years ago. She asked us to memorize a poem for each class; it was a straightforward yet important request. It reminded me of how I sometimes too easily, and too thoughtlessly, separate the rhythm of language from the ideas. Go see her and show support for Bryn Mawr College's great series.

David Keplinger

I've been sending out poems more diligently lately, and as I researched journals that I like (but don't always get a chance to stay current with), I was happy to see David Keplinger's name in quite a few places. His book, The Clearing, is apparently out of stock at Amazon (even though it reports 3 new copies). Sad day. I hope New Issues Press has more to sell to the ol' mega-retailer. Whether I like it or not, for a lot of people, Amazon.com is the first place a lot of people buy visit when they're looking to buy a book.

I hope Amazon gets more, because I hope more people read Keplinger's work. I found an excerpt from The Clearing here and another, here.

My Writing Workshop

I say, "Twitter eays my eyeballs" with relish.

The clause, "Twitter eats my eyeballs" (with or without the period) cannot be found by Google in any documents. As Google apparently has crawled through, scanned, and generally assimilated most of the planet's texts created since 1999, I'm going to claim this simple sentence as mine. I win, Internet.

Twitter eats my eyeballs.

I just had to say it again. Speaking of Twitter, I've updated my profile and followed a few more folks. I'm @yesthatwarfield  That's @yesthatwarfield, as in "Yes, that, Warfield. The one on the internet. The one who wrote, 'Twitter eats my eyeballs."