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."

Rockwell Integrated Space Plan: Updating a Previous Post

Thanks to Sean Ragan over at blog.makezine.com a copy of the plan is now available online! Read his post!

Have a Story about the New Jersey Pine Barrens?

dskessler.com/pinesfilm/story-submission/

Currently in production, the film Pines: a cinematic exploration of the New Jersey Pine Barrens is looking for stories. Please consider visiting the link at the end of this email to submit your story or a story that was passed on to you. Story-tellers may appear in the film. Here is the text from the story submission page:

"Keeping the Pine Barrens oral history alive We know a lot of you have great stories to tell from your time in the Pine Barrens.  Or maybe you know some stories that were passed down to you?  Something out of the ordinary, something that tested you, something that changed you? We are collecting those stories.  I’ll post them here on the blog – and for the ones we like the best – we’ll come out and let you tell the story on camera as part of the film. http://dskessler.com/pinesfilm/story-submission/ "

Questions? Please visit the film's main page at http://pinebarrensfilm.com

I just thought you all should know.

Better Writing through Research

My latest project is a set of poems which take place in the New Jersey Pine Barrens. My research started online: reading observations and reflections, studying photographs, and analyzing maps.  But, knowing that nothing beats first-hand research, last Wednesday I spent the afternoon and evening in Wharton State Forest. I've included a few photos here. I have almost two dozen more that will serve as a kind of visual database from which I will draw as a write and revise.

Yet, photos don't record enough. I traveled to the Pines to make observations that I hadn't discovered in my reading. I wasn't sure I would be rewarded for my efforts, but I had to go--even just to feel the Pine Barrens sun on my face and the Pine Barrens wind on my arms. Luckily, I got more than that. The first thing I discovered was the flies. I had been to the Pine Barrens before, but not on a hot August day just after torrential rains. The flies overwhelmed me. Various breeds. They bit. They buzzed. At times they even swarmed. At the worst moments during the day, a swarm might surround me and squirm into my hair--short as it was--and my eyes, nose, the corners of my mouth, my ears. Mostly a few dozen or so would bite as I took pictures or walked around. Relief would come occasionally from a strong breeze. The flies took refuge in the ground covering, and for a few minutes we went about our separate business.

In the ruins of the town of Friendship, someone had decorated a big tree with a piece of art--a painted mirror. I hadn't expected that. The artist? KB. Ants crawled all over it. If no one removes it, the elements surely will.

Most relevant to the trip was perhaps one of my last observations. My traveling companion and I stayed past sunset, well into the dark. Very dark. Middle of the woods dark. He turned on a bright maglite I had brought, and the beam was choked with clouds of churning pollen. Invisible during the day, the pollen was clearly something we had been swimming in, breathing in. It occurred to me that people who spend years of their lives here are more apart of the Pines then we might realize.

Writing Artist's Statements: The Agony Discussed

Over at From the Hatchery (a great blog by a friend of mine), there's an interesting post on the agony of writing artist's statements. I like the discussion, too (and not just because I'm in it--although that's part of it).

If this post doesn't grab you, go read her other posts. You might be interested to know that she writes essays, and she's been published in the New York Times. I was trying not to blurt that out, but I couldn't help it.

Dig Charles Schneider's Collage Work

Seriously. Dig it. His work brims with electricity and irony. I have one shot below (from a show in June of 2003), but much of his work is now here. Enjoy.

If you're friends with me on facebook, you can see the rest of my photos from that show.