brain brain

I am feeling strange. My brain is in a weird state right now–a combination of short brain games and lack of memory. While taking on the concept of a brain game earlier today, I suffered a memory overhaul. Now I can’t say what I want to say or remember what I want [...]

Book Sentence Meme

From Susan. I thought it was cool. I thought, “neat.” I thought about it. Then I did it. I’m dealing with the aftermath of a weird mini-migraine or head thing. Why not?
Here it is:
Take five books off your bookshelf.
1. Book #1 — first sentence
2. Book #2 — last sentence [...]

input week

So this is how it feels to hole up somewhere: the snow has come on and off this week, the sun has come and gone and returned, the chilly air outside has the snap of a crisp spring peapod, and all is very peaceful. There is no external stimulation; my life has turned totally [...]

Murakami on The Great Gatsby

My favorite contemporary novelist, Haruki Murakami, talks about his favorite novel (and incidentally my favorite novel of all time since junior high), The Great Gatsby, at PopMatters.
Whenever Murakami speaks, he enlightens me on one matter or another. I was curious as to what he would say about The Great Gatsby, and here is an [...]

big storm brewing

literally!  not figuratively!  big storm winter snow storm approaches.  woo!  the wind is blowin’!

the short and the long of it

I have a friend who is a great writer working on a novel that is just brilliant. I have heard her say multiple times that she cannot write a short story. Because she is not the kind to fish for compliments, I accept that she believes she cannot write a short story. [...]

Reviving an Old Fashioned Relationship

I love technology. I love writing on a laptop. I think my typing keeps pace with my thoughts, I can barely write any other way. If my laptop were to fizz out on me, I think I’d be paralyzed as a writer for some time. It makes sense that I embrace [...]

A good answer

I am doing some re-reading of Orhan Pamuk’s Nobel Lecture this weekend. I am reading it slowly so that it really pierces my heart, as I allow so few things to do. (There are many other things that do pierce my heart despite my protests and those are the things I think I [...]

byline: The Fake Korean

The protagonist of my novel is someone who was born in Korea. He is not me. First of all, I am not male. Second of all, I was born and raised in the States. I did not live through any wars. He does eventually come to live in the U.S., [...]

little earthquakes

(sorry tori amos, i stole your “little earthquakes” title)
2 earthquakes in the past 12 hours, 3 total this week. right under our house. what is the meaning of this? as for dogs being able to predict earthquakes, i’ll leave it for you to decide.
earthquake last night: dogs didn’t notice a thing.
earthquake [...]

maybe one more day

Well.  Last week I thought I had injured my boob in a kitchen accident.  I had surmised I’d gotten burned somehow.  The skin was reddened, I was experienced searing burning pain in waves with an overall sensitivity.  But over the last week, it’s become clear that the pain is not coming from burned skin but [...]

Orhan Pamuk’s Nobel Lecture

Reprinted at The New Yorker, Orhan Pamuk’s Nobel Lecture titled “My Father’s Suitcase” is one to definitely read.
(The title stands for the suitcase filled with his father’s writing–while Pamuk pursued a life of writing, his father chose to take a different route.  His speech makes me wonder if my own father has a suitcase (he [...]