A writing teacher brought in this list one day. It’s from the article “Lost in Translation: The Workshop” written by Jane Roper and appeared in the May/June 2004 issue of Poets and Writers. It’s a list of language used during a writing workshop. And what that language actually means. I found this hilarious. Enjoy! “I […]

’cause you’re the people that I wanted to know.” –MM The sun rises on another bleak Iowa City morning. We drive away. We’re trying to answer questions we don’t even know, we don’t even want to know. We must never return. We will never return.

I’m moving to San Francisco on July 30th to attend the writing program at California College of the Arts. I cannot wait to get out there. Check out the annual mayhem known as the Bay to Breakers Race. My favorite are the guys yelling at everyone to slow down. I think I’ll like the town.

I leave Iowa City next Sunday. Forever. “Aren’t you going to miss this town?” a friend asked. I don’t know. It’s bike to work week. Some group has left bicycles all over town with messages such as ‘free parking’ and ‘gas is cheap when you don’t buy any’ attached to them. Next to these bikes […]

I wasn’t even thinking about college five years ago. I was going to be a state trooper. I ‘graduated’ last Saturday. But it was made official today: LIBERAL ARTS & SCI SEMESTER HOUR, GPA, AND RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS OK TOTAL S.H. COMPLETED ARE LISTED BELOW. HOURS DO NOT INCLUDE CURRENT REGISTRATION. 124.0 HOURS ATTEMPTED +R 1) […]

The hawks have been flying low. I rode my bike into town for lunch today. A hawk flapped its giant wings just ahead of me. And now, six hours later, I hear a screaming hawk outside my window. It makes me shiver. Its loud, high shriek. My Onion desk calender had this info graph the […]

Here we go again. The Christians are being persecuted for their brainless ideas. Guillermo Gonzalez is a fellow at the hilariously named Discovery Institute which, among other things, “supports research by scientists and other scholars developing the scientific theory known as intelligent design.” Fine. But Gonzalez also works at Iowa State University. What, you may […]

I woke to a silent gray sky. And then the birds started up. They make such a racket. And I graduate today.

Not of mine, lucky you. Kristen Case won the 2004 Iowa Award for poetry. And I keep coming back to two of her poems. Housework The years have cleared now and left you here, two flights above the street, in a square room you sweep every afternoon, amazed, always, at the tenacity of dust. Life […]

The stock market is fucking booming! Are you rich yet? 1927 is always an awesome year for the media to reference: “Blue-chip gauge matches 1927 record for longest up streak” Two years later, boom!