So I’m back on the facebook. I’m not a big fan of the facebook. But a former professor of mine started a facebook group, told me it was turning into a nice little network for writers. This group. Not facebook. He’s full of shit. There are no writers in this group of his. So now […]

Jess Walter came in to read for us today. Before he took the podium our program manager told us, the people who showed up, that yes, in fact, Friday seminars are mandatory, they’re a class, and if you don’t show up, you’ll fail. There was a light turn out. And then the studio manager came […]

Captain Franks sits in the right front seat of the armored Humvee, his dark face clamped into a scowl, his finger tracing invisible lines on the map sprawled over his legs. “Where are we?” he asks. “Shit sir, I thought you knew.” Henry reaches under the radio shelf and pulls out a rag, smears the […]

Something I saw earlier reminded me of this story. I don’t remember what now, but I remember this story. I came on duty early one morning. A friend of mine called me on the radio, asked me to meet her in a parking lot. Have you ever seen two police cars parked driver’s side to […]

So my little weather channel status bar on Firefox is showing an alert. A red triangle with a yellow exclamation point in the middle. In Iowa this meant thunderstorms blowing out windows, hail as big as baseballs, town destroying tornadoes, floods sweeping away SUVs, white out blizzards or ice storms shutting down the world. Here […]

I served all this? No wonder I’m depressed. Thanks for the pics Americans Are Brainwashed (I’d link, but it’s myspace and it’s fucking up my browser. Fuck you myspace.)

The smell lingered heavily in the air. Wood burning. Waste burning. Diesel burning. Life, love, death, poverty and sex and misery. All burning here, filling the town with its pungent sweet odor. A raining snow had forced everyone to shelter, made the place almost beautiful. But the snow couldn’t do anything about that smell. It […]

What the fuck? Stanford University has just hired the war criminal Donald Rumsfeld. He will spend a year at the university as a fellow “examining national security and world peace in the post 9-11 era.” World peace? Seriously? “‘Don has had immense experience in public service and has much to contribute to society as a […]

What you think of Bukowski. He was an asshole. And he knew it. But he speaks to me. When I feel like quiting, joining the army, flying back to Iowa, to Kansas. All I have to do is read some Bukowski. And I know things can get worse. But I’m no where near as tough […]

Police departments can’t find enough qualified applicants. Probably because they don’t pay shit, expect long hours, and hold a strong commitment to such rules as no home made porn. Our beloved baby boomers are retiring in record numbers–hopefully to die soon–and too many youngsters have been busted with the lethal pot, forfeiting forever their hope […]