God

Now this story, this story I enjoyed!  First of all I would like to add that the title completely threw me off.  I am an atheist and do not particularly enjoy religious themes when it comes to literature.  However clearly, God was just a symbol(thankg god).  The story was really unique in my opinion and although there was some foreshadowing with his fondness towards Nutella, I still could not foresee the timeline.  Clearly there is some irony that comes into play in this story.  The frat life was pretty on point. I am not that experienced in that field but I have seen some turnouts and it is pretty accurate.  It was ironic how the only guy to finally be able to satisfy God was a gay guy.  Ironic in many platitudes. First that it was a gay guy that satisfied the girl between all the other more manlier brothers.  And second, more religiously, that it was a GAY guy who pleased GOD.  Seeing how the bible does not condone gays. Really made me chuckle to be honest.  Great story!

The spring breeze

It was quite a strategic move to place this reading during spring.  It was easier to connect with the story as spring is in session for us as well.  This story felt very confusing to me time wise.  I am not sure what is really happening.  Are they doing the things that are happening? I mean, how many times are they going to eat and drink?  I felt like I knew what the girl wanted.  She wanted something adventurous and new.  Break away from the everyday mold and do something new, just as that new spring breeze is coming through.  It was also quite stereotypical of men and women.  Women being that they do not share what they feel and want something they do not know.  Then men are portrayed as oblivious to the women's thoughts and feelings. Overall i though the story was ok, I was just confused as to what really happens.

Finishing Up

For the last week of the blog (5/10-16), I'd like you to make some final comments about your learning in the class. What do you think you have taken away from the course? What information? What skills? What friendships have you made and why? What do you plan to do after EN-201? Are you transferring to a 4-year school? To study what? How will fiction writing help you in this future endeavor? Also, what do you think I should do differently? What would you have liked to do less of? More of? What should we stop doing? What would you have liked to do instead?

Also, you should post about the class readings on Tues. What readings did you like best? How did you like reading your own work?

God

The fact that Melanie got her nickname because she wrote a poem about caleb, A guy she slept with that couldn't hold a nut. I felt like that was a interesting part of the story. I felt like too much was going in the story. Melanie was pretty much way to promiscuous, because she kept on sleeping with different guys from the fraternity. BUT at the same time the fact that she did that we learned a secret about the writer, he gave off reasoning to the readers that he was gay. I do believe he admired nutella but any man  that thinks about man while performing in sex with a woman might be considered gay or even bisexual.

Thoughts about "The Breeze"

As I was reading "The breeze" I had to continuously go back and reread paragraphs. The story kept jumping from different time periods/areas I believe Sarah was acting very difficult. If she didn't want to continue going to the movies and eating from the neighborhood deli, she should have came up with another idea. She didn't know what she wanted.I think it would have been better off if she had just stated she wanted to explore the town. It's not fair to her husband when she burst out into emotional temper tantrum and he's just thinking she's fine with doing the regular. I think there was also a part when they attempted to have sex but her husband was not in the mood or turned on. In this story, I also noticed that a breeze was brought up more than once. They talked about it in the subway while waiting for the train, I believe. It also came up again when they were at the Italian restaurant.

God

Was this writer secretly in love with Nutella or did he admire him so much that he yearned to be like him and fucking Melanie and her reciting the poem was a way to feel like Nutella. This story is sick. You have a man that nuts too quick another that cant get up and another who thinks about another man in the bed with a woman. Bruh! Not the greatest reputation for this brotherhood. Then you have a girl who tries to go through them like candy really! Very entertaining story

The Breeze

So this woman is on her balcony and feels a breeze of spring and she wants to live in the moment and have a good night. so she asks her husband to come home early so they can do something. When he gets home she doesn't know what she wants to so, she doesn't know what she wants throughout the night everything doesn't feel right or go as she planned. She wanted the picnic she felt it was getting late, he wanted the movies and already bought the ticket she said no. sex in the park couldn't happen. They went to the bar with there friends. The woman was just confused she wanted to find it but with no it to it and her man was trying to accommodate all her decisions.

"The Breeze" and "God"

"The Breeze": Besides for "This Is Not a Love Song," this story is probably one of the most innovative stories we're read this term. As Tysean and Carllene have pointed out, this story seems to revise itself as it goes along. In his bio, Joshua Ferris says that he wrote this on his phone which seems to suggest that this is why the story is this way. I'm skeptical. (If you want to see a story from 1969--long before smart phones existed--which does something similar, you should check out Robert Coover's "The Babysitter".) This is clearly an intentional story that has little to do w/ the technology it's written on. Why is the story written in this form? What does the form have to do w/ the content? Why is this story called "The Breeze"? What does the breeze (the wind, not the title) have to do w/ this relationship? What do they both have to do w/ living in NYC?

"God": We're back in first person in this story. It's Oprah's story and it's a closet/coming-out story. How would it be different if it were in third person like the other story? What does this story say about being a gay man in this society? What does it say about fraternities and friendships between men? What is the significance of Oprah's fantasy about the future consulting firm that he and his brothers will found and run? The insignia of a clockface in the talons of an eagle?

God

Like the previous entry I posted, I also had to read this story a second time in order to gain a better understanding of it. I honestly enjoyed this story because there was so much craziness that was occuring with these circle of friends. The whole concept of a frat house and the one girl that seems to catch a few guys attention seems so typically and realistic but yet it's also a reality. The most interesting part to me was the fact that everyone in the story had their own nickname. This is the first story that /i have read that has had such weird yet realistic nicknames. I find this cool because the narrator states that everyone in their frat house has a name to describe their personality.

The Breeze

When I first read this story, it was a bit confusing. So when I read it a second time around I gained a better understanding of it. I must agree with Tysean when he mentions the chronological time line that is presented throughout the story, it is confusing in the beginning, but like he said the space breaks are very helpful. I say this because throughout the story the couple goes back and forth between two situations. One situation is when they were trying to figure out what they wanted to do in NYC, and the other was when they were looking for a place to eat. The one thing that remained constant in the story was where the couple ate. For example: When they were roaming around NYC and going back and forth as to whether or not they would have the picnic in Central Park they got their food from their " neighborhood deli"; Whereas when they were bickering about which restaraunt they wanted to eat at it always seemed that they ended up in either an expensive Italian resturant or a cheap one.

The Breeze

This is perhaps my favourite story so far. However, I had to read it twice because it seemed too chronologically unsound at first. The author's use of space breaks are what helped the most with comprehension. The story revolves around a couple in NYC; both of them perceiving the world in their own way, leading to varying degrees of conflict. The premise seems simple enough, but the unorthodox arrangement is what differentiates it from other stories.

The breeze

Its a story of many different possible outcomes. I haven't read a story like this until now. My favorite outcome was when they actually had sex in the park after the picnic.
The girl is different in every scenario.  Shes a little crazy. The guy was the same in all the scenarios except in the one qhere he couldn't perform and wanted to be like the guy he saw at the bar

The breeze

The breeze was a bit of a love story about Sarah and jay couple that seems to have communication issue to me because At first I didn't see why Sarah couldn't just tell jay what she was thinking about what she really wanted to do, I wondered if she hesitated because she figured he would judge her but he's in a relationship with you, he should be happy for the fact of UR imagination and spice. I got deeper in the story and I came to my own conclusion that Sarah wanted jay to be more adventurous, she wanted him to be the spontaneous one and when they are having a picnic just look at her and want her intimately. I feel like jay and Sarah spark of intimacy was gone and they really didn't show one another how much they love each other. She got sick of their date night being just a movie all the time, Sarah wanted jay to be romantic for once and want her the way she he either once did or show her that she was still attractive to him. Sarah seem to feel lonely around jay because he didn't express the affection she was looking for. 

The Judge's Will

The relationship between the mother and her son is very odd to me. They're so close it kind of seems boreder-line incestuous. I guess that's the mother's way of trying to replace the loss of attention from the judge. The son, Yazi, sometimes gets outbursts or anger and she lets him settle down without yelling at him because I feel that she's scared to be distanced from him but that's not how a mother should act.
What's with these women dating men that are dating men so much older than them.
Binny seems awfully kind to the judge even though he's been cheating on her for years. I think he sees her maturity since they first got married. She doesn't need him or what he's left in the will.

Mastiff

Was it the man's instinct to rescue the woman or did he really love her? The way she describes how he acted on the hike was somewhat selfish but was that just men being men? Because when it came down to it, he was caring for her all along. If you look at it from his perspective he would have probably thought he wasn't being selfish at all. He made sure she was prepared to go on the hike reminding her to bring a jacket and water and what not. He's also older than her and probably hasn't dated in awhile either.
She was scared to fall in love and thought there was no one out there that was right for her. She wanted to skip the scary but thrilling part of dating and be settled down with someone already. I think this preconceived notion of dating put her off from the man she was seeing. Did she realize she loved him in the end for saving her? Her dream at the end of the story reveals what she is afraid of. I feel that he's there to protect her and make her feel safe. The dog waiting there for her is her feeling of being scared to be in a relationship but she knows he will be there to make her feel safe.
The gory details of the mastiff attack was surprising to me in this story. I didn't expect it to be so gruesome and to do so much damage to the man. I think it struck me more than other horrifying scenes in past stories we've read because this was an event that I can easily picture happening.

A Completely Random Tale

He buried his head in his hands and sobbed.  A few people walk past the man, paying no attention to him.  Until a stranger stops and asks the man a question “May I ask what seems to be the problem?”  The man doesn’t answer the stranger’s question and continues on crying, the stranger then keeps asking, “What is wrong?” Still no response and it makes the stranger so infuriated that he goes over to him and kick him right in the testicles. Now we know he’ll need to ice that for a while before the swelling goes down. There has been a tendency to treat injuries with heat, but heat is only a temporary salve against what ails us. We sometimes need ice, ice like the ice that forms the lake of my heart, the heart that doesn’t beat in my chest but only creaks like a war ship moving past the shore in the fog when you’ve been up for hours with only the clock for the team being in your possession. No one knew what time it was but they knew that in no time the battle would begin and lives would be lost. I yelled lets begin the battle and my men charged at the oppsite side, I was ready to break into paris and reclaim this land, I was willing to fight to the end for my people and all of a sudden I was unable to see. 

It’s like my world went blank. Everything I saw was white. Was there something in my eye? Were my cataracts messed up? Why is this happening to me? I don’t deserve this. I ran to the what I thought was the bathroom and turned on the water.

“ Maybe if I wash my eyes out, then maybe I will be able to see again”. I said to myself, I proceeded to wash my eyes but there wasn’t any change, Ironically it began to feel as if the problem was getting worse. “ Was I being punished?. The next day I noticed my eye swelling up. It looked disgusting. I looked gross. I didn’t want anyone seeing me like this. I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. So I had to think of a master plan. I saw this ad on TV for cosmetic surgery, so I said what the hell why not? I picked up my phone and dialed the number that I had written down. Ring ring.. “911 what is you’re emergency”? “Ooops my bad homie wrong number”.

“Are you kidding me, man? How do you accidently dial 911? I should send a squad car to pick you up just being a fucking idiot.”

“Sorry, man, won’t happen officer.” I slammed the phone down and grabbed a beer. “Well that went well.”

“Yea stick it to the man” we didn’t give a fuck as we rode away with the daylight in our eyes.  We drive as fast as we can, not having a single of we might run over an animal or crashing into another car.  As we drove, we hit a bump, I look to my friends and ask “What was that?” “I don’t know.”  Then the other friend says to us “Who cares, let’s just keep going until we crash and fly through the fucking window.”

Exquisite Corpse

Exquisite Corpse

He buried his head in his hands and sobbed. After a bit, Arnold peeked through his fingers at the others. They had returned to their conversations, they were chattering away like nothing had happened, like he hadn’t just been weeping, big fat tears running down his cheeks, snot on his face. This is weird, he thought. Can’t they see that I’m suffering, that I’m in pain? Don’t they feel any sympathy for a fellow human animal?

                Hello? he said.

                No one answered.

                He got up, walked into the center of the room, said, Hey, motherfuckers, I’m talking to you!

                A guy named Jonathan made a reference about a popular TV show, everyone in that corner of the room tittered at his observation, but no one looked at Arnold. No one cared what Arnold had to say, even though he said the same thing Jonathan said. “Why  don’t I get treated fairly around here, I bust my ass working two jobs after school and this is the thanks I get. I ran outside and ran to the nearest park I could find. The Memorial Park on Bryant Avenue is where I ended up. As I came to a stop I realized that my mouth tasted like blood and my legs felt like heavy metal weights. The crisp fall air and the florescent lights from the streetlamp got brighter by the second making my wounds more noticeable.

I began to get nervous not sure of what was happening around me, but I had to get my thoughts clear, I had to get my story right.  What was next to come was uncertain but I was prepared for anything. I would tell the cops anything to get myself out of this predicament even if I was guilty, this was a secret I will take with me to the grave. My wife would not have been ready to hear the truth and I was not ready for her to know. So as the cops arrived I pretended not to look so distraught. I was shaking, nervous, terrified.

“Hello, how are you?” asked one of the cops.

“What’s the problem he asked gingerly? The person replied my whole life is in shambles and

“I don’t generally like people like you”. “People like you deserve to die and go to hell” I angrily said.

I mean what kind of people don’t give their seat to the elderly on the bus. They’ve seen some shit, give them a break and get the fuck up.

I mean I’ve got business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore, business in Baltimore. “What the hell is in Baltimore?” 

“Don’t worry about it.”

“If you refuse to tell me, I won’t go with you. I’ll jump out of a moving vehicle if I have to.”

“Fine.”

“Oh, it’s fine, is it? But, you know, I was crying and no one seemed to give a shit.”

“Well, we just didn’t notice. We’re flawed human beings. We can’t notice everything. It’s humanly impossible. We’re not gods, we’re not omniscient.”

And with those last words spoken, the author turned off his computer, pleased with his work, sure that his words would live for years to come, that they would stretch into infinity and people would celebrate them and mimeograph them and send them out into the ether of the internet and recite them at grade school pageants and utter them in the midst of sexual congress and chant them at political rallies and sing them in church and that, eventually, the words would cease to be a story, but instead a language, the language that all speak, that all communicate with, a true Esperanto, the language of the human. 

A Fulfilling Day

He buried his head in his hands and sobbed.

He had been diagnosed with testicular cancer and started to continuously ask himself, “Why me!” Fortunately, his fiancée was there to comfort him to say that it was okay—but it wasn’t. The first person he called was his mother. He had no problem calling his father, but it’s impossible to call two people at the same time; and his father was hard at work anyway. Thoughts of his fiancée leaving him was the first thing Arnold thought. This is not going to end well. But then, maybe it could then again, he thought. After all, he’d had his eye on that nice girl down at the doughnut shop with the cute dimple, the one named Bertha, but who had a misspelled name-tag that Bert and would only answer to the name Bert. Because since they didn’t bother to get her name right why should she bother to. I left the meeting in rage. How dare those people treat me like an animal, they did not give me the time of the day before they dismissed me out of their office. I will return and watch they will be sorry they didn’t hire me.

As I walked out the office doors, the smell of greasy hot dogs and cotton candy hit my nose. The annual summer carnival was down the block and I can hear the kids yelling a screaming at the top of their lungs.

“Get off of my back Jimmy!!” a little girl screamed. “Wait your turn”. She said. I couldn't help myself I was excited for once in my life, I just wanted to be a part of the amazement before it was too late. As if this was the first and last time, I could actually admit I had fun. I wanted to feel the breeze. I wanted to live again, I got away with it but I knew streaking was illegal. I felt alive. Is there anything else that I can do to get this feeling of liberation? Maybe travel the world and do it in other countries. Explore! Have fun! Do something difference for once. Try out new food, meet new people, and go for the exhilarating sports. Skydiving and bungee jumping sound like lots of fun. Recently I had Greek food and OMG it was like sooo totally awesome. Just the texture and feel of it in my mouth got me all wet.

The patron slid down my throat nicely. I chased it with a ripe lime that was waiting for me in the mouth of my best friend. That’s how it was always done.

I took my best friend to bed and had the most glorious sex ever. It got kind of dirty but who cares we were young.  People shouldn’t care about the choices we made in life, just move on and be happy with what you were dealt. Everything happens for a reason. Then again, one of my siblings told me to never believe in that bullshit and things happen for no reason plenty of times. I’m not sure if that’s realism or pessimism. It’s hard to tell the difference nowadays. Why does life have to be a grey area instead of something comprehensible? The truth is—nothing will change that.

Exquisite Random Piece

He buried his head in his hands and sobbed.

Sobbing and speaking incoherently, he says, “Why does this have to happen to me?”

The doctor looked down at him and said, “I’m sorry sonny. There was nothing we could’ve done to save her.”

I laughed vigorously as I looked right back at the doctor.

“You want to stick that where?” I laughed nervously. Oh no, my wife said this was just a routine physical.

“I’m sorry, but you’re getting to that age and a colonoscopy is necessary considering you family history.” The doctor tried to reassure him.

“The testicular cancer has spread, there isn’t a cell in your body that isn’t cancerous actually.” The doctor had a sick sense of humor.  The patient looks at the doctor and thinks to himself “What the hell is happening to me?  “Please fix me” shouts the patient. The only problem is, he can’t be fixed. He’s a lost cause. You can never save someone from themselves. He goes home and prepares the noose. He would buy a gun, but he has insufficient funds. If he does it wrong, he’ll die, but suffocate slowly. He wants to change his mind, but unless he swaps brains with someone else, he’s a goner. He creeps down the alleyway, looking around for a ripe victim. She looks nice, he thinks, eying a blond woman walking down the street in high heels and tight mini. He could visualize her kissing his lips but he knew he would have to impress her and this was his only chance of ever being with her. I was planning to hit a bank tonight so I can live like the king I am.  King’s like myself are precious creatures. We make the rules and we set the standards. We are above all, and no one has the right to change what we have worked so hard to create. It was my duty as a official of the state to make sure everyone was treated equally. But who cares about what my duty is, I felt like rebelling. Being my own person, doing my own thing. I was tired of following the rules and said YOLO, And began to campaign my movement to fight the power! I rallied up all my comrades and we demonstrated a march of protest. We even got bystanders to join us, giving them each a sign to help us in our cause. The fight had begun.

funny

HE BURIED HIS HEAD IN HIS HANDS AND SOBBED. He rocked his head side to side. Kept saying to himself, “What did I do?” As his hands got soaked by tears, they started trembling. He tried to lift his head out of his hands but it felt so heavy, like bricks. He couldn’t control his tears and his head started pounding. As he tried to get up, he started feeling woozy. Alcohol is a hell of a drug. He swore never to go back to that bar, but he did it anyway. It was a bad idea to rekindle his relationship with an old friend, especially one who has quite the destructive tendencies. He was actually kind of unstable, everyone said. You could see it in the blood-gleam in his eyes, the way he collected kittens, and his tendency to howl at the moon and eat his savory kibble out of a tin can. His sister had watched him for years, but after a while, she had decided to get married and the husband wasn’t crazy about caring for a crazy person and kicked the poor guy out in the lobby. Even though it was something he “had” to do because he didn’t want to lose his job, he couldn’t stop thinking about the poor guy sitting outside in the middle of January because its freezing and there will be a snow storm later tonight. I went ahead and invited him in for some hot tea and a warm dinner. He seem surprised when I invited him. He seemed scared, like he didn’t want to touch me or something. He made me feel like I had some bacterial disease of some sort.

“So would you like Chinese or Pizza?” I asked shyly

“ Umm, whatever you get will sit fine with me”. He said a little displeased

As I picked up the phone to dial the Chinese restaurant, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It was the delivery man, so calm and collective having a quick cigarette. I was waiting on my pizza for hours and he had the nerve to light a cigarette as if I wasn’t waiting. He will not get a tip from me and my pizza better not be cold. I have a good idea I will grab the pizza and  run. Hey, let’s do this then. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. I grab the pizza and jet out of there, back to my car.

Pizza? Having Chicken Souvlaki on a stick is way healthier! Why eat pizza and get fat? But then again, do I really give a fuck. My husband left me, my boyfriend is married, and my mother is on the verge of kicking me out on the street. So, fuck it, Pizza it is. “Yeah I’ll take a XL”

In 30 minutes the pizza arrived, I paid the tip and devoured the pizza whole. On the last slice I began to choke. Gasping for air I scrambled.  I went to the kitchen trying to grab a cup, but then I lost my balance and hit my head. I touched the spot where I had hit and there was blood on my hands. Grabbed a towel to hold pressure and all that is all I recalled until I ended up in a hospital room.

exquisite corpse

He buried his head in his hands and sobbed. He let all the tears he’s been holding in, out. All the times he said he was “ok”, all the times he turned a sad moment into a joke hoping no one would notice what he was really going through. All the times he was afraid of looking weak, of looking “less of a man.” All the times he wanted to cry, but he didn’t, came out in this moment.  I ran upstairs and got dressed quickly, I refuse to stay in this house with a bunch of liars. I hated my life at this moment I just wanted to run away. When will I ever be able to tell the truth about who I am.

I remember the time when I first knew that I wasn’t like anyone else. I didn’t quite know why I had this feeling, it was almost as if I was a mysterious creature caught in a complex world. Weird you know? No one noticed me, but I noticed everyone and everything around me, I wanted to be as discreet as possible. I wanted to observe everything and everyone around me. That’s the only way to truly get to know someone. Ask them questions, be there for them, fart together and make fun of each other but then there is also the sad way of getting to know someone…. Or their true colors I should say. When things go wrong. Betrayal can be a bitch but Revenge is Betrayal’s pimp. And a pimp slap is standing by sooner than later. Standing by, hand at the ready, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. I wondered if I would do it opened hand, or back handed like mama used to do.

I decided to grab the rolling pin and end it like that, it’s finally over. This long fucking road is down as I prove my authority. I swing and find the face. Haha bitch.  The person falls to floor and desperately crawls to escape.

“There is no escaping so you might as well keep your face to the floor!”

“Please don’t hurt me!”

“You hurt me first! An eye for an eye!”

“Ah, yes, but you hurt me last, and the last bite is the worst, so, my dear, with this final twist of the knife…you breathe no more.”

“Um, yeah…that’s real dramatic. But you’re not holding a knife.”

“It’s a metaphor.” He pulls out a gun and shoots her in the forehead. Little angels circle around her head and now he’s afraid of what’s going to happen next. He doesn’t understand what’s going on but he knew something big was about to happen. The funny part is that he wasn’t sure if he was afraid or excited. The thrill of the un known was always exciting to him.

An alien's plight.

He buried his head in his hands and sobbed. He hadn’t known what he’d done. He lost it. The others around stared in confusion as Zorbok hopped into his small one-manned fighter and powered up the nuclear fission engine. The flash and blorp of neutrinos racing close to light speed made a soft hum. Zorbok stared at the dead Detile and secured his hatch. His daughter came racing to find her mother, Bilork dead on the ground. Zorbok gave one last look towards his daughter and took off into the cosmos. If he stayed, he would have been court martial and executed. The last king to be killed was during the Gellite rebellion 2000 years ago.  Thinking through this, he starts to rub his temples, trying to make magic happen, like rubbing a genie lamp. The only problem is—no genie came out of his head. That didn’t stop the voices in his head from returning either. Upset at this, he storms down the stairs and busts through the front door for some fresh air. “Ah, that’s better,” he says, breathing in the smog, reveling in the chaos of a typical Flatbush Ave summer day. “The park, that’s where I’ll go. I’ll find a puppy to eat. Or maybe a dog. No, mustn’t kill pets. Pets are man’s best friend. Man’s best friend is all he has, all he has in the world. That’s the problem, if you have no one else to turn to, then you only know what you know. How would you be able to “think outside the lines” if the only line you knew was your line. How would you be able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes if you’ve only worn your shoes?  I grabbed my bag and stormed out of the bank. I wished they would give me the chance to pay them off I was one month away from losing my home and all I wanted was a loan. This would secure a place for my children and I to live but these white folks do not care, unless you already have money.

See now the one thing that is fucked up about this world we live in, is the social class system. Why should our social status determine who we are or better yet what we can become? No and I will not let that define me. I don’t care who the system says I ought to be I am what I feel. No one can look at me without knowing me and making a judgment. I will go to the capital if I had to I will be heard.

SO, I went up to the town hall to protest my case. “I demand justice” I yelled out to everyone in the main lobby as if I were a crazy person, but I didn’t like to think of myself so poorly so I said YOLO and made an impact. I didn’t care what everyone else thought of me; I just wanted to give them a piece of my mind. But then I thought why give them a piece of my mind. “Do they really deserve to hear my opinion if all they’re going to do is shut it down?” Stupid, close-minded people.

Zorbok was done with humans. He withdrew into his pod ship and returned home, his odyssey was complete and maybe his daughter would take him back in. All he knew is that it would be a long time home.

The Killer

He buried his hands in his head and sobbed. He couldn’t believe what he just seen. A body on his way home from the park just laying there in a pool full of blood. Just as he reached his hand in his pocket to pull out his phone to call the police, they arrived “freeze!” He froze in fear and slowing turned around. The officer continued “put your hands in the air, where I can see them”. The man said ”Officer you have this all wrong” in mid conversation, the officer continued “Stop talking” “Keep your hands where I can see them or you will face worse consequences.” “But Please” said the man. “zap” The officer tasered the man down. The man began to jitter all over the floor, but all of a sudden something went wrong and foam was coming out of his mouth he was having a seizure!

A nurse ran to the man and held him still while repeatedly yelling, “Someone call the doctor!”

“Call the doctor?” I replied. “What kind of sick game are you trying to play here!” 

“It’s either she’s pregnant and having a baby as we speak or she just really has to poop” I shouted. “Take a look! Do you see a head popping out?”

“No, but it doesn’t mean it’s not there!”

“Are you sure? I swear to fucking god I left it there go check again bitch. I’ll fucking kill you if it’s lost”  The girl desperately looks around the room and has no idea where she is at the moment. In fact, it is total and utter darkness. Even grey would be appealing at this moment. She starts hyperventilating and calling for help, but to no avail. She can’t even roll over. She’s clearly in a coffin.

“Hello?” she calls, then feels stupid, no one in graveyards are listening for a voice.

And yet someone answered. Now she’s even more nervous than what she was originally. Now she knows she is not alone . their was someone in her house.

As she walked up to her doorstep she could hear the utter silence. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. She turned the knob and in that instant she felt a hand clasp her neck.

“ Say one word and I’ll kill you”. He muttered into her ear. One word? She thought to herself, she didn’t even intend to breath. She was nervous, and at this very moment, she felt alone, she could be killed at this very moment, but the killer hesitated, he continued to look at her and realized that she was someone he knew. He told her to “go”. She got up and continued to run for her life. He didn’t follow, he just sat there and thought about life. What was it that was so special, he killed others he knew why her? He went home that day wondering if she alerted the cops about him.

Exquisite Corpse (Hilariously awkward but cool story)

He buried his head in his hands and sobbed.

Raising his hands towards the sky as if speaking to God “WHY! Why must we live in such a corrupted world?”

It was a late afternoon, he had Just got out from school.

Yo bro, pass me my skateboard. He said

He skated his way down the stairs and in to the street.

Bet, you can’t do that wheelie I showed you last week. Said the male best friend

Ha, Watch me ! he said

Kicking his legs to quicken his speed on the skateboard, he was getting ready to show off his wheelie. When out of nowhere he lost control and catapulted about 6 feet in the air into oncoming traffic

He landed on the paved road and shakily looked up, staring in horror at the cars that were zooming towards him. Making a mad scramble to get to his feet, he got up and slapped her right in the face. Slapping her only made things better. Whoring around is certainly not the right move.

But I couldn’t help, but get dragged into the idea of being completely free. The idea of being with multiple women aroused me. “Should I look on www.lovemesomelesbians.com” I thought. “Shirley at work said she found her soulmate!”

“Yea well Shirley also said she found tiny aliens, in her hamburger so I wouldn’t trust her with anything.”

“ Can you pass the wrench?”  “Why should I?”  “So that I can take the wrench and use it to see if Shirley’s brain is working right.”  I hope it is working, if not we are in trouble. She is the keeper of the secret. We have to get to her as soon as possible, without delay, no time to waste, every minute will cost us, time’s a wasting, the longer we wait, the more dire the situation will be, any second now things are going to really be bad. Or maybe they wouldn’t, maybe things would go just as he pictured it in his day dreams. Maybe he would be the hero instead of the villain. People will final look up to him if he saved those two old ladies from the burning building. He wanted all his crimes to be forgotten.  He wanted to have a clean slate. He wanted to create new memories and erase the old ones. He wanted to reinvent himself. He began to make changes and the first change he started with was his appearance, a bald head, he stated. That would show significance a fresh start. They say cutting your hair is a symbol of growth. I was growing into an adult and I was ready for whatever came my way. I wanted to go and explore the world and a fresh start from my troubled childhood was a great way to start. “Rehab classes maybe?” I said to myself as I thought of the many different possibilities for my new beginning.

I think that sounds about right said my mom hearing in from the kitchen.

In Class Assignment

He buried his head in his hands and sobbed. The pain was so unbearable that it felt like he had a hacksaw jammed in his lower intestine. He hadn’t expected to hear the news this way. He closed his eyes hoping to think bad news into good news. The terrifying experience of the this dreadful day will be a day to always remember. The killer came out and continued to pluck his  body after he hacksawed him, he felt his self slowly dying. He was fading to black, when he would die he would go straight to hell. He will pay for all of the bad that he had done in this world. Death will not be an escape, but it will be his punishment. He will get scorched in the flaming pits for eternity.

Rather than putting him in the flaming pit for eternity, I had better plans in store for him. Sending him to the UnderWorld is even a better punishment. Hades will take good care of him.

I had this fantasy that I watched him burn, and I just stood there, unmoving. He would regret what he did to me. I wish for something terrible to him, he doesn’t deserve to treated as some important person. Karma is a you know what so hey its all on him. Of course I meant to say “bitch,” but I like to keep it PG. I think that’s why I’m so great around children. You know, fucking kids are the greatest. I’d love to have two or three. They’re deliciously innocent and the innocent minds, their unfiltered thoughts are something i enjoyed. i was ment to be a school teacher i love the innocene of a child but i knew this would be the end of my journey as a teacher in this town i will be exposed and burned alive.

As I got home that night, I warmed up some leftovers from the previous night, and then plopped down onto the couch and turned on the TV.

“ Watching another epsiode of Grey’s Anatmoy?” he asked.

“ Ehh, I don’t know if I’m in the mood for another epsiode tonight.” I said as I cut into my steak.

Musical Chairs

He buried his head in his hand and sobbed. Jack best friend has just died. It was the night before Christmas and my best friend got into an accident. The accident was caused by a deer crossing the road, making the vehicle go off the cliff killing her instantly following with an explosion. Jack and Jill were very close friends. Closer than ever.

Jack’s objective was to grab a bunch of banana smoothies and bring it to all the boys and girls at the local swimming pool. It was hot and Jack was ready to flirt with Gina the lifeguard.

“Aww man Gina is going to be so happy with me” jack said.  Jack walks to his car and begins to drive to towards the jewelry store to get Gina a diamond bracelet. She better appreciate it or someone won’t be happy at all. “Why a diamond bracelet?” she thought to herself as she entered the store. Really anything else that looks shiny would please someone. It doesn’t necessarily even have to be real. But she always hears people comment on it on the subway and so she knows she exists. Whenever they say, I love your earrings or your bracelet is beautiful, where did you get it? She knows she exists.

                Let’s give an example: One afternoon, she had just left the jewelry store after several hours with Wilbur, the shopkeeper, going over the most recent acquisitions. She left with a diamond watch with a tick so loud that she could hear it on 5^th Ave. despite the traffic, the pedestrians, the peanut vendors, the mimes and the musicians trying to make some money, you could still hear the ticking of the big clock up above. The bright city lights and the fast paced environment really made me want to stay here for the rest of my life.  I’m not sure how the folks would take it back home but I guess I’ll just have to tell them when the time is right. I thought and thought, how would I break the news, it was a thought not well planned but they had to know there was no way I could go on with life keeping this a secret. I had to tell someone but I didn’t know who. I went to the church to speak to the bishop and make a confession. That was the first step of revealing my secret with God’s guidance. I sat there for an hour contemplating, pondering, and wondering if what I had done was the right thing. I then began to obsess over my thoughts and decided this responsibility was too much of a burden to beer and I then decided to give up. It was just too much for me to handle. I wanted to let go and have someone else take care of my problems. I don’t want to deal with this pain any longer. Hanging myself is the best option for me at this point. I grabbed the gun and pointed it against my head. I pulled the trigger. 

In class assignment....

He buried his head in his hands and sobbed, his emotions finally got the best of him. He could no longer keep his inner feelings within, they finally came out, they came out without a warning. He was emotionally unbalanced. He never really knew her father so his death didn’t play a major part in his life, she never felt alone on fathers day, never cared to visit his grave . She went on with life with a family picture in his mind that was painted of himself, his mom and her older brother. Five years later and still in this memory, she wanted to make sure she would meet a guy who was nothing like him. She wanted to create her own family. She wanted a fresh start. Then suddenly, the man of her dreams arrived in front of her eyes. He was in Starbucks, w “Good evening Ma’am. She started to blush and was at a loss of words, so unexpected and then out of nowhere he stared to make out with her as both of their bodies collided. Lips connected, tongues intersected, and the air around the two turned steamy. The two continued to make out as though they were in heat. Things started to get even better. Our bodies touching one another made things hotter. I whipped out my dick and that’s when she said

“That’s it? That’s what I’ve waited six years to see?” she laughed. “I thought for a tall guy you’d be hung, but damn.”

“Get the fuck out! Get out!” I grabbed her clothes and pushed her out of the closet.

“Oh, c’mon, I’m just kidding! I’ve totally seen smaller!”

“Stupid bitch.”

“I am the greatest person you’ll ever meet, if you don’t do this now, you won’t ever do it.”

“Well then lets get to it, we aren’t getting any younger.”

“Okay. I’m not that stuck up to the point where I mean the greatest sex artist in the world isn’t interested in inserting is erect member into various orifices, but you know, I like to know a gal first, take her out, see what she’s about. And if she catches my attention I would be able to slip the tracking device in her bag without her knowing. I was on to Samantha I knew she had something to do with all those deaths. Ever since she came into town bodies having been dropping left and right I was determine to solve the puzzle.

“WTF”, how am I supposed to solve a puzzle without any clues.” I asked

“ Figure it out”. The voice said

And just like that  “IT” was gone.

There was no sign of it, its like I made the whole thing up, boy was I pissed.

I was confused, I wasn’t sure how this could be and as usual without proof who would believe me?

Hey, I guess this was something, I had to keep to myself , “ IT was something I experienced on my own and I was pleased. 

Exquisite Corpse

He buried his head in his hands and sobbed. The doctor had just realized what he had done. His wife the mother of his unborn child is dead, strangled to death and now the baby which could’ve been his son or daughter is trapped inside of his/her deceased mother’s body and it was all his fault!

The bastard had pushed her down the stairs and killed her!

Now it is the matter of truly knowing whether she is dead or not. I would have to go and check her pulse.

As her body laid there so still, so silent, I couldn’t help but get a little excited. I had never seen her in this way.

The way the silk ran across her flesh and reflected the moonlight was too much for me to handle, I gasped and sighed and approached her. Was she ready? Was I ready?  After a moment of silence, they both looked at each other and said, “Yeah I hope so, no turning back”. So they proceeded to shave. He hadn’t done anything of that sort in quite a while, so it felt extra pleasurable. He’s almost out of shaving cream so he makes a mental note to stop by the store. But for now, he’s interested in only one getting the condoms he needed because he wanted to be prepared for the party he was going to attend that night. It was the first orgy he’s been too and he was very nervous. I brought condoms just incase I was lucky enough to score. I was really hoping my ex would be their because its her best friends party after all.

As I approached the party, my hands began to feel clammy and my heart began to race a mile per minute.

“ What if he tries to talk to me”. I thought to myself. “ how did I look?,

What would I say? Was I ready to actually finally be one on one with him, I was so nervous I closed my eyes I had to think hard, and then……….. Pow! My mother slapped me right across the face” Ma!, why did you do that ”I told you to think hard Boi not take all day, what did I tell you to do”. At that moment in time I couldn’t remember. Now that she hit me I was even more angry. I was enraged! I could feel my blood pressure rising and the thoughts of smacking her across the room started to fill my head. I guess the anger management classes didn’t work that well after all. I thought to myself why anyone won’t take me seriously. I just want to be respected DAnggit! 

Mastiff

Mariella already had assort of fear for dogs because when she was young she was attacked by a German shepherd. Now she meets this guy and she decides to go in a hike with, they both seem to find flaws in each other but smile through them,  They both seemed to be in each others company to find love and push through what bothered them about each other although their relationship was new. It seem like they were both looking for that last chance at love. It weird how the woman wasn't too fond of hiking it shows because she didn't prepare herself for the trip with water and a jacket, and she felt this way about this Mastiff at the beginning of the story so I knew he would play a part later on in it. So when the dog attacked her it wasn't surprising. The man jumped in and saved and got hurt. When the dog's owner said he was going to get help he fled instead. After he saved her she started to feel differently about the man, her tone changed for what once bothered her about his breathing relieved her. She stayed by his side and said she would take him home. I think they will live a good life together after this experience, this experience gave them what they been looking for

The Judge's Will

The judge is dying. Binny and her son Yasi has a very close relationship. The son has a temper that has outburst to where he's even struck his mother but she never told.  It seems that Binny attached herself to her son to stray away from having relations with the judge. The judge had a secret life for twenty five years, he had a mistress. I think that the wife and Phul was both worried about the contents of his will. The wife didn't want Phul to have it and Phul didn't want to be left without nothing. The judge wanted to make sure Yasi would care for phul and the mother wasn't having it, so while she was sick the wife took care of phul and then I realized she was uneducated. Then the wife remembering the judge only taught her chess when they first started. As they play a game a chess I think they realize the judge and the wife had changed, because he apologized and she states that she has changed because she's strong not as she was in her youth.

Comments on "Mastiff"

"Mastiff" to me was a love story I guess. I felt that the woman hiker was scared of falling in love again or either that she was scared that no one loved her. I felt like it took the man hiker risking his life for her for the woman hiker to really "see" that the man hiker loved her.

The Judge's Will

Overall "The Judge Will" short story had me thinking how real it is. In today's society people tend to get into these situations. Of course it's un-healthy in a certain degree but sometimes you can't change the mindset of another. The Judge and the Wife both end up deceiving each other. The Judge lives in an old family estate in Delhi. To what point did they get marry in the first place.. The Judge was obviously a lot older then Bunny, but woman in today society do that for the money rather then the love. Society of course isn't the blame for distancing them apart; it's their fault for not trying. The Judge had a mistress for 25 years as well so I can't blame him entirely. Bunny is the one who got into this mess and had a child with him. It's sad that Yasi has to go through that. Growing up and hearing you're parents constantly arguing really messes you up in the inside. I can relate cause I had to go through that as a child. No child should ever go through this. Clearly since there was something wrong with the relationship, they should've attempted to work it out for the child. But at the same time then the parents won't live a happy life together. They will be constant lying between the two.

Love (?) Stories

Both stories this week are love stories of a sort. They're also the first straight third person fiction we've read this term. Did you notice? What does third person do that a first person story can't? What strengths does it have, what weaknesses? In what ways is it suited to speak about love affairs (and difficulties)? Are these third person limited omniscient stories? If so, who is the pov limited to?

"Mastiff":

Several of you have pointed out the visual nature of this story, especially the dog attack (261-262). How is the violence of this story different than the violence we discussed in "Kattekoppen" last week? Read the author bio at the back of the book. It seems that this is an autobiographical story. Joyce Carol Oates is a famous fiction writer and essayist. If this is based on a true story, why not tell it as an essay instead of fiction? Why tell a true story in fiction at all?

"The Judge's Will":

How is the tone of this story different or similar to "Mastiff"? How would the story be different if it were told in first person, from Binny's pov or the judge's or Yasi's or Thul's? Why is the story called "The Judge's Will"? Why is it significant that he is a judge? We never see him in the court room. He could just as easily be a businessman or a professor. Why a judge? What is the significance of Freud? (p. 184)

Mastiff

I was surprised that the mastiff actually had something to do with the story. I thought the animal was just going to be used to symbolize something.  But the attack was crazy.
All it took for this woman to actually like the guy was for him to fight off a huge dog and almost die from his wounds.

The judges will

Even I'm interested in what the judge put in his will. I'm also wondering what yasi is doing with phul and why the judge is so animated about yasi being with phul. And speaking of yasi, what's his deal? Thirty something still with his parents. I don't get it.

kattekoppen

this war story was very sad because you saw the strugle of war and what they go through. in this story the soldier are at war and they are missing their families back home but they have no choice but to stay and defend the chin and no chin who has been taken. the soliders have a hard exterior which they do not disclose emotion. they are willing to complete their mission at any cost possible. kattekopen is a candy that taste awful but in time of death they use it to mask the smell of death. in the begging they would not eat the candy but when they have no other option the soldier disregard the taste. this story was sad but u get the sense of what life is for a soldier defending others they will stop at nothing to get their prisoner back

Evie M.

When reading this story I initially thought that the protagonist was a male. I say this because in the beginning paragraph of the story, they say " Her crimson mouth was parted in the photo, and for an instant I couldn't help but picture myself ejaculating." However after a thorough class discussion I still believe that the main character is female. One quote from the story that has me believe that the main character is female is when she wrote the letter to her father. One part of the letter that really stood out to me was when she said " My action is against everything you believe, and I know." ( page 198). From this quote I gather that her father is upset because she joined the military. No father wants to see his precious daughter dressed in combat boots and a jumpsuit, they rather see their daughter do something more feminine.

Mastiff

 The author of this story has done a great job in creating clear visuals for the reader. I had a very clear image of the characters, the scenery as well as guessing how big that dog was. The woman in the story at first was a little hard for me to understand to be honest. But as the story goes on, she starts explaining who she really is, meaning how she's looking for love and explaining the traits of " the man". Their relationship seems a bit unclear because they do things that normal friends do, and plus they haven't been intimate with one another at all. The woman really shows her caring side when the man was attacked by the dog and then later on admitted to the hospital. At that point you could really tell that the man meant a lot to her and she didn't want to lose him. On page 263, she refers to herself as the man's fiancee, " Sharply, she said. I am his fiancee." In my eyes this story comes off as complicated love story, You have two people who geniuely care about one another but I think they are both a little scared to confess that they love one another.

The judge's will

I really enjoyed this story. It flowed really well and the outcome or the ending of the story was also likeable too. The one part I liked was when the wife found out about her husband's mistress. At first she didn't take it to well and then she used her son as a pawn or spy in order to find out what the women was like. I didn't really like the way the husband spoke to his wife though. He had a really rough tone towards her and he didn't really seem to care to much about her. I realized that in the beginning of the story the wife didn't seem to care about her husband or her mistress anymore she had more of an " I don't care attitude". However she seemed to have a change of heart when both the mistress and her husband became ill. She took on the role of a caretaker.

Mastiff

The author does an excellent job with physical descriptions whether they be a sunset, a mangled face, or an English Mastiff. Because of this, I was able to engage in the story more easily and feel for the characters. Good description goes a long way.

Mastiff

The story Mastiff wasn't very interesting to me honestly. I got out of the summary that the main characters were a man, woman and a dog in which he was a mastiff breed. It seems as the woman, never married and works at a art gallery or photography and her boyfriend is a scientist. they don't seem to be having such a happy relationship with one another. I'm not sure if he doesn't show her much affection or has time for her but they go on a hiking trip in which they are attack by the dog mastiff.

The judge's will

the judges will story was very interesting, I love a good story with a bit of drama. after reading this story I felt the judge and his wife weren't good to one another within their relationship. They lack the morals of marriage and the meaning to have and to hold. They allowed theirselves to become distant to one another. Bunny the wife married her husband the judge for all the wrong reasons he was older than her and was more established, I got the impression she married him in result for security of her life. She never nentioned loving him and a woman in love usually continuously expresses that when speaking of their husband or even kids. Her husband was very wrong for having a mistress for 25 years but could you blame him? Not saying that what he did was right but I feel like she forced his hand, it would have been better if they spoke about what was going wrong in their relationship instead of him finding a whole other woman because he is a married man. The judge had a mistress name Phil for 25 years any women that's been with a man for as long as binny has been with her husband would be furious by that news. Bunny gave her husband the cold shoulder since their son yasi was born, not completing her duties as a wife, not giving or showing affection like she really wanted to be with him. she use the son yasi many times to get out of sleeping with her husband many times, a wife shouldn't do that. If there was something wrong I think they both should have spoke up and at least tried to work it out. I didn't like how both binny and the judge put their son in the middle of their problems, that could have messed with his head a lot and honestly I think it did he didn't know whose side he should be on. I child should never witness their parents quarreling or not getting along co- parenting is the most important and the best interest in a child's well being. I DO put my hat to binny for still caring for phul when she got sick knowing that she is the mistress, me I could never do that.

Evie M

I enjoyed reading the story Evie M. I love a book that keeps you guessing, I think the author purposely didn't tell us if the narrator was a women or man but gave us hints that it could be both. I think the author wanted to see how the audience would be bias, when reading certain things the author did they just expect that to be a man saying or doing those things because you mostly see a man saying that for example the prt of ejaculating, it's very rare a women would come out and say that towards herself because in society a women is to carry herself a certain way and talk in a more proper manner and speaking like that wouldn't be considered "lady like" so the audience immediately would believe that is a man talking like that. I enjoyed the book very much, Evie seemed very disturbed though I feel like she was apologizing to her parents because they had a different future set up for her as her being their daughter and went she became a soldier instead maybe their relationship fell off.

My Commentary on The Judge's Will

I felt that "The Judge's Will" was a highly interesting story. At first, it was confusing but as I continued to read I collected beneficial information on each character. I enjoyed that the characters from the story were from a different race than most commonly used races. Throughout the story, I've learned that Binny is a strong individual. She endured much pain and heartache throughout her lifetime.

Shark

In response to Lisa's request, I am posting my story, "Shark," which I read at my book launch last Sunday. I hope you enjoy:

http://www.intellectualrefuge.com/vol3/shark

Re-Re-Post

Public Fiction Project

Hey all:

To meet this requirement, you can go to a fiction reading. Here are some listings:

http://www.villagevoice.com/events/search/category:[1133929]/
http://www.bookforum.com/events/

And check out the Center for Fiction in Midtown:

http://www.centerforfiction.org/

They have frequent readings and even a literary magazine that you can submit to.

If you'd rather submit your fiction to a publication, I'd suggest Newpages.com:

http://www.newpages.com/magazines/literary-magazines

or Poets &Writers:

http://www.pw.org/literary_magazines

Nowadays, many mags will allow you to submit your stories via the internet. We'll talk more about submitting your fiction, and I'd be happy to speak one-on-one w/ you about this too.

Evie M.

It's an interesting story. I think she was in the military and shes damaged from her time in the military because to me, it seems like she's not all there. Even her ex thinks she should get a cat...

Evie M

I basically understood that this person is a retired solider. Currently goes through a lot of stress. We can tell that the narrator is a girl. I understood this when she got the message of a fat cartoon woman in a black lingerie. The way she described the guy in the picture she said, "he dressed only in an undershirt and with a small limp COCK". The last part gave it away cause I can't picture a guy describing the private parts like that. She talks about a girl named Helen. I can see that the narrator and Helen have some sort of love affair going on. We can tell that there using detective fiction. Detective fiction is when the reader "me" and narrator uncover the case together. So i guess you can say that this girl is suffering from a lot of stress. So it's between the narrator and the veteran. 

Professor John Talbird

Philip Taaffe paintings

Held at Luhring Augustine

Norte Maar Book Launch

I had the pleasure of attending this event for two creative, wonderful writers. I enjoyed myself. John Talbird , Leslie Kirby , Dara Mandle, Brece Honeycutt

War Stories

Both of the stories we're reading this week are war stories. I suspect war stories are so popular because they always have an overriding conflict--the conflict of war--and b/c that allows authors to explore smaller, simpler, more common conflicts within that conflict. What war stories do you like--either fiction or film--any? How do these two stories work within the conventions of the traditional war story and how do they challenge them?

I've read two responses that refer to the narrator of "Evie M." as "he." This raises an interesting question: How do we know the gender of a first person narrator? How do we know the gender of this one? Of "Kattekoppen"? Can we assume that soldiers are always men?

What are these narrators like? How do we create images of them in our minds? As Tysean points out elsewhere, the narrator of "Evie M." (why is it titled that?) is very observant. Creepily so. And strangely exact--she says that her manager "enjoyed" making her nervous (195) and then immediately corrects herself to state that he "Enjoys." What do you make of the fact that the narrator of the other story refers to the two missing men as Chin and No Chin?

What do you make of the conclusions of these stories? Evie seems to be pretty close to suicide and yet afraid of what she'll miss on her shows. And in Mackin's story, the army is in the process of destroying one of their own military trucks. This seems to be some kind of competition between Levi and MJ, about who will keep the liaison position. But why this image for the end of the story?

What do you make of that scene on p. 208 where the Navy Seals come across that village where the lights suddenly come on?

Evie M.

The protagonist in the story worries an awful lot. On top of that, there is a sort of pessimistic attitude present. This mixture of personality traits create a character that makes their own obstacles, albeit unintentionally. All flaws aside, the protagonist is observant; such as when he explains the dry copier spool.

Kattekoppen

Kattekoppen was the name of the candy that was sent to Levi, from his mother, I believe it was Dutch candy along with other things but Levi didn't eat it he just held it aside.
The story talks bout a special unit in the army responsible for night tactics. It was interesting how he referenced Kattekoppen to an attack he witnessed years ago. Levi is the protagonist in this story although the story is being told by someone else. I think the author may have done that to tell the story of war and how it can change someone. I think Levi was more focused on tactics before going home then after being there for the delivery of his child and then returning becoming more concerned with life and not knowing whether or not he will die in war. While Levi was away two soldiers were ambushed and that to me became the climax. They both were found dead and the reference again to Kattekoppen came when the author ate it to mask the terrible smell of the body of one of there soldiers.

Evie M

This character seems to be confused . He doesn't seem able to be focused he keeps getting yelled at by his boss and others for not doing something correctly. The way I see it it was a retired soldier with issues and he tries to work an office job but couldn't handle it. He reference a lot of war dialogue into his now life like he couldn't separate his self from being a soildier. He obviously can't cook or microwave anything. 

This is not a love song

This story is a headache. I can tell the person who is taking the pic has a desire for the subject which is Kat. The way the story is split into sections feels as if he's not just looking at her but looking at the photographs that he took of her and expressing his admiration. She was a music icon after she got sick and passed. It would of been nice to make a book of her because he had gotten almost every image of her even to her death

Book Launch

Hi all:

Here are the details about the book launch this Sunday:

http://nortemaar.org/2015/03/two-new-publications-from-norte-maar/

best,

jt

From reading This is Not a Love Story, what I understand is the story talks about the narrator is looking through old photographs and listening to old interviews about Katherine.  In which Katherine had the narrator's main focus since their high school days.  As Katherine becomes a indie-rocker, the narrator becomes a photographer and follows the protagonist.

This ain't no love song

Basically in this section it talks about when they were in seventh grade. The narrator is going through pictures of Katherine's life. She comes upon a picture when they were in the seventh grade. The narrator talks about how Katherines brother liked Led Zepplin and how he wanted to make an own band. He tell's Kat to either learn to play bass or get lost. Later on talks about how Kat's brother Gerry becomes drunk. Basically goes on what happens through out the picture.

In this Section, it starts off describing the setting "Interior. Stairwell,. Evergreen Avenue loft." Someone is describing the girl they see. They are examining her down to every little detail such as her hair color, skin color, what she has on, her body posture and facial features. The narrator uses the word shutter which makes me believe there is possibly a camera around or either the narrator is a photographer. This narrator seems to know what challenges she is currently going through in her life. He admires her image and watches her body language. I like how this section was written because it is descriptive and helps me to better visualize what is going on and background information into who Kat is.

This is Not a Love Song

This short story is about a photographer reminiscing on her best friend's life. She is going through pictures that she took of her diseased friend. Each section of the story is another moment in Kat's life through the pictures. I can imagine the narrator going through the pictures, picking one up, remembering the story behind it, and then moving on to the next picture and story. The narrator uses each memory to show us what Kat was like. In the section: Interior. Fireside Bowl. Fullerton Avenue. The narrator describes the way her friend performed. How she found a safe place in the ceiling ....

A. The narrator is a photographer who is looking at her photographs she's taken of her best friend. She tells us her life story going through the pictures she's taken of her throughout her life. She seems to be obsessed with photographing her, showing her in good times and bad. She's very interested in how the pictures represent their friendships and the various looks she's given her over time. She's kind of saddened by not having any pictures to show how she looks at her friend and to see the connection through her eyes.

Her friend is a indie/punk rocker who hits fame and goes on tour performing at different venue's. She captures her very essence of style and personality and gives us a solid representation of her life's story. Her fame lead her to drugs and her music went somewhat downhill. They have a falling out but when she finds out her friend has cancer she sees her in the hospital and says her goodbye.

B. It works because even though the scenes jump around, before each scene it has a caption of the photograph or recording of the time.

This Is Not a Love Song

Interior. Fireside Bowl. Fullerton Avenue.

Katherine a.k.a. Kat is playing a song at a concert. She doesn't make eye contact with anyone in the crowd while she sings and jams with her guitar. She's just living up the moment and making a name for herself.

It works because of the way that the crowd is described, as if they were "assaulting" Kat with their eyes, attempting to make eye contact. The relentless stares are always ignored though. Kat uses this as her opportunity to capture the crowd's "mayfly attention" which would mean that their attention is short since mayflies die relatively quickly. That's the thing too; Kat loved the attention. She loved being the center of the spotlight and she didn't want anyone else to be there with her, which is why she never locked eyes with anyone in the audience; she didn't want to ruin the moment(s).

Hello, Is it me your looking for?

The protagonist is looking through old photographs of a musician that she used to follow around. She is reflecting on each photo and audio reel. The story chronicles her relationship to Kat's life, until the very end of it.

Expertly crafted, beautifully detailed, I didn't want this story to be fiction because of how well I can imagine each scenario. I really felt each scene was organic and vivid. The short story didn't follow a conventional story arc, which embodied the wretched life of a musician. This jagged jumping around made it feel human. We are constantly looking to different parts of our past for understanding, and maybe the protagonist is doing that to understand her life.

This Is Not a Love Song

(bottom of page 218)

This is one of the few sections when the narrator reveals some of her own history. Specifically, about a prior relationship with a guy named Milo. She then goes on to talk about his appearance and back story.

The reason behind this character's introduction is to tie him in with how Kat's band was signed, so everything in this section relates to who the story is ultimately about.

The Weekly Blog by your's truly ---> Saki

So the title of this short story is "Hover'". To Hover isn't necessarily the same thing as to fly. To hover means to remain in one place in the air. For example, how a helicopter hover's right above you then flies away. After the narrator of the story splits up with her husband, she doesn't exactly crash down. She hovers as in she try's to remain calm and be strong for her son Jack. She entered the stage of marriage thinking it would last but nothing really last's forever. I would say Jack took it the hardest. It affected him not only physically but mentally. One day while the mother and Jack were shopping, he asks her to buy her a bag of unbleached King Arthur Flour. He doesn't ask her to cook something with it but rather hold on to it like a big teddy bear. At school no one seems to give Jack attention and get's bullied by other kids. He begin's to tell everyone that he had a younger brother and died. I understand what Jack is going through. As you read you can see Jack is only seeking attention. The divorce truly affected him, and is not seeing clearly. I mean who would especially at that age. You can clearly see what the characters are portraying here; emotion. The ending of the story should've ended differently. You can tell that the mother has no one to talk to either.

Hover

To Hover means to fly, the only mention of the flying referenced to the mother telling the children she can fly doing mommy duties. Which one child said they seen her do while she Velcro her child's shoe, so that was confusing to me.
This story talks about a couple getting a divorce and how it may have affected the child, or maybe its the bullying he experiences in school. The child takes comfort in a bag of flour that has a knight on it, maybe he feels secure with it, or it may be a friend. The knight can be symbolized as a protector. Then her son jacks talks about death asking about death and tells his school that he had a little brother that died. It seems like this child is just looking for attention, because he's dealing with divorce at home and bullying in school.
I do commend the mother for walking into the playground and actually helping her son get into the barrel to play with the other kids. It does show she's protective of her son. But the ending of the story was off, it states the mother stayed in the barrel and she wanted to tell the teachers about the divorce, I read into it as her wanting to make an excuse for her child's behavior or just wanting to talk about it but there's was no one to talk to

Medium tough

medium tough was a good story but I just felt like too much was going on. In the beginning the way the story is told I the main character the doctor seems to operating on a patient at first I had no idea whom he was operating on and what was the point of the operation but as I got more in the story, Dr. Rails back is put on the stand in court to tell a story of a child he operated on that want successful, so I began to wonder if the person he was operating on in the beginning was the little boy. Dr. Rails back pretty much tells a few stories of different PPl he has come in contact with from his line of work. But the story of the little boy and his brain not being developed because his mother was on drugs with him when she was pregnant really hit a soft spot in my body, I just don't understand how a woman can do that when carrying another human being. But I love the way he let the little boy he's different but different is good, he shared with him positive words and I loved that part.

Long Tom Lookout

I read this story twice and the first time I wasn't grasping much of what was going on but the second time around I gradually understood and liked the story. I felt bad for Lauren in the beginning because I felt like Keller was perhaps cheating on her and she was so scorned because she excepted the fact he had an affair and fathered a child and now she had to find out he lied about being on a business trip and really was with another women. Then a little further in the story I wasn't sure as to whom side to be on because Keller tried to explain to Lauren that it wasn't what she thought and that was friends wife but why should she believe him and he already cheated on her? Lauren was wrong for taking kellers son though, I guess she did that because he had not paid much attention to the boy and I figured she decided to take care of him, but then I began to feel like Lauren used Jonah as bait, away to get Keller to come for her and then she pretty much lost him for good I feel because it seems as the baby boy dies at the end or was gone and they never found him or a body and it was all her fault.

Public Fiction Project

Public Fiction Project

Hey all:

To meet this requirement, you can go to a fiction reading. Here are some listings:

http://www.bookforum.com/events/

And check out the Center for Fiction in Midtown:

http://www.centerforfiction.org/

They have frequent readings and even a literary magazine that you can submit to.

If you'd rather submit your fiction to a publication, I'd suggest Newpages.com:

http://www.newpages.com/magazines/literary-magazines

or Poets &Writers:

http://www.pw.org/literary_magazines

Nowadays, many mags will allow you to submit your stories via the internet. We'll talk more about submitting your fiction, and I'd be happy to speak one-on-one w/ you about this too.

The Night of the Satellite

"The Night of the Satellite" was quite an interesting short story. Basically it's about a couple conflict. They are both English graduate students. At the start it shows the couple heading to there friends Chris and Annelise  farmhouse, where they encounter the couple having what they call it "a lover's quarrel."  Mallory get's in between them stopping them from arguing. Malory in my opinion has no right to get involve in another couples conflict. Couples should be able to fix whatever problem they have  between themselves. It is the girl's fault for getting herself into that mess. She states "he is a jerk". Most likely he is a bad boy and that is her choice. Now a days girls don't want a nice guy that WILL actually be there for them in any giving situation. There into players and that's how they get there hearts broken. Later on as they grow older they begin to look for nicer guy's. They live and they learn unfortunately.  

Conflict, Climax, and Resolution

These are three elements that nearly every story has. "Night of the Satellite," in many ways is a classically structured story w/ each of these elements positioned in fairly traditional ways. "After the Flood" is a bit less conventional, but I think we could probably pinpoint similar moments in this story too. If you don't know what these terms mean, no worries, we'll discuss them in more detail tomorrow night.

The story "after the flood" left me wondering how did her daughter and grand daughter die. Did charles kill them? Do old people really live like robert and his wife?

That girl Mallory is a bitch.  Sorry, I had to say it.

ABC story

All I ever wanted was you

Because life without you is hard

Can’t sleep at night

Don’t want to eat

Even when food is in front of me

Forget about going out

How can I go ?

In this world

Just because I lost a love, I

Keep telling myself I’m much stronger

Like never giving up on my self esteem

My mind is racing

Not allowing myself to be weak, I

Opted out of this because your no good of a

Person for me, I will get over the

Quarreling, a lost cause will only hold me back

Real life waits. I am

Strong I will not be broken

Take that!! Ha and I realized

U will not win I’m over you

Victory is mine

Worship and Respect me. Understand this
Xcerpt. I am a beautiful

Youthful woman, your no longer in control of me, my life now is

Zoetic