BUDA, TEXAS: I 35 south of Austin to exit 220 past the giant Cabella's to the train tracks. Wait for the freight train, wait in the signals bells -- Buda people are used to them and the whistle. Wait, though the blinking red separates you from a mattress. It is Buda tinted red at 2 am, Buda delirious after BookPeople, then a "tone" chat across the table between bottles of beer, between musicians on one side and and writers on the other, amid warm night city-breezes, then cherries with Kirk and Donna somewhere on a dark Austin hillside -- more about Read More
FISH OBITUARIES (RESURRECTED)
Sidewinder Tour Blog Post #11.6: CHISHOLM TRAIL #2
June 15, 2015
Dallas to Austin: THE CHISHOLM Perspective #2:
When you live a day on the Chishom Trail
You watch the gas gage.
Drive south where cows once walked -- Cowboys followed
with tunes and whips
to Fort Worth -- the Stockyards --
Then onward, like all of us.
The Chisholm (in a car) is not
Dusty / muddy.
Hills
as if Vermont had been pulled tight at the edges.
Vistas and dips Read More
When you live a day on the Chishom Trail
You watch the gas gage.
Drive south where cows once walked -- Cowboys followed
with tunes and whips
to Fort Worth -- the Stockyards --
Then onward, like all of us.
The Chisholm (in a car) is not
Dusty / muddy.
Hills
as if Vermont had been pulled tight at the edges.
Vistas and dips Read More
Sidewinder Tour Blog Post #11.5: TEXAS: CHISHOLM TRAIL #1
June 15, 2015
DALLAS to AUSTIN: CHISHOLM TRAIL: Perspective #1
198 miles, an easy day.
South again.
35W S was most direct
did not take it
121 to the airport to Grand Prairie
Fort Worth just over there
Hidden Creek Parkway
To Cleburne to Hamilton to Hico
The largest styrofoam cup was $1.19.
The storm cloud loomed for 50 miles.
A sheet of gray to the ground.
A Read More
198 miles, an easy day.
South again.
35W S was most direct
did not take it
121 to the airport to Grand Prairie
Fort Worth just over there
Hidden Creek Parkway
To Cleburne to Hamilton to Hico
The largest styrofoam cup was $1.19.
The storm cloud loomed for 50 miles.
A sheet of gray to the ground.
A Read More
Sidewinder Tour Blog Post #11.4: TEXAS MODERN
June 14, 2015
The Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art:
It was ( I think)
A very long branch
Split up the middle then
Pegged together
Made me think of Jim White's
Long ladder -
The one he built
to explore the caves
though this ladder went
the other way
up and up
as if to bust
on through
Read More
It was ( I think)
A very long branch
Split up the middle then
Pegged together
Made me think of Jim White's
Long ladder -
The one he built
to explore the caves
though this ladder went
the other way
up and up
as if to bust
on through
Read More
Sidewinder Tour Blog Post #11: TEXAS / PART I
June 13, 2015
DALLAS:
It was 96 degrees at 6 pm when I left the farm just south of Manhattan, Kansas. I had just workshopped a new story so my brain was on fire not just my skin.
The cicadas.
The turtle in the grass.
Deep Creek Road to I 70 to Rt 77 to I 35 through Oklahoma City and onward Read More
It was 96 degrees at 6 pm when I left the farm just south of Manhattan, Kansas. I had just workshopped a new story so my brain was on fire not just my skin.
The cicadas.
The turtle in the grass.
Deep Creek Road to I 70 to Rt 77 to I 35 through Oklahoma City and onward Read More
Sidewinder Tour Blog Post #11.1: TEXAS: THE GRASSY KNOLL
June 13, 2015
DALLAS:
On the 6th Floor of the Book Depository, no cell phones are allowed to ring.
The boxes are stacked in front of the Perch. BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS.
Was Lee Harvey Oswald a Patsy?
They have Jack Ruby's hat, Jackie in color and in black and white.
There are gargoyles Read More
On the 6th Floor of the Book Depository, no cell phones are allowed to ring.
The boxes are stacked in front of the Perch. BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS.
Was Lee Harvey Oswald a Patsy?
They have Jack Ruby's hat, Jackie in color and in black and white.
There are gargoyles Read More
Sidewinder Tour Blog Post #11.2: MHC DALLAS
June 13, 2015
DALLAS:
Met with the DALLAS Mount Holyoke Club Book Group. Thanks Karin Wilber '68, Jane Mayo '71, Dori (?) '74 and Janet (?) '71 for reading the book and sharing questions, your home and a lovely night.
Wine.
Shrimp.
Apple pie.
THANK YOU!
So far it's been MHC Hartford and a very wonderful meeting with Tiffany Chatham Smith '87 of La Jolla in San Juan Capistrano Austin is next tomorrow night.
Reading at MHC roommate Melissa McAllen Guerra '87 at THE TWIG BOOK SHOP, San Antonio, TX @ 7 pm.
Mel says were are going to have a skype reunion at the reading...
Read More
Met with the DALLAS Mount Holyoke Club Book Group. Thanks Karin Wilber '68, Jane Mayo '71, Dori (?) '74 and Janet (?) '71 for reading the book and sharing questions, your home and a lovely night.
Wine.
Shrimp.
Apple pie.
THANK YOU!
So far it's been MHC Hartford and a very wonderful meeting with Tiffany Chatham Smith '87 of La Jolla in San Juan Capistrano Austin is next tomorrow night.
Reading at MHC roommate Melissa McAllen Guerra '87 at THE TWIG BOOK SHOP, San Antonio, TX @ 7 pm.
Mel says were are going to have a skype reunion at the reading...
Read More
Sidewinder Tour Blog Post #11.3: WILD DETECTIVES
June 13, 2015
Dallas: museums / presidents / Love Field
Tex-Mex /
tour guides with conspiracy theories/
margaritas / SMU
cheese and olives /
apple pie /
warm at 10 pm / breeze / Read More
Tex-Mex /
tour guides with conspiracy theories/
margaritas / SMU
cheese and olives /
apple pie /
warm at 10 pm / breeze / Read More
Sidewinder Tour Blog Post #10.5: TRIP MAP #1
June 7, 2015
Mid-West, USA: Thunderclouds left and right /Lightning / Dry roads / No curves /Mark Twain in Hannibal / The Illinois, then Mississippi, then Missouri River in Kansas City / Illinois 150, to I 55, to I 72 to Missouri #36, to I 35, to I 70, exit right at Deep Creek Road (gravel) /Cicadas and dogs, a few lights /Cherries in the fridge /America the Beautiful.
RIP, you deer, you coyote, fox, opossum. RIP Read More
RIP, you deer, you coyote, fox, opossum. RIP Read More
Sidewinder Tour Blog Post #10: IOWA CITY / BOOK OASIS
June 5, 2015
IOWA CITY: Prairie Lights Books.
The Center of the Creative Writing Universe
Kurt Vonnegut Country.
Corn Art in Every Window.
Steak in Every Kitchen.
Vegans Go Home.
IOWA CITY: We Ate.
We Played in Fountains.
Nearly Ran Out of Gas.
Driving Home.
Did not.
Next stop: DALLAS / The Wild Detectives / June 11.
The Center of the Creative Writing Universe
Kurt Vonnegut Country.
Corn Art in Every Window.
Steak in Every Kitchen.
Vegans Go Home.
IOWA CITY: We Ate.
We Played in Fountains.
Nearly Ran Out of Gas.
Driving Home.
Did not.
Next stop: DALLAS / The Wild Detectives / June 11.