Tags
birthday, book of dead things, epic poetry, mom, pottery, skulls, strangeness in the proportion, swing state, writing
My brother was playing World of Warcraft on his computer, running through some new level/location. I noticed the game music as I walked by.
Joshua: Wow…that’s pretty relaxing mood music for a computer game.
Nick: Yeah…
Joshua: It sounds…sounds like you’re inside Enya’s womb…
Nick: Yeah…
30 in the Mirror May be Closer Than It Appears
So I’m 29 today (yesterday…it’s late). I don’t feel panicky that this is the last year of my 20’s…I just feel vaguely obligated to be so. I sometimes fear stagnation, of extinguishing. But age, in and of itself…well…my freshman year of college, in my acting class, we had a make-up section and the final project was to make ourselves geriatric and I discovered one thing about myself that day…I’m going to be one sexy-ass old man.
Thanks for all the well wishes, everyone.
For my birthday, my Mom wove her pottery-wheel magic and whipped me up a batch of coffee mugs, drinking cups and house plant pots decorated in smiley-muerte skulls. It’s the macabre and motherly love all swirled together in the primordial embrace of earthen ware. It makes me smile like the skulls.
Novel Deadlines, Horror Anthologies, and Epic Teachings
The deadline for my completed draft of the White Wolf novel is now June 1st. It’s getting close. I still have most of it to write. I’ll likely have to disappear, for the most part, until June.
Several Mondays ago, I met with a few Chicago writers and talked through the seeds of what will be a horror anthology…but with an interesting method and progression of story to story, author to author (I don’t know what details I can say just yet). I’m pretty excited about it. We’re creating a shared mythology and setting. I’ve already read the rough draft of the first story and things are progressing from there. Sometimes after June 1st, I’ll get started on my story.
On Friday, I visited my friend, Genenda, who teaches high school English, and talked to three of her classes about poetry, some of its history, mythology, how storytelling changes when working with a known mythos, and how epics tie into todays media. The kids were pretty good, many of them interested, a few asking good questions about writing, and even one asked me about writing epic poetry. To top it all off, I got to read a story and a poem and perform some improv acting at an open mic at the local coffee shop…all lubricated with three, pre-birthday double-whiskey’s and cokes. And Sabra sang the coolest version of a Brittany Spears song that I’ve ever heard.
Book of Dead Thing Event
Another Book of Dead Things event is coming up, this Friday, May 2nd.
8:00 pm at Swing State (a hookah lounge/cafe/gallery)
19041 W. Grand Ave.
Lake Villa, IL
Some of the Twilight Tales crew (including myself) will be on hand to do some live readings from Book of Dead Things.
Joshua Alan Doetsch 
I’m sorry I missed your birthday, so happy belated birthday. Glad to know that things went well.
Thank you 🙂
grabstein_69 said:
I’m sorry I missed your birthday, so happy belated birthday. Glad to know that things went well.
All that cultural hype about 30 is bullshit. Unless you are Alexander the Great, in which case–weep, Josh. Sit you down and weep, for there are no more world to conquer.
Also, I hear ya about disappearing. My last 3 chapters are almost, almost, almost ready to send on to the rest of my committee. Key word “almost.” On June 1 I have a date w Paul McCartney (no, really!), but sometimes after that first week we need to catch up.
I’m not too worried about 30. There are always more worlds to invent.
Yes, after June 1st I will resurface and we can catch up.
mrs_borglum said:
All that cultural hype about 30 is bullshit. Unless you are Alexander the Great, in which case–weep, Josh. Sit you down and weep, for there are no more world to conquer.
Also, I hear ya about disappearing. My last 3 chapters are almost, almost, almost ready to send on to the rest of my committee. Key word “almost.” On June 1 I have a date w Paul McCartney (no, really!), but sometimes after that first week we need to catch up.
Happy late birthday – hope it was great, and know that being 29 only makes you that much cooler and wiser than the rest of us. We’d all be so lucky to turn 29 this year!
You can go into hiding til June as long as we get to see you sometime after that – we miss you!
June 1st will release me as a man ready to visit and to party!
budhisattre said:
Happy late birthday – hope it was great, and know that being 29 only makes you that much cooler and wiser than the rest of us. We’d all be so lucky to turn 29 this year!
You can go into hiding til June as long as we get to see you sometime after that – we miss you!
nevermore_66 said:
Thank you 🙂
nevermore_66 said:
I’m not too worried about 30. There are always more worlds to invent.
Yes, after June 1st I will resurface and we can catch up.
nevermore_66 said:
June 1st will release me as a man ready to visit and to party!
FYI- The girl who asked about writing epic poems and wanted to go the library to check out Dante’s Inferno just returned the copy I loaned to her. She LOVED it and wants to read some more epic poems. Thanks for initiating an interest in epic poetry in my students.
That makes me VERY glad. Tell her I liked her poetry and think she should keep writing.
genenda said:
FYI- The girl who asked about writing epic poems and wanted to go the library to check out Dante’s Inferno just returned the copy I loaned to her. She LOVED it and wants to read some more epic poems. Thanks for initiating an interest in epic poetry in my students.
nevermore_66 said:
That makes me VERY glad. Tell her I liked her poetry and think she should keep writing.