I first read Ram V and Filipe Andrade’s The Many Deaths of Laila Starr back in 2022, and immediately fell in love it with it. I recently picked up it back up and reread it. During this read through, I kept thinking about the ways that death impacts all of us and the ways that memory sustains us, topics I have been looking at fairly often over … Read More “Life’s an exercise in making memories”: Our Sustained Existence
Over the past few weeks, I’ve started to read more works by French writers, including Leïla Slimani’s Adèle and Elisa Shua Dusapin’s Winter in Sokcho. To expand my reading, I asked individuals for other recommendations of female French writers, and one person suggested that I read Annie Ernaux. At the person’s suggestion, I went to the stacks in my library and pulled down a … Read More “All the images will disappear”: Memory and Existence in Annie Ernaux’s “The Years”
Earlier this semester, Jadyn DeWald asked me to participate in a reading on campus. He asked me to do this a couple of years ago, and for that I event I wrote my short story “Paper.” Following that reading, I also wrote a post on the process behind composing the short story. For this semester’s reading, I debated what to read. I kept oscillating … Read More “This Story is Continuing to Develop”
Thirty years ago, I discovered Sunny Day Real Estate while watching MTV’s 120 Minutes late one Saturday night. I saw the video for “Seven” and immediately fell in love with the Seattle band, rushing out as soon as I could to pick up their debut album Diary on black cassette, the norm for Sub Pop at the time. Over the years, I’ve been able … Read More The “Psychic Colors” That Make Our Memories
A few months ago, I received an email from a colleague and mentor. In the email, he did as he always does, asked how I was doing and putting me first. He was reaching out to see if I had a copy or information about an image that he planned to use or reference in an upcoming book. I saw the email but didn’t … Read More Ciao Giovanni
Interminable Rambling 