Wednesday 16 November 2011

keeping up ...


So the first term of my school year is drawing to a close. Where do the weeks go? I am behind on all my assignments -- in class and out -- and I have played hooky a couple times and I owe money to the registrar and the coffee lady and there are three or four things I haven't signed up for. Geez -- you'd think I was I an undergrad again. I have learned NOTHING about time management in all my years of writing and raising kids. I am the oldest nineteen year old in the western world.

Today was a workshop day. I was supposed to present a piece of prose I found life-changing but forgot it was my turn. (Man I am no good at this.) So we spent more time analysing each other's work. It's a fun group -- scary talented and super good-natured. I try hard to keep up with them. Next week we all have to write like Nicholson Baker which is kind of cool. (That's him in the pic. A month ago we had to write like Henry James and that was much less cool.) And, if I remember, I will present a piece of prose. Wonder who I'll pick? Other presented authors have included Paul Bowles and Donald Barthelme and Sheila Heti and important guys like that. Can I do Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad All Year? I am tempted.

Maybe I'll add my work to this blog. You guys can join the rest of the class in laughing at me. Kids today have no respect for their untalented elders.

6 comments:

Gy said...

definitely do Frog and Toad. The assignment was for "life changing" wasn't it? Well, if it qualifies, then use it!

Gydle said...

Definitely use Frog and Toad. The assignment was for "life-changing prose" and it seems to me it qualifies. Go for it!

Richard Scrimger said...

I will bear it in mind ...

Misao Dean said...

Hey have you read any David Foster Wallace? I am in the middle of his novel Infinite Jest right now and it's driving me crazy. What a smart alec. Tho if you don't like James you will probably hate his sentences. Quite the opposite of "Frog and Toad."

Richard Scrimger said...

Many writers I admire like hell without actually liking to read very much. Wallace is one. Key question: how long is it taking me to get through the book? For instance, so far I have read three other novels while working through Underworld.

Anonymous said...

Good choice, Frog and Toad! I would go with your gut.

Sand