telepathic paranoia

I know it might be hard to believe from this blog, but I did do more than eat in Japan.  It was a little rough getting to any of the major sites scattered throughout the city, as I was located on a far, far outskirt (practically a suburb) — so any trip downtown was a [...]

(Note: the previous entry has been updated to include a disclaimer about the snopes page I linked.  After reading it more closely, I decided it needed to be addressed directly.) When M. told people he was moving to Kyoto, a lot of Americans expressed dismay.  “Japan must be so unpleasant,” they worried.  “You know, it’s [...]

Oh my is it December already?  I never posted by November shack pictures.  And really, how will you survive without your monthly update on the state of the abandoned shack near my campus? What has become of all that beautiful golden wheat? It got plowed under, is what. It’s a sort of grim makeover for [...]

Oh look! I went to Seattle! (And went no where near the Space Needle — this was taken from the freeway.) I did, however, make it to Pike Place Market, in desperate pursuit of fresh fish. Coming from the Ocean State, the fish available on menus in Idaho makes me distinctly nervous. This halibut sandwich [...]

The weekend before Hell Week, I prepared by staying home and doing as much of my homework ahead of time as possible.  Oh wait, no –  actually, I headed up into the Idaho Panhandle to hunt for mushrooms with the Palouse Mycological Association.  Braving the damp and chill, we set out for Priest Lake (Idaho’s [...]

Oh, my poor, neglected blog.  Would you believe that they actually give us a fair amount of work here? This past week should go down in history…  Before it even began, I had dubbed it “Hell Week” thanks to a week-long workshop with Distinguished Visiting Writer Steve Almond, held every evening for two and a [...]

Turned in my new story.  And actually, I’m heading out to turn the same story in again, this time as a writing sample to get into a class taught by Steve Almond.  I’m pretty excited about it (the class, not the story.  I have mixed feelings about the story.). So now maybe I have a [...]

Further updates from the University of Idaho Hemingway Festival… Last night I went to hear Michael Dahlie, assorted U of I faculty, and a Hemingway scholar discuss their favorite Hemingway stories. It was a lively discussion, but one point they kept returning to was the whole “iceberg theory” of fiction… Hemingway’s idea that you can [...]

Headed out this weekend to Elk Creek Falls because I do love a good waterfall… Only to find the falls closed! Apparently they are putting in new toilets and picnic tables or something, so no visiting the falls this weekend. Rather than turn around and go home, we did check out some slightly less dramatic [...]

Friday dawned bright and clear, so we headed over to Moscow for breakfast; on the way back, I stopped to snap my favorite scene again. I’m happier with the light in these, but I think I have to branch out into some new angles. Of course, that’s going to mean navigating the wheat.