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Search Results for: byronfest
‘Weird things are already happening’: Byronfest 2016
This is the latest post on my town’s annual festival. See posts for Byronfest 2014 and Byronfest 2015. Before Byronfest 2016 had even begun, my friend Nina said a Greek food booth’s proprietor had brought a tin can of olive … Continue reading
‘I guess we’re ready to rock ‘n’ roll’: Byronfest 2015
Exactly seven minutes into this year’s Byronfest on July 10 (see details from last year’s here), I saw and heard a ponytailed dude shouting a lot of F-words at another dude near the Carnival stage where the ’80s cover band Sunset … Continue reading
Byronfest 2014: A small town parties down
“What is Byronfest known for?” asked the lead singer of the band The Stevee Nix during the band’s opening-night set. “Brilliant stage banter,” I snarked to a fellow volunteer standing next to me. “I wanna taste every booth here tonight,” continued … Continue reading
Posted in Comic silliness, Nonfiction, Ogle County Poet Laureate, Photos, Transcribed from life
Tagged beer, Byron, Byron IL, Byron Illinois, Byronfest, Byronfest 2014, carnival, festival, small town, volunteer
Awaiting wisdom to come to me as I write
Even if I keep the Ashbery book this weekend, I’m not sure I have time, inclination, or mental energy to read it. On other hand, I did feel last night that maybe there was something the book could teach me. … Continue reading
Saying things can influence other people
It’s B.S. to declare things, like, for example, those people who declare they’re not gonna eat meat any more, or they’re gonna bike to work every day. But the attraction to doing this — I’ve felt it — is in … Continue reading
Posted in From the journals, Philosophy, Writing
Tagged declaring, Living Biblically, Paper Lion, there-ness, thereness
Collected Notes and Quotes from 2015
A listing in chronological order: At Busy Grocery Store: ‘YOU are gonna hafta be a good listener’ ‘We Need More Bus’: My Students Explain Things ‘Dose ahr not liess’: The week in quotes ‘An Undigested Bit of Beef’: Pocket pages week in review ‘What … Continue reading
Posted in From the pocket pages, Nonfiction, Transcribed from life, Uncategorized
Tagged high school, pocket pages, quotes, students
Small town living’s fine, except for the white people
I don’t mean to sound racist, but I’ve got a problem with white people. Lately I’ve realized that, living in my rural area, the people who drive too slow in front of me, the construction workers who (as I write … Continue reading
Posted in Links, Nonfiction, Ogle County Poet Laureate
Tagged black people, poverty, racism, racists, rural poverty, white people, white poverty
Distilling experience into text: The writer as interpreter of reality
“The cat’s just upside down, enjoyin’ the world.” My wife said aloud this description of our pet cat yesterday morning, and I wrote it down. I don’t think she meant for me to write it down, but I also don’t … Continue reading
Posted in Nonfiction, Transcribed from life, Writing
Most-Genius Posts
Here are some of my favorite and/or most-brilliant posts “Literary Capital of Alabama”: Monroeville as Harper Lee’s Maycomb: Part 1, Part 2 (June 2016) Byronfest posts: 2014, 2015, 2016 Big Things Photographed from Inches Away (Sept. 2015, July 2016) Quotes … Continue reading
‘I lost valiantly’: Overheard quotes of the week
I listen. Sometimes I hear things I feel are worth writing down. Here are some recent things. Some of these overheard things are funny in context; some may be more amusing when read out of context. 1. Last weekend was … Continue reading
Posted in Nonfiction, Teaching, Transcribed from life
Tagged base-ten, binary, boobs, bookstore, bros, Byronfest, cops, drunkenness, dudes, Hera, McDonald's, officers, overheard, pants, police, quantity of boobs, quote of the week, quotes, Red Pants, rock-paper-scissors, teaching, theoretically, UW-Madison, vindictive bitch
