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Amazing Quote From a Favorite Work of Fiction
Published on 2013-03-21 09:57:00
So I was rereading a quirky, one-of-a-kind book by the gifted
My Top News Story for 2011
Published on 2012-01-01 06:23:00
Strictly speaking, it's clear to me that I'm not qualified to name the top news story. What do I know about most of last year? From January 1, 2010 to September 11, 2011, I was still unplugged from the news. I was doing my best to imitate a guy named Van Winkle. "Asleep," I was fully committed to my 365-day, 24/7 news-snooze... Still, all things must end, and over the past few months I've caught up on some of what I missed. It seems pretty obvious what belongs on all the experts' Top Ten N [..]
End of a Year: Dreaming in 3-D
Published on 2011-12-27 11:36:00
Marty invites you to put on the 3-D glasses for his latest film. A couple of weeks ago I did something that was forbidden to me one year ago when I was still Van Winkled. I went to the Century 21 Cinema and took in a newly released film. My son and I bought tickets and a box of buttered popcorn. We settled back in our chairs and put on 3-D glasses for Hugo. What's in the Box? There's a scene in this latest Martin Scorcese's movie (based on the Brian Selznick hybrid novel/graphic [..]
Baby Baby: Thoughts on a Crowded Planet
Published on 2011-10-20 07:04:00
Is it coming to this? Packed in tight, togetherness... As I very slowly get caught up on some of the news I missed during The Van Winkle Project I still haven't looked at the newspaper I saved that heralds arguably the biggest news story of 2011: the death of Osama Bin Laden. That's where I thought I'd be today. My nose and eyes and mind tipped toward Pakistan. But history surges ahead. Rather than moving backwards in time, I'm reading about the inglorious, cell phoned to the world death of [..]
The A,B,C's of the News - C is for (Sorry) Charlie Sheen
Published on 2011-10-14 09:18:00
Today I conclude my brief foray into learning about what is probably some of the least consequential news of last year. Casey Anthony? Innocent? You're kidding! Brett Favre? I'm sorry to even know about what that man did. And now we come to the last of the news not worth knowing. Charlie Sheen. My only excuse for this exercise of diving to the bottom of the fetid American cultural ocean and indulging in several hundred words of bottom feeding is that it's a matter of avoidance behavior. As [..]
The A,B,C's of the News - "B" is for Brett
Published on 2011-10-11 06:18:00
All I wanted to do was learn more about Super Bowl XLV which was played back on Feb. 6 in the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Even though I was supposedly Van Winkled and "asleep" at the time, I already knew very well that the Green Bay Packers had won. There had been no way keep that news from assaulting me. There's something about sports that makes Americans less than reticent. On Super Bowl day we wear our team favorites on our sleeves even more than we do politics, religion, or [..]
The A,B,C's of the News: A is for Anthony (Casey)
Published on 2011-10-07 11:19:00
It's been almost a month since I woke up and allowed myself the freedom to once again know what's happening in the world. The earth turns and I confess I find myself yawning. I'm not really following any of the going-on's as closely as I used to. I'll save the why and wherefore for another day. Then there's how I'm relating to the recent past. Surprisingly, at least to me, I've felt very little in the way of a burning desire to find out more about what I missed from Sept. 11, 2010 to Sept [..]
A Grave Time - Report From Austin No. 3
Published on 2011-10-04 06:17:00
Last weekend when I went to a conference in Texas's weirdest city ("weird" in a good way) I realized something. We were sleeping beside the dead. Located on the east side of I-35, across from downtown, the Oakwood Cemetery is the oldest city-owned cemetery in Austin. Some of graves date back to just before the Civil War. One story is that the cemetery was started out of grim necessity when victims of a Comanche raid were buried on what came to be called Swede Hill. I woke early after our fi [..]
Sandra Bullock Licks Her Lips - Report From Austin No. 2
Published on 2011-09-29 05:11:00
As I was saying last time...I was at a statewide meeting of creative writing teachers in Austin, Texas over the weekend. On Saturday morning I sat on a panel that discussed using research in creative writing. I shared how I was drawn to research because over the course of more than 140 posts on this blog I faced the prospect of having very little to write about of significance. In a sense this has always been a blog, as they used to say on Seinfeld, " with the potential to be about nothing." [..]
A Novel Idea - Report From Austin No. 1
Published on 2011-09-27 06:50:00
I was in Austin, Texas over the weekend. The occasion was an annual gathering of creative writing teachers who come from around the state to swap ideas and share their work. I had the honor of reading a chapter from my new novel Evangel which is currently a lost puppy in search of the loving leash of a publisher. Evangel is not a satirical novel, although at times I must say I find what the Christian faithful say and do in real life to be humorous. I often have the same response whe [..]
A New Literary Analysis of Rip Van Winkle
Published on 2011-09-23 09:00:00
Now that Phase I of the Van Winkle Project has ended--avoiding the news--I'm in the midst of Phase II. In this effort I'm somewhat like my literary inspiration, Rip Van Winkle. Since 12 months was long enough for me to forget all the details of Washington Irving's account, I combed the house until I found my nice little copy of Three Tales with its handsome, vintage illustrations. I wanted to read the ending again and make sure I had it right in my memory. I especially wanted to revisit ho [..]
This Post is Not About What It's About
Published on 2011-07-05 09:48:00
It started with a piece of paper I noticed in the front flowerbed. I'm used to dealing with such things. Plastic grocery bags snagged on shrubs, door hangers wedged between perennials, sheets of newspaper crumpled at the foot of a tree. The wind
Road Report: I Slept With Frank Lloyd Wright
Published on 2011-07-01 09:05:00
We were on our way home and we needed one night's lodging. I had to pick a town and a place to stay. Hmm, what might prove interesting? There had been 26 people at our family reunion back in Branson, Missouri, but it was my brother who
Road Report: Tale of the Tree House
Published on 2011-06-28 08:16:00
He's coming to tow your wallet away... I can't help it if I know that Cars 2 is about to be released. . . Of all the Pixar films, Cars is arguably the most merchandised and heavily promoted. I don't think even the Toy Story
Road Report: Diamond Daze
Published on 2011-06-24 06:43:00
I now realize there's a good reason why diamonds are so expensive. It's not just because the little jewels shine so brightly. It's not just because a diamond is so hard that nothing can cut it except another diamond. It's also because di
Road Report: Where There's Hope
Published on 2011-06-21 07:56:00
We weren't on what the locals call a "Bill-grimage." A Bill-grimage? It's a portmanteau word that has come into play to describe tourists who are ardent fans of William Jefferson Clinton and his two-term presidency from 1992-2000. As has been noted
Road Report: Texarkana, the City that Lays It On the LIne
Published on 2011-06-19 08:05:00
Foreground: Texas. Background: Arkansas I'd never been to Texarkana. Wait. Which Texarkana am I talking about? Because there are two. There's Texarkana, Texas. There's Texarkana, Arkanasas. Both are cities with populations between 30,000 and 40,00
Hotel Hazards
Published on 2011-06-16 08:32:00
Here we are on the road and I woke up this morning and had a realization. I can't completely relax during this vacation. Not until we get to our Sunday night destination and stop staying in overnight lodgings. You see, hotels and motels are a
Van Winkle Plans a Vacation
Published on 2011-06-14 07:16:00
It's that time of the year. Many Americans are hitting the open road for their family vacations. Here at The Van Winkle Project, we're about to do the same. Planning phase. America is such a large country with so many roads and sights to see that
Books For Sale
Published on 2011-06-10 18:01:00
Today is the day above all days in the year that I look forward to. . . No, it's not Christmas. It's not my birthday. And, it's not "Judgment Day." Did Van Winkle "sleep" through this? Yes, we were one of the lucky thousands of cities to be gr
Nine Men on a Roof
Published on 2011-06-07 07:05:00
It began with the seriously grim clouds that moved in like an invading army on Easter afternoon. Soon hail was bouncing off roofs and lawns and piling up in the street. The hail started out dime size. Then it grew. By the end, some of what was falli
Under 100 Days to Go!
Published on 2011-06-03 07:03:00
I've been waiting for this. Yes, that was me, day by day keeping an eye on the counter over on the right-hand side of this page with the intensity of a gambler staring at a spinning roulette wheel or a slot machine. The counter has paid off.
This Weather: Feel the Heat
Published on 2011-05-31 07:27:00
Open the door. Peer out from the front porch and...ugh! You can feel it. There's only one way to phrase this properly. It was hotter than you know what out there. Heading into the Memorial Day weekend, I knew about the heat without bother
Men's Neckties: The Trial
Published on 2011-05-27 06:41:00
Father's Day is less than a month away. Of course, a traditional gesture for that occasion is to gift Dad with...a tie. Here at The Van Winkle Project we are sharing the following in the hopes that it might be received in time to prove helpful to o
Whatever Happened to the Great Society?
Published on 2011-05-24 06:12:00
One thing I know, even in my Van Winkled state, is that we have reached the time of year when caps and gowns are worn and students walk across the stage to receive their college diplomas. This means that throughout America esteemed men and
Experiencing the Big "O" (opera that is...)
Published on 2011-05-20 06:15:00
Herr Wagner As I noted in my last post, our son wanted to go to the movie theater recently where a live performance of the Metropolitan Opera was being broadcast in High Definition. The opera was the second in Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle which
Climbing Mt. Met (an Opera Challenge)
Published on 2011-05-17 06:33:00
Believe it or not, challenges don't come much larger than this. We're talking Richard Wagner and Brunnhilde the warrior daughter... a potentially life threatening combination. Challenges. I like them... That's one reason why I try to wri
My Official Request to be a Blog of Note
Published on 2011-05-13 11:59:00
AN OPEN LETTER TO GOOGLE From: VWP Re: Your Recent Outage Dear Google: You are one of the most successful entities in the world and the owner of Blogger. I am writing to you because even though my current project places me in a status
Van Winkle Cleans His Office
Published on 2011-05-10 10:43:00
An untidy desk is only the tip of the iceberg... At the university where I'm employed the Monday before the start of final exams is always designated "Dead Day." Even though we call it Dead Day, it is not supposed to be an occasion of mou
The Drip, Drip, Drip of the News - Something Happened Pt. 2
Published on 2011-05-06 08:10:00
Every day it's the same thing in the semi-darkness just before dawn. Touch, but don't look. I must save another newspaper for the day I "awake." Each morning, as I go outside to retrieve the newspaper, I approach the rolled tube lying on the si
It Fell Out of the Sky
Published on 2011-05-04 07:30:00
This is a very short story about a personal mystery. Perhaps science or the fertile imagination of one our readers can propose a credible explanation... On Sunday afternoon (ON THE DAY THAT SOMETHING IMPORTANT HAPPENED IN THE NEWS &a
Something Happened, Didn't It?
Published on 2011-05-02 07:07:00
I sense there's been major breaking news. Can I avoid finding out what it is? I'm writing this on Monday, May 2 at 6:19 a.m. CST and I have a recurring question echoing through my mind: "What's up?" Last night my wife met with some students on ca
Review of My Tennis Shoes
Published on 2011-04-29 21:22:00
They're everyday wear. That means by definition they're grungy. There's something odd to note about us 21st Century XY chromosome types. Maybe it's because not so long ago most of our ancestral father figures were still farming the land. We a
Twisted Plots and the Wrinkles in Life's Fabric
Published on 2011-04-26 22:00:00
I keep reminding myself that if a person is "Van Winkled" to what's happening elsewhere on the planet, then the only news that remains available is "local" and "personal." Specifically, "news" becomes whatever seems of import that happens directly t
It's a Black and White World
Published on 2011-04-22 06:08:00
I'd heard of Anselm Adams. Eliot Porter, yes. Edward Steichen, of course, but why not this man with the Leica? It's as if I believed I knew a bit about physics and math and I'd never heard of Albert Einstein. It's as if in the realm of the d
The Healing Art of Photography
Published on 2011-04-19 06:24:00
Lately I've been bothered by a space inside me that has developed as a result of not knowing what has happened in the greater world since I went to "sleep" on Sept. 11th of last year. I can feel this emptiness. It's a dark chamber within
The Joy of Pentax
Published on 2011-04-15 13:37:00
Point, shoot! Van Winkle embarks on a photo quest. One thing I've learned after all these months of being Van Winkled is that living with proscribed access to what's happening in the larger world means that I have to make my own ne
Welcome to Nat'l Poetry Month - Part 3
Published on 2011-04-13 06:20:00
Here it comes...the world's dumbest question. Today as we conclude our meditations occasioned by the arrival of National Poetry Month (NPM), I'd like to ask the world's dumbest question. It's a question I seldom notic
Welcome to Nat'l Poetry Month - Part 2
Published on 2011-04-09 10:36:00
Twelve of us are sitting in nooks and crannies of a downtown book store on a Thursday evening. The students have notebooks flopped open and are scractching out words between ruled lines. I'm at a table with a computer and a printer near the front d
Welcome to Nat'l Poetry Month - Part 1
Published on 2011-04-05 06:52:00
Mr. Eliot, and poets like him, want you to read more poetry... It would be the easiest thing in the world to write a post today praising how we are are now in the midst of the annual celebration of verse in the U.S. This is not news. Since 1996 whe
Hit the Wall - Project is Over!
Published on 2011-04-01 16:51:00
Let me begin by saying I'm not angry at the NYT. I'm not going to blame the NYT. And I'm not posting this to diss the NYT. But after what happened, I've reached my limit. I'm declaring an end to the Van Winkle Project. I guess it's fair to s
Literary Analysis of Rip Van Winkle's Precursor (800 A.D.), Sucking on Lemons and Other Harzards of Life on Earth
Published on 2011-03-29 21:15:00
Due to the wonders of Blogger "Stats," I've noticed that a substantial number of the people who find their way to the Van Winkle Project do so by googling "Rip Van Winkle literary analysis." My best guess is that these searchers are young people wh
To Be Seizure Free
Published on 2011-03-25 09:48:00
I will miss the National Walk for Epilepsy which takes place this Sunday in Washington, D.C. Since I'm "Van Winkled" I won't know what the turn-out is like either. But I do know that with the cherry trees in blossom, thousands of people will gather
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Reading Stone!
Published on 2011-03-23 06:26:00
The following is true. It does not amount to news or entertainment which keeps it in the safe zone, i.e., it is not a blatant violation of The Van Winkle Project. What I'm about to reveal has been a fact for a good long while, although it
The Hitchhiker's Guide to Galactic Writer's Block
Published on 2011-03-18 07:33:00
Last week it was Douglas Adams' birthday. It happened on March 11, to be precise, and I wouldn't be surprised if at that anniversary moment somewhere in England a man was lying down in front of a bulldozer trying to prevent his house from being demol
Reaching the Six-Month Mark: A Quick Update
Published on 2011-03-15 07:40:00
As of today I have "slept" away one-half year of news, entertainment, sports and weather. Even though in my mind this represents a notable achievement, I recognize that any celebrating would be massively premature. Read on. A day ago my broth
The Spelling Bee and D-a-d-d-y
Published on 2011-03-11 06:00:00
Speller No. 9 is studying word lists right up to the last minute I acquired a bit of local news this past Saturday in the only way permissible as long as I'm engaged in this project. I didn't need to read it in the newspaper or find it on the Web&nbs
On Not Being a "Blog of Note"
Published on 2011-03-03 21:37:00
starting out I thought... tantalize search number of blogs worldwide In 2001 there were 2 million blogs. 2005 were up to 50 million. In 2009 according to BlogPulse there are 126 million. It's not that everyone has started a blog. Click on t
Review of My Typewriter (or Keys on Ice)
Published on 2011-03-02 10:17:00
Today the two-tone blue Smith-Corona portable sits on a high shelf. I've owned it since I left for college, a young man with stories filling his head. About thirty years ago something came between us. It changed our relationship. I
Van Winkle and a Mess of Metaphors
Published on 2011-02-26 07:48:00
Pietro Longhi's "The Confession" (1755). The Venetian artist painted the wealthy and poor of his day queuing to unburden themselves. Here at the Van Winkle Project we must do likewise... The most significant thing that's happened to me of late can
Interview - Two Iraq War Veterans
Published on 2011-02-22 21:41:00
When I created this blog I vowed that there would be no political or religious opinions expressed herein. The reason for this is that I feel such material tends to divide people from one another wherever they are in the world. Instead, I'd rather w
An Oprah Reading Fantasy (Black History Month - Part 3)
Published on 2011-02-18 23:17:00
At this point I suppose no one needs to heap praise upon or call further attention to Oprah Winfrey. Who is this woman? Just one of the best known people on the planet, that's all. Yet, as I conclude this series on Black History Month, I wou
Clifford Brown, A Life in Jazz (Black History Month - Part 2)
Published on 2011-02-15 07:24:00
Life is odd. Horrible things can happen (like my ancestors owning human beings as slaves, see previous VWP post), but from such horrible things sometimes quite different states of being emerge. Unambiguously good things. Like jazz. If African-Amer
The White Album (Black History Month - Part 1)
Published on 2011-02-12 08:11:00
Even though we probably don't think of it very often, I'm sure most of us would agree that at least some of today's news derives from what was once news in the past, but we now choose to call it "history." For example, a "new" military conflic
Death and Taxes and Super Bowl
Published on 2011-02-08 21:55:00
What I did in lieu of watching the big game... in seven movements... 1 - I'm At Home I piddle around on Sunday afternoon. I look out the window and I'm glad to see that what was left of the snow and ice that trapped us inside the hou
4 Super Bowl Ads We'd Like to See
Published on 2011-02-06 06:44:00
In 2005 Careerbuilder.com aired this uber realistic portrayal of corporate life in America...Pass the bananas, please. Today Super Bowl viewers around the world will be entertained by the commercials that debut during interludes in the game. T
The Best Super Bowl Halftime Show (That Never Was)
Published on 2011-02-03 16:01:00
It's not fair to be too hard on the halftime entertainment at the Super Bowl. You must consider how far this activity had to come in forty-five years to arrive at the present moment. In 1967 at Super Bowl I the crowd and TV viewers "thrilled" to the
The Worst Super Bowl Ever
Published on 2011-02-02 10:27:00
This is what it looks like outside my front door today. The temperature is 9 degrees Fahrenheit. The wind is blowing, creating an effective "wind chill" temperature of -10 F. Closures for all schools and universities have been announced for the seco
The Best Super Bowl Ever
Published on 2011-02-01 09:09:00
I lived in Alaska with my family in those days in a semi-Rip Van Winkled state. None of us had any choice about it. Our delayed access to the news was a fact of life. Deep into the sixth decade of the 20th Century, Alaskans still had no live T
Tow My Heart Away
Published on 2011-01-28 09:00:00
"The Reaper - After Millet" by Van Gogh ( Sept. 1889), Private Collection, UK A little scene took place in the driveway on Thursday. It lasted about ten minutes, but it represented the end of a relationship that had endured almost a decade
Sigmund Freud and Dreaming the News
Published on 2011-01-25 07:11:00
One thing that has surprised me about this project was how initially it wasn't so difficult. I turned off the TV, I kept newspapers at a distance, I drastically limited the websites I visited, and I began to live in blissful ignorance. Th
The Big Lebowski and the Whole Brevity Thing, Part 2
Published on 2011-01-21 06:48:00
I was feeling good that I had tentatively decided to model myself after one of the ancient Spartans and resolve to become more laconic in my speech and writing in the new year. (See: The Whole Brevity Thing) But soon I hit a bump in the road. I had
The Whole Brevity Thing
Published on 2011-01-18 07:09:00
For the new year I thought I might have just one resolution. Limiting myself to a single resolution ought to be do'able. Honestly, the downfall of my resolutions in the past is that I always have too many. I come up with the top ten things I want t
Monsieur Van Winkle's Comedies
Published on 2011-01-14 09:31:00
NEWS NOTE: This week, while driving our son to school, I've seen all the flags at half mast. In keeping with the goals of this project, I still do not know why. I can say, however, that it is disturbing. What exactly has someone done tha
Monsieur Fénéon's Tragedies
Published on 2011-01-11 08:30:00
M. Félix Fénéon NEWS LEAKAGE: For various reasons that I won't go into, I have a sense there's been a recent violent tragedy in America. Nothing that follows is intended to be an indirect comment on the event, whatever it was, a
On Seeking the Color Red
Published on 2011-01-07 10:10:00
"There's something stuck out there in the front yard," my wife said as she came in the back door. "What are you talking about?" I asked interested, but not alarmed. After all my wife didn't sound upset, just a bit mystified. "It's in the bushe
My Father's News
Published on 2011-01-04 09:15:00
The Oklahoma farm boy is standing in a field of cotton and looking up at the blue sky. During days like these every man, woman, child hopes to see clouds which amount to almost everything since upon them depends each family's success in trying to ext
Our Readers Want to Know
Published on 2010-12-31 08:32:00
As we move into the new year it seems like a good time to answer some of the imaginary queries in the Van Winkle Project's invisible mail bag.
To make the process as personal as possible, Van Winkle sat down and responded to each question which was