Post-graduate studies

Someone commented recently in a private response to my blog that, "You don't talk about your writing as much as you used to...is this because you're not writing?"

Yes and no. Yeah, that's the answer.

I'm making HUGE strides and progress and then standing still. Trying to motivate myself without beating myself up. Having issues with authority (writing about about an elderly, gay, multiracial man can be a real bitch, you know, when you are none of these things yourself, and this is on top of wanting to represent the circus and New Orleans aspects of my book respectfully and accurately as well).

So here's the answer to what's going on with my writing at the moment: I'm doing rigorous post-graduate studies with Professors Hatley and Causey (both of whom have cool news on their sites - go read!) with numerous visiting lecturers that range from the baristas at Cheers to my new roommate to whatever music happens to catch my fancy.

I'm continuing with a bit of freelance work, as always, which I realize I'm extremely fortunate to do. For instance, recently met Louie Maistros at a local signing and had a lot of fun hanging out with him, his wife and friends before, during and after the show. Check out his book The Sound of Building Coffins. He's got a Baton Rouge event this coming Sunday, as well as more New Orleans ones. I'm going to interview him soon for 225, so be on the lookout for that. Speaking of, the 225 feature on Clarence Nero will be out next month.

Always, the book is foremost. Even if I'm not talking about it. There are just gonna be times when it's a lot more fun to talk about yummy media or President Obama being a die-hard Twitter tweeter. I may actually join now, just so I can follow his tweets.

While I don't condone thievery, of course, this short piece was heart-warming because it reminded me that at least books are still considered valuable...

And maybe it don't seem so relevant, but I promise this is: I looooove the NY Times' Paper Cuts Blog and here's a great quote from Karan Mahajan, the latest author to blog a soundtrack. "I was post-colonial and didn’t even know it....Before globalization, the English-speaking middle class [in India] trusted things that were “imported” more wholeheartedly anyway — a sort of colonial hangover. So we embraced [Freddie] Mercury like he was our own because we thought he wasn’t our own, even though he was our own."

Care to speculate why it's relevant?