Recently in Nature Photography Category
Last weekend was a glorious day, sunny, mid-thirties, which here in Minnesota means it was like walking around in the Bahamas on a breezy summer day. And it was the day they carved the ice sculptures in Rice Park, downtown St. Paul.
And a shout out to F. Scott Fitzgerald, who watches over Rice Park and its sculptures forever and ever.
And a shout out to F. Scott Fitzgerald, who watches over Rice Park and its sculptures forever and ever.
Cattails on Coon Lake, Anoka County, MN. On a sunny afternoon the winter here is so beautiful, but for the last several days it's been mostly dreary, cloudy, foggy, melty. Our January thaw is coming to an end, however, as temperatures may drop into the minus teens Fahrenheit in a week or so. But these cattails will still be there, on Coon Lake, frozen until spring, when they melt with the snow into the marsh and feed the new green growth of midsummer.
Every year there are thousands of writers retreats available, ranging from a couple of hundred bucks to thousands of dollars for more elaborate surroundings. On a drive up to Bemidji, Minnesota, this weekend, I saw these fishhouses on Lake Mille Lacs, and I thought, now there's a writer's retreat. Nothing but a box on the ice with a hole for catching your dinner. Put yerself out there, and don't let yerself back in 'till the novel's done.
This may be how Stephen King pumps out so much material...or not. Anyhow, perhaps there is something for the writer to learn from the frosty contemplation of ice fisherman, and the icy villages they create on northern lakes each winter.
This may be how Stephen King pumps out so much material...or not. Anyhow, perhaps there is something for the writer to learn from the frosty contemplation of ice fisherman, and the icy villages they create on northern lakes each winter.
I took a drive in the sunshine today, a little alone time before the family dinner. Stopped at Coon Lake County Park, in northern Anoka County, Minnesota, and found a few lonely ice huts already out on the ice, a symptom of our cold winter (in the last few years, December has generally not been cold enough for ice fishing by Christmas). It was cold and quiet, very little wind, bright sunshine. After I stood by the lake's edge for a while, taking pictures, a fellow drove up in his old pickup. He rolled down the window and said, "beautiful, isn't it?" I answered yes, and he smiled, and then rolled up his window and slowly drove away. Days like this bring out the nature lovers, even for a small lake like this one.
My semester in Fiction is over, thankfully, so I'm going to start posting more regularly again. I have to say, the class was a disappointment. I feel like I'm getting into a situation where the MFA program may be interfering with the writing I actually want to be doing right now. Anybody out there have a similar experience? Feel free to leave a comment.
My semester in Fiction is over, thankfully, so I'm going to start posting more regularly again. I have to say, the class was a disappointment. I feel like I'm getting into a situation where the MFA program may be interfering with the writing I actually want to be doing right now. Anybody out there have a similar experience? Feel free to leave a comment.
You write War and Peace. And you say to your self, "Damn, I just wrote War and Peace." And then you say to yourself, "You know what? I don't think I'm done. I think I'll keep writing. 'Cause it just ain't War and Peace until it's long enough to stretch to the moon." But years later, some industrious fellow publishes that first draft, and then...lit fight!
The Unbearable Length of Time it takes to get recognized in your own homeland these days, at least for Milan Kundera, author of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being". But better late than never. Interesting footnote in the article, Kundera hasn't allowed his more recent stuff sold in Czech Republic, because of worries about "the quality of the translation." I'm having a hard enough writing in only one language, so I can imagine the difficulty of porting your stories between two or three.
The vikings are finally invading Spain, but they're being nicer about it than they were to my ancestors in Northern Ireland. It's a literary invasion this time. Books are so much nicer than bloody hands.
Following up on an earlier post about Aussie literature and its fading place for Australian youth, I see that the Australian government will be beefing up Aussie lit offerings in schools.
In a town in Texas a teacher faces possible criminal charges for assigning a Cormac McCarthy book to high schoolers. The book, "Child of God", is often assigned in AP classes. The article reports quite a bit of grassroots support for the teacher, who is well liked and has been sent on paid leave. Nice to see that stereotypes of small town Texas are being challenged by athletes wearing armbands in support of an English teacher. Perhaps the locals have discovered that nothing in any Cormac McCarthy book is any more lurid or graphic than the weekly plotlines of "CSI", "Criminal Minds", or a host of other prime time tv programs...
What? You haven't had enough fall color yet? Shame on you. Redeem yourself below.
At the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, a jewel of a spot this time of year. Meanwhile, at Carver Park Reserve, the cattails and rushes have gone brown and fall quickly slips away.
The Unbearable Length of Time it takes to get recognized in your own homeland these days, at least for Milan Kundera, author of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being". But better late than never. Interesting footnote in the article, Kundera hasn't allowed his more recent stuff sold in Czech Republic, because of worries about "the quality of the translation." I'm having a hard enough writing in only one language, so I can imagine the difficulty of porting your stories between two or three.
The vikings are finally invading Spain, but they're being nicer about it than they were to my ancestors in Northern Ireland. It's a literary invasion this time. Books are so much nicer than bloody hands.
Following up on an earlier post about Aussie literature and its fading place for Australian youth, I see that the Australian government will be beefing up Aussie lit offerings in schools.
In a town in Texas a teacher faces possible criminal charges for assigning a Cormac McCarthy book to high schoolers. The book, "Child of God", is often assigned in AP classes. The article reports quite a bit of grassroots support for the teacher, who is well liked and has been sent on paid leave. Nice to see that stereotypes of small town Texas are being challenged by athletes wearing armbands in support of an English teacher. Perhaps the locals have discovered that nothing in any Cormac McCarthy book is any more lurid or graphic than the weekly plotlines of "CSI", "Criminal Minds", or a host of other prime time tv programs...
What? You haven't had enough fall color yet? Shame on you. Redeem yourself below.
At the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, a jewel of a spot this time of year. Meanwhile, at Carver Park Reserve, the cattails and rushes have gone brown and fall quickly slips away.
On the Mississippi near Ft. Snelling State Park, last Saturday. Some people have all the fun.
On an un-literary note, I just found out that scientists are using the ground two blocks from my old apartment to predict when the next apocalyptic earthquake will happen in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their conclusion? Yeah, real soon. Now that I'm safely in Minnesota I can stop nailing my books to the walls.
Ok, let's get semi-literary for a moment. So now JK Rowling acknowledges using Christian themes in the Harry Potter books--something she kept close the chest until the last one was published because--well--we all kinda know how the Christ story goes, and that might ruin the surprise. My disappointment in this revelation isn't that she's using religious imagery. As a British writer she's steeped in a predominently Christian culture, and the symbols and stories of Christianity can often be found in great literature. What disappoints me is that when I read the last Potter book, the parallels to another giant of children's lit--Lewis' The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe--were awfully close. Now with this additional insight that she, like Lewis, was explicitly modeling the Christ crucifixion/resurrection in an epic fantasy--well, in the context of children's fantasy literature, that's already been done in a very big way. When you really go back and look at that last book the whole plot structure of Harry Potter starts getting extremely close to Narnia. Is this formulaic, or just a great narrative tradition?
On an un-literary note, I just found out that scientists are using the ground two blocks from my old apartment to predict when the next apocalyptic earthquake will happen in the San Francisco Bay Area. Their conclusion? Yeah, real soon. Now that I'm safely in Minnesota I can stop nailing my books to the walls.
Ok, let's get semi-literary for a moment. So now JK Rowling acknowledges using Christian themes in the Harry Potter books--something she kept close the chest until the last one was published because--well--we all kinda know how the Christ story goes, and that might ruin the surprise. My disappointment in this revelation isn't that she's using religious imagery. As a British writer she's steeped in a predominently Christian culture, and the symbols and stories of Christianity can often be found in great literature. What disappoints me is that when I read the last Potter book, the parallels to another giant of children's lit--Lewis' The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe--were awfully close. Now with this additional insight that she, like Lewis, was explicitly modeling the Christ crucifixion/resurrection in an epic fantasy--well, in the context of children's fantasy literature, that's already been done in a very big way. When you really go back and look at that last book the whole plot structure of Harry Potter starts getting extremely close to Narnia. Is this formulaic, or just a great narrative tradition?
Took a trip up to Lake Maria State Park this weekend, about an hour northwest of the Twin Cities. If you're in for a little vicarious leaf-peeping, you're in luck.
The Beavers are all prepared for winter. One more look at them pretty leaves...
The Beavers are all prepared for winter. One more look at them pretty leaves...
from which there is no exit, at least until the end of the semester, when I am no longer required to write an entire short story each week...I salvage my humble lit blog by offering the cutest thing I have seen in some time, a Prairie Dog at the Minnesota Zoo. I enjoyed a lazy, sunny afternoon there today, as the swan boats paddled by, the Prairie Dogs screeched in occasional shock, and the tigers snoozed till dinner.
Here in Minnesota, summer floods the landscape to such a degree that any hint of winter is thoroughly erased. But then, wisps of cool air find their way south, and we all know what's coming. Just a touch of cool tonight, down to 39 degrees. But only a few weeks ago I wandered the eden that is Carver Park Reserve, just southwest of the Twin Cities. I'll head down there in a couple of weeks to see the fall colors, but for now, let's just enjoy this fleeting summer memory.
Found this recent article on Bookslut - why do MFA programs ask students to specialize in a genre? Good question. My program emphasizes multi-genre writing, but in the end asks for a thesis in only one. Maybe we know that most people are good at basically one genre and suck in everything else? Maybe forcing students to specialize weeds out less serious candidates? My answer is that MFA programs are easier to administer when people are assigned specific literary roles, but I like to write fiction, so as usual I'm pulling that out of my ass.
The New Pages blog wonders if many of these literary anthologies that call for submissions are legit.
Google is trying to weasel out of responsibility for its decision to self-censor in China by arguing that censorship should be considered a barrier to trade--and therefore be part of international agreements that regulate trade. While Google's point isn't without merit--using trade structures could be one way to combat censorship--the idea of taking freedom of speech and making it a trade issue rather than a fundamental issue of civil rights seems ominous to me.
Boys do better in reading when they have female teachers? Weird.
Off in my world, I spent the weekend up on Minnesota's North Shore. Beautiful day, and we even stopped for pie...
Above: Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior, Minnesota.
Above: view of Minnesota's North Shore (Lake Superior).
The New Pages blog wonders if many of these literary anthologies that call for submissions are legit.
Google is trying to weasel out of responsibility for its decision to self-censor in China by arguing that censorship should be considered a barrier to trade--and therefore be part of international agreements that regulate trade. While Google's point isn't without merit--using trade structures could be one way to combat censorship--the idea of taking freedom of speech and making it a trade issue rather than a fundamental issue of civil rights seems ominous to me.
Boys do better in reading when they have female teachers? Weird.
Off in my world, I spent the weekend up on Minnesota's North Shore. Beautiful day, and we even stopped for pie...
Above: Split Rock Lighthouse on Lake Superior, Minnesota.
Above: view of Minnesota's North Shore (Lake Superior).
