The Writer's Notebook

On Journalism and Writing: A Conversation with Chris Hedges [Video]

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:27:53 -0400

On Journalism and Writing: A Conversation with Chris Hedges [Video]:

Author and journalist Christopher Hedges speaks of the despair, destruction, love and truth that he found during his long career of covering wars and social justice throughout the world. Hedges is interviewed by Dean Nelson as part of the 17th annual Writer’s Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University.

An Amazing Poem by Hiwot Adilow

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:40:49 -0400

An Amazing Poem by Hiwot Adilow:

A poetry reading from Brave New Voices, 2012. [Video]

Overwhelmed By News

Thu, 23 May 2013 15:05:47 -0400

Overwhelmed By News :

A piece of Oklahoma tornado footage made me cry a few mornings ago, a mother reunited with a son that she clearly assumed she’d never see alive again. She collapsed into hugging, picked him up, rocked him in her arms, then doubled over sobbing and put him back down. She kept touching the boy’s face, caressing him as if to reassure herself with her palms: it’s ok, he’s ok, it’s ok, he’s ok.

Overwhelming.

Matt Taibbi: Everything Is Rigged, The Biggest Price-Fixing Scandal Ever [Audio]

Wed, 22 May 2013 23:07:34 -0400

Matt Taibbi: Everything Is Rigged, The Biggest Price-Fixing Scandal Ever [Audio]

Donald Rumsfeld Destroyed By Gentle NPR Host via @MajorityFM #p2 #ows

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:18:45 -0400

Donald Rumsfeld Destroyed By Gentle NPR Host via @MajorityFM #p2 #ows:

Donald Rumsfeld went on the NPR show Marketplace in an attempt to promote his new book, but he was met with perhaps the hardest questioning he’s ever faced.

This clip from the Majority Report, live M-F at 12 noon EST and via daily podcast at Majority.FM

NJ Higher Education Student Assistance Authority

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:44:59 -0400

NJ Higher Education Student Assistance Authority:

Someday, after I’m long dead, some super fan will dig into my external hard drive and edit a collection of my letters to student loan debt collectors. Thanks to my country’s moronic commodification of education, this is how I spend a good deal of my writing time. So, while you wait for that future collection—The #njpoet Debt Letters—to finally be published, I leave you with this sample.

Seven Dollars and a Dream: a micro post #njpoet

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:35:53 -0400

Seven Dollars and a Dream: a micro post #njpoet:

One of my regular Twitter followers has launched a campaign to free me from my student debt. If 14,000 people donate $7 each to njpoet.com, she reasons, we can buy my life back from Sallie Mae and NJCLASS.

10,000 Extra Suicides: Austerity Kills via @DemocracyNow #p2 #ows

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:00:10 -0400

10,000 Extra Suicides: Austerity Kills via @DemocracyNow #p2 #ows:

In their new book, “The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills,” economist David Stuckler and physician Sanjay Basu examine the health impacts of austerity across the globe. The authors estimate there have been more than 10,000 additional suicides and up to a million extra cases of depression across Europe and the United States since governments started introducing austerity programs in the aftermath of the economic crisis.

Welcome to the Economic Recovery [for @profwolff]

Mon, 20 May 2013 22:49:50 -0400

Welcome to the Economic Recovery [for @profwolff] :

They posted a semi-formal letter on the bulletin board last night. This was how they let the wait staff, the cooks, the bus boys, and the bartenders know that the restaurant would be closing forever on June 1^st.

But it wasn’t like everyone didn’t already know. The local press got wind of the rumors and looked into the story, which, to be fair, is significant.

"Corporations write our legislation. They control our systems of information. They manage the..."

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:35:13 -0400

“Corporations write our legislation. They control our systems of information. They manage the political theater of electoral politics and impose our educational curriculum. They have turned the judiciary into one of their wholly owned subsidiaries. They have decimated labor unions and other independent mass organizations, as well as having bought off the Democratic Party, which once defended the rights of workers. With the evisceration of piecemeal and incremental reform—the primary role of liberal, democratic institutions—we are left defenseless against corporate power.”

- Chris Hedges, “Rise Up or Die”

A Portrait of the Artist as a Moron #njpoet

Sun, 19 May 2013 19:23:41 -0400

A Portrait of the Artist as a Moron #njpoet:

I was going to skip my writing meditation. I made my bi-weekly trip to my snail mail box this morning, so very quaint, only to be informed by an ugly green bureaucratic form letter, typed in a psychotic font:

The State of New Jersey has seized your few hundred dollars of tax refund, c/o your student loan debt collector.

"there are worse things than being alone but it often takes decades to realize this and most..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 08:12:38 -0400

“there are worse things than
being alone
but it often takes decades
to realize this
and most often
when you do
it’s too late
and there’s nothing worse
than
too late.”

- Charles Bukowski (via nihilistwaffles)

tashtoo: #Poetry #CharlesBukowski #quote #bukowski #instagood...

Sun, 19 May 2013 08:11:28 -0400

tashtoo:

#Poetry #CharlesBukowski #quote #bukowski #instagood #words #poets

I Buy Gas at the Corner Station

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:43:08 -0400

I Buy Gas at the Corner Station:

I buy gas at the corner station, the one I wrote about during Hurricane Sandy, and a few months ago I started chatting with an attendant who reminded me of my first best friend, Frank, who died three days after my 30th birthday—a rare cancer. Very sad story.

This new guy, we’ll call him Paul to protect his privacy, Paul is always smiling, always ready to listen to my socio-political “did you know” stories, always ready to respond with:

“Bro, get the fuck out of here. Are you serious?”

That’s what Paul said when I told him how much I made working as a professor last year

Friday Night Freewriting #njpoet

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:09:06 -0400

Friday Night Freewriting #njpoet:

About an hour later, the café owner, realizing that the customer he was talking to was a freelance writer, pointed in my direction and said:

“You should talk to Charles over there. He’s a writer.”

And so she came walking over. Clearly nervous. Clearly a bit uncomfortable with that title:

Writer.

Followed. fearandloathinginliverpool: If you don’t follow Sir...

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:59:50 -0400

Followed.

fearandloathinginliverpool:

If you don’t follow Sir Patrick Stewart on Twitter then what is wrong with you. He’s freaking adorable.

Well Informed Futility (w/ Environmental Activist Sandra Steingraber) via @MajorityFM

Thu, 16 May 2013 20:26:13 -0400

Well Informed Futility (w/ Environmental Activist Sandra Steingraber) via @MajorityFM:

Author, biologist, environmental activist, and mother Sandra Steingraber discusses why she went to jail for her environmental activism, the toxic assault on our children, and the environmental links to cancer and human health.

[via The Majority Report]

Under the Shortcut Bridge [for @econhardship] #njpoet #p2 #ows

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:36:54 -0400

Under the Shortcut Bridge [for @econhardship] #njpoet #p2 #ows:

Every morning we see families of homeless people huddled together on scavenged mattresses, wrapped in dirty blankets, still sleeping while car after car of commuters take this shortcut—left turn under the bridge, then make another left onto a side street to just drop someone off, pick someone up, or turn right into the gated lot for a flat fee $15 parking spot.

This Blog Post is Random

Wed, 15 May 2013 22:23:01 -0400

This Blog Post is Random:

I don’t write nearly as much as I want to, either. And I mostly don’t write because I feel like I shouldbe doing more of the world’s bullshit instead, more of the things everyone else thinks are important for me to do. We all know that list. I won’t repeat it. Needless to say, I always seem to find myself somewhere doing something instead of writing all day, every day, which would make me happy I think.

"When we think of human cognition, we usually think about things like composing music or writing a..."

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:18:00 -0400

“When we think of human cognition, we usually think about things like composing music or writing a novel. But a big part of the human brain is dedicated to more prosaic functions, like taking in a chaotic visual field and recognizing the thousands of separate objects it contains. We do that so automatically we hardly even think of it as intelligence. But it is, and the fact that Google’s car can do it at all is a real breakthrough.”

- Kevin Drum