Iowa City, let’s navel gaze for a moment. Our town, despite its location and size, has been ranked by The Advocate magazine as the third most gay-friendly city in the United States. It’s the only city in the country to be named a UNESCO City of Literature, where The University of Iowa Writers Workshop has […]
November 2010
Show Review: March Fourth Marching Band @ Gabe's – 11/8
All day yesterday I told people what an amazing show I had seen the previous evening at Gabe’s: the March Fourth Marching Band. “What were they like, Yale?” And that was the problem. I couldn’t say what they were “like” because they were so damn unique. I’d never seen anything “like” them ever before in […]
Little Village vs. NaNoWriMo: Day 9
View all NaNoWriMo entries … It wasn’t a situation I would have chosen to put myself in, double-crossing Rosso and exiled to Iowa trying to work a new angle with the creepy dentist, but I have to admit that I was starting to feel a little intrigued and not too bad about the whole thing. […]
Reasons Not to Write
The first big obstacle in undertaking a project such as NaNoWriMo, or, for that matter, on any writer’s desk, is just plain fabricating words: sitting down at your desk or coffee shop of choice and NOT killing time answering emails, facebook stalking your significant other’s ex, watching funny animal videos on youtube, etc., but WRITING […]
Little Village vs. NaNoWriMo: Day 8
View all NaNoWriMo entries … Staring into the hospital vestibule, its bright lights pouring out onto the sidewalk, I half expected a couple cherubs to greet me, glowing aura and all. How long had I gone without medical attention? I sat and listened to the Volkswagen engine idle for a few seconds, on edge. “How […]
Show Photos: The Coathangers and Slut River at Wherehouse, Nov. 7
Shame on me. I have shots from half of this show. The official lineup included Wax Canon and the Boxknifes, but I just couldn’t get my tail down to the Wherehouse fast enough. To those bands, my sincerest regrets for not digitally capturing your performance. As far as what I DID see….well done. How can […]
Little Village vs. NaNoWriMo: Day 7
View all NaNoWriMo entries … Walcott, Iowa. Our new home. What, you never been here? Didn’t think so. Based on my limited exposure to the local nightlife, the best thing to do in Walcott is sit on the side of a bed and rock back and forth in an oversized t-shirt that reads “If you […]
NaNoWriMo Week in review
Okay, time for my take on the overall process of our collaborative novel writing experiment thus far: First, I’m quite pleased with how it’s going and am impressed with the work that’s been coming in from all involved both for its quality as well as the fact that producing that amount of writing each day […]
Little Village vs. NaNoWriMo: Day 6
View all NaNoWriMo entries … “What kind of question is that?” I asked. Stan shrugged. “What? You think the kid did it? You think my girlfriend’s kid somehow gave me a heart attack? Slipped me a roofie or somethin’?” Stan leaned his head back and took his eyes off the road to give me the […]
Little Village vs. NaNoWriMo: Day 5
View all NaNoWriMo entries … An amped-up darkness, a television’s idea of black, roaring quiet like an airplane cabin on descent, rocked into sleepiness, ears closed to the combustion shoving forward and down. I wouldn’t say I slept. Wouldn’t say I rested. More like I braced myself while I was out, and then somebody yelled […]
Townie Hawk: In Defense of Fans
It’s not particularly hip to be a fan. Not that I’ve noticed, anyway. I’ve personally suffered many an eye-roll from less fanatic friends and I’ve seen fellow fans dressed in their Hawkeye garb just barely get a drink served to them in certain elite Northside establishments. I’ve felt a pang of embarrassment hearing a nearby […]
Week one!
I’m kind of hoping that everyone is going to continue to end every chapter with a cliffhanger. What a great novel that would be! No slow, boring build up, no graceful decline, just all cliffhanger, all the time. Remembering all the minute details of each chapter and trying to keep everything consistent has emerged as […]

