by David Haynes | May 4, 2021 | Taught, Wally World
Some background:
Twenty years ago, I went through a phase of manic reading, several novels a week for a year and well beyond. (More about this another time.) Reading so many novels in a relatively short period of time, one starts to notice things, so for the MFA program, I put together a class about my observations.
That class lead to a series of classes about the formal structure of novels. About which, one of my beloved colleagues and I have conversed frequently over the past two decades. And in a few weeks, she and I will record a conversation for the MFA summer residency.
I’ll rehearse some of that here.
by David Haynes | Apr 30, 2021 | The Day to Day
I thought this laptop was about three years old, but turns out it’s past its sixth birthday. It would be nice if things like these (things that cost several arms and legs) lasted forever, but historically I’ve gotten about three or four years at most out of a Mac laptop. Six is a record–and this old warhorse has been on dozens of airplanes, been driven back and forth across the US three times, been in countless coffee shops and libraries, spent three months in Mexico, and survived a major cross country move. Dig the patina on the well-worn keys, and check out the twisty thing that wraps the fraying end of the cord. I’d likely have held onto it, but the battery is damaged and can’t be replaced. (If I have too many programs open at the same time, you could make toast on the bottom of the case.)
I expect the question mark of death at any time.This is being written on its lovely new replacement. Shiny and clean looking, and the keys have yet to be assaulted with mystery crumbs. Here’s to a long and happy life!
by David Haynes | Apr 27, 2021 | The Day to Day
I had lunch today with four friends in a park. We sat in this shelter and ate our sack lunches. Great to be with people again and to be out in the fresh air.
by David Haynes | Apr 25, 2021 | Throat Clearing
….a thing that will happen again and that I will feel unnecessary angst about. It gives me a chance to talk about the fact that I both love and hate things that are “meta.” Today’s missive is from the hate side–particularly hating on writing that is about how hard writing is. Which is certainly true for a some people and sometimes true for me. But it’s rather like when I was packing up to move to Saint Louis and I found the instruction manual for a VCR that I had sent to the landfill a decade earlier. Lot’s of people own such things, but that doesn’t make them useful to keep around. I sent the manual to be reunited with its similarly pointless partner.
Image: The Cupboard of Obsolete Tech in the Condo on the Island of Lost Toys
by David Haynes | Apr 23, 2021 | How I Do Things
I came to this Target a few days after my second vaccination shot. There weren’t many people in the store and everyone was masked except two AWMs wandering the hardware aisles. They had that sneer/scowl thing going, the one that your AWMs use to signal how much more they know about everything on earth than you do. I didn’t come back to this story until today. Friends have flown all over the country: I’m unsure about dipping into Target for distilled water.
