This is one of my favorite passage's from Loretta Lynn's Coal Miner's Daughter, her account of growing up in Butcher Holler, KY. Enjoy!

"But Daddy had his own pet-a black snake that used to crawl up from the cracks in the floor. Every time we had dinner, Daddy would feed it. When Jay Lee was born, that black snake crawled right into the crib and ( Read more... )

I know I post way too much, so I'll try to curb myself.

I'm leaving for Georgia on Wednesday (tomorrow?). My friend John, who helped me survive grad school, lives in Rome, about an hour northwest of Atlanta. We're both so close to be doing with our dissertations that we decided to get together, go to some libraries, and just work. I have a lot to do ( Read more... )

Okay, this post may be exasperating, but I'm pretty exasperated myself. I joined facebook a few months ago, and ended up catching up with some people I used to know in my high school youth group. Seemed cool until election time neared. Then I began to realize not everyone who grows up fundamentalist becomes more rational and open-minded as time ( Read more... )

 Not much going on, except that I am now thirty-three years old. The age Christ is supposed to have died. Don't know exactly why I brought it up, except it sounds sort of profound and forboding. Borders sent me a 25% off coupon for my birthday (how sweet!), and I went and bought myself a novel by Graham Greene, an author I really like (The Power ( Read more... )

I rarely remember my dreams, but this morning I woke up and realized that in one part of my dream that I woke up from, I was printing bumper stickers that said "HEAVEN IS A POLICE STATE." I was printing them by the thousands and somehow convinced I would sell every single one. I remember I was really angry as I was printing them--whatever the ( Read more... )

 Well, I spent yesterday help a good friend and his wife pack up their Penske truck, so they could move to South Carolina. Sigh. Ironically, most of my close friends I've only met because we live in such a transient society--either they or I or both have moved somewhere where we met--but I also hate the fact that this same type of society means I ( Read more... )

 Okay, it has definitely been too long since a post.

Tomorrow my friend Mike comes to visit, and Tuesday morning we are getting up and driving into the heart of East Texas (a place Col. Kurtz might find himself comfortable in) to visit a couple of small towns supposedly full of haunted sites. Yes, it may be silly, but when you live in one of the ( Read more... )

 First of all, a quiz. I am reading a novel, Weir of Hermiston, that was left unfinished at the time of its author's death. That got me thinking about other notable unfinished novels. I'll list some I came up with, and you guys see if you can tell me who wrote them--cool?

1. Weir of Hermiston
2. Sanditon
3. The Love of the Last Tycoon/F. Scott ( Read more... )

Today, phase two of "Operation Live at Home and Finish Dissertation" begins--instead of subbing this coming year, I start a job at a local bookstore! I believe this will be a lot less stressful and exhausting. I'm not sure exactly what my responsibilities will be, but apparently employees rotate among the coffee shop, books, and magazines. In my ( Read more... )

Okay, here goes:

1. What's your earliest childhood memory? How old were you? I recall my mom opening our pantry door when I was perhaps three and seeing a bunch of baby mice come running out when she swept a broom around at the back (she must have known they were there). They ran in different directions, under the refrigerator or stove. I cried ( Read more... )