infinite eights: 8 minute bites from the middle of my mind

Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the last believers in the autonomy of the Author.

Changing My Mindby Zadie Smith 8 min @ Saving Gigi “There was no foundation, clearly.” Mim exhaled a laser thin stream of blue smoke off to the side. Karin focused on the mole attached to Mim’s upper lip, she knew another indictment on the demise of her marriage was imminent. She remembered that when she started at Columbia she used to draw on a mole every day. When Mim busted her on it one day, Read more

By justk, ago

sometimes you feel … sometimes you don’t

It’s foggy up in command central these days.  Great ideas are blinking off in the distance but I haven’t been able to guide anything for a clear landing.  Other creative ideas have lined up on the runway, but are grounded and unable to take off.  The sky will clear, that is inevitable.  Change is the one constant. A wise artist once told me sometimes you’re in a productive state, spewing creativity and sometimes the creative Read more

By justk, ago

thumb and index finger setting the length

  The Body Artist by Don DeLillo 8 min @a table in Toronto “What the hell?” He grabbed her wrist before she could make contact with his jaw.  She’d landed a solid punch in the past so he knew how effective her flinty little fists were.  He gripped her shoulder with his other hand.  She was all sinew and steel.  Nine years old and more fit than the prospects for his junior team this year – Read more

By justk, ago

Note from the Middle… of the Road. part 2

I ease up on the gas, maintaining a limit of 65.  I do not ease up on my death grip on the steering wheel.  I’m leaning forward, every muscle tensed and tuned into every sound coming from the car.  I need to intuit what the eff is going on, and apparently pressing my chest into the steering wheel facilitates the connection.  The gauges are telling me everything is copasetic; all the needles are in the Read more

By justk, ago

Note from the Middle… of the road.

August 25. leg 1 I’m supposed to be hitting the road by noon.  I’m supposed to have already sent boxes by media mail, the cheapest way to ship weighty items when time is not of the essence.  I am a great planner, but not always an awesome executor of plans. Something I learned the hard way that will hopefully save someone some trouble in the future; “Media mail” aka ‘book rate’ is available only within Read more

By justk, ago

tripping

It’s a trip. It’s a gas. It’s a revelation. I’m halfway through my solo road trip across the country.  It’s a banquet of experiences and I’m gorging myself silly.  There’s much to digest but too much to share at my quick nightly stops.  There are multiple stories happening every day, it’s hard to focus on the theme of just one.  But I know they’re all connected. Some friends and family members were concerned about me Read more

By justk, ago

“There are four sources of light in this room, can you tell what they are?”

Mormon tour guide @ Cove Fort, UT Lynn-Marie closed the Big Book and slid it back on the shelf.  She picked up the receiver to check for the tone that signaled there was a voicemail message but no one had called. This was the second appointment that her sponsee had missed.  Kelly insisted that things were going fine with the new guy but Lynn-Marie could always tell when a sponsee was struggling with connecting to a Read more

By justk, ago

“I forgot someone’s name once and you could see they were real disappointed.”

Patty, the night clerk at The Best Western Travel Inn, St. George, UT “Hey Karla.” “Hey Karl,” said Jenna as she hugged him back.  She and Ben had played this routine for the past eight years. It started at the end of their first date.  She didn’t know why, but she goofed and called him Karl when she was thanking him for dinner.  He looked so crushed, she punched him in the arm and reminded Read more

By justk, ago