STOKE LAND » writing

piece on how to get laid

David Miller — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:26:19 +0000

And then, as if it were all planned, you see her walking through town. She gives you the face-smile, but here in the sunlight it seems embarrassing to move right up to her with all these bags in your hand and a 5 gallon water jug over your shoulder. You’re not sure if you’re supposed to kiss again, so you just set everything down and stand nearby, studying her face, checking – nervously now – for signs that she really doesn’t want to talk to you, that she’d really rather just continue on doing whatever else she was doing.

“Hola,” you say.

“Hola.”

how to write nonfiction

David Miller — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:04:03 +0000

Reading / meetup in Buenos Aires July 22

David Miller — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:04:00 +0000

On Friday, July 22nd at 8PM, Juanele AR will host a Matador Meetup in Buenos Aires. I’ll be reading* along with Matador Nights editor Kate Sedgwick. There will also be a drawing for a $100 peso gift certificate to Walrus Books in San Telmo.

On the night of the event, Juanele AR will be selling cheap drinks, the proceeds of which will go to Juanele editor Rick Powell‘s cancer treatment. Juanele AR HQ is located at 1011 Montevideo.

_______

*my first official public reading ever

David Miller — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 04:02:43 +0000

My room is small.

I wish it were even smaller though. Right now I can take like, two steps one way across, and three the other way.

That seems like too much.

It always seems like too much.

It would be awesome to just walk up to someone on the street and grab him or her by both shoulders then scream, “It’s, always, too-much.”

It feels embarrassing when I require too much of the world.

frank bill

David Miller — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 03:13:34 +0000

“I get a lot of rejections. . . I don’t care. I’m writing what I like.”

Notes after Trash Fires, Lago Epuyen, and Planting Strawberries

David Miller — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 00:53:29 +0000

Awoke this morning to the Colques burning trash. Maxi with headphones on kicking the barrel. By lunchtime the paint all burned off. I thought about 22 different attitudes I could take towards the smoke. Bruce Lee reflected in Enter the Dragon mirrors. On a run at sunset, the shadows getting longer. New snow on the ridge at Piltri. Earlier this week, writing about Menorahs. Segundo back in New York reading Snyder, something about tribes. Nobody left at his Moms to rake leaves. The oldest, the oldest, the oldest son. Inventing words today, the panz. Lau in the shotgun seat coming back from Epuyen, peaceful, smiling. I kept imagining a barrel for burning thoughts. Seemed to work, I was less nervous than usual. The girls in the other room now watching a movie. At the beginning of my run, chased by teros . Epuyen at midday, nobody around. Snowline maybe 2,600 feet, where were the condors? One thought not burned: a plastic bottle I’d found after almost drowning. So far off the map I was happy to see it. The grandkids were all over at Adelas pitching shit into the fire. Meanwhile I sawed lengths of fenceboards to block where the dogs keep nosing into our trash. This whole week scowling at fucking dogs. Sol pregnant again, who will take care of this next litter? Epuyen at noon, jumping in after looking at the snowline. A cold yelp echoing into the valley, into the universe. The smoke from the shit fire 10 miles to the north. Signs on the climb to Epuyen: TERRITORIO MAPUCHE RECUPERADO. Asking Lau if that recovery was ‘official.’ Segundo there raking leaves would understand. We need tribes if only to share jokes. The shadows gone now, the sound / smell of chicken roasting. Falta mucho? lau says from the other room. On the way home, buying 5 more strawberry seedlings. Plant 20 cm apart, trimming the roots to keep from curling. Sitting naked after swimming, thoughts burning. Ground level, the shape of the beach. Got dressed, went back to car and saw him. Down here, always, the one starving dog. ‘S’ok buddy, his snout down, tail wagging tentatively. I dumped the cup of Layla’s half-eaten strawberries. He was old but could still walk all day. No wolves here 100 generations ago, it was all glaciers. His ancestors from somewhere else, where? Back in the the garden at sunset planting strawberries. Wind finally calm but the barrel still smoldering. Image of fur, ribs, eyes.

the last ~15 hrs portrayed as scenes

David Miller — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 18:57:45 +0000

INT. BEDROOM – LATE NIGHT

A family of three in bed. Caption reads “2:58 A.M.” David is pushed up against the wall. His headlamp hangs from the bedpost as a kind of nightlight. Laura is at opposite end of the bed, so far to the edge that her pregnant belly is actually hanging off. Layla (3) is hugging her in a way that’s preventing her from getting comfortable. Both Layla and Laura are feverish and sweating. In addition to being sick and nine months pregnant, Laura is supposed to collect urine over 24 hrs for a lab test.

LAURA
(to Layla)
Movéte. I need space!

Layla murmurs something.

LAURA
Basta!

Laura runs to the bathroom. Layla immediately wakes up and begins crying. David tries to hold her but she keeps squirming and sits up. From the bathroom there are sounds of retching, grunting, a glass jar falling over, and almost demonic-sounding noises afterward.

DAVID
(to Layla)
It’s OK baby. It’s OK.

INT. LIVING ROOM – LATER

David comes in looking confused. He’s wearing underwear and a headlamp, holding a book in one hand and a sleeping bag in the other. He unfolds the futon then gets in his sleeping bag. He starts reading (Ensayo Sobre La Ceguera by José Saramago) with his headlamp. Caption reads “4:15 AM.”

INT. LIVING ROOM – MORNING

David is still in his sleeping bag on the futon. He’s checking emails on a laptop computer. Caption reads “9:45 AM.”

COMPUTER SCREEN

The screen opens in Gmail. There are dozens of new emails. The cursor highlights several then clicks DELETE. Then it clicks on an email with a link that leads to a blog. Once in the blog, the cursor clicks on a video that starts describing an ebook. There is an image of young David lighting a fire on a beach.

VIDEO
(voice over)
His writing sticks to your ribs.

DAVID
(voice over)
Jesus.

INT. KITCHEN – MORNING – LATER

David is walking around in his underwear holding a coffee mug and looking confused. Caption reads “10:18 AM”

LAURA
(off screen)
Can you make us breakfast amor?

DAVID
Si.

David pulls a bag of flour and other ingredients out of cabinets. He starts mixing pancake batter. The sink is full of dishes. He scrapes the rice out of the skillet, rinses it off, then makes the first pancake. It comes out ridiculously bright, almost neon yellow.

FLASHBACK TO:

INT. HOUSE – NIGHT BEFORE

David checks on the girls, who are both asleep in bed. He goes into the kitchen, washes his hands, cuts a piece of watermelon, then, while chewing, takes a shot of rum. He dumps a pot of rice into the skillet, then adds an overlarge amount of saffron.

INT. MEDICAL LAB – MORNING

David walks in, pulling a two liter bottle full of urine out of a shopping bag. A Latina in her early 20s is sitting at a desk. Caption reads “12:15 PM.”

ATTENDANT
Hola. What do we have here, urine?

DAVID
Si.

ATTENDANT
(checking computer)
And this is for?

DAVID
Um. My wife just called. Our doctor is Kunish?

ATTENDANT
Ok. I can’t find this in the computer. Can you spell her last name?

The attendant takes the urine up to the lab. David looks around the office, noticing several diplomas and official looking documents and certificates on the wall. He sees a stack of flyers about some kind of medical test, picks one up, then starts writing very quickly on the back of it. Time is given for the viewer to read the note:

Negative emotional state created by the sense that receiving an award or diploma and/or having to attend a kind of ceremony such as graduation, means less to you than it does to your friends or parents, and that you wouldn’t feel so bad about this were it not for having to pretend that it meant something.

INT. KITCHEN – MIDDAY

Caption reads “12:24 PM.”

LAURA
Did you drop it off?

DAVID
Yes, but they didn’t have any orden for it.

LAURA
Yeah they did, I just called there. Hold on.

Calls Lab.

LAURA
(on phone)
Hola, mi marido just came back and said
there was no . . .Que?. . but he just came . . .
(looking at David)
Wait, which lab did you go to?

DAVID
Oh shit.

LAURA
We’ve gotta go! That lab closes at 12:30.
We’ve got to rescue the urine!

INT. CAR – MIDDAY

Laura is riding up front and holding Layla. David is driving very fast. Caption reads “12:28 PM.”

LAYLA
Can you put on some musica?

DAVID
Si baby.

He cuts on the radio. Some cumbia villera is playing. They pull up to a different lab. Laura walks in with urine bottle.

DAVID
How you feeling baby? I think we might’ve made it.

ten walks / two talks

David Miller — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:11:34 +0000

stoked on the comments / ‘overall vibe’ of this recent article about andy fitch and jon cotner’s book ‘ten walks / two talks‘.

“Saying No” [3 sentence mixtape writing contest winner*]

Anna Brones — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:06:23 +0000

An old man sits on the park bench, paintbrush poised in hand. Behind him, a dog sprints away from its owner. I have a hard time saying no.

_____________________

Anna Brones is a writer and the co-founder of Under Solen Media. She writes for various green blogs and travel magazines including EcoSalon, Planet Green, Matador, and Huffington Post. She maintains a blog at je vais où.

*For notes and analysis on this story, as well as a link to the mixtape based on this story, please check here.

timeline of thoughts / actions after reading 48hr magazine’s theme

David Miller — Mon, 10 May 2010 12:07:25 +0000

4:00:00 PM- Read tweet.

4:00:14 PM – Clicked on site to read theme.

4:00:20 PM – Felt initial wave of disappointment that theme the theme wasn’t “resonating.”

4:00:30 PM – Questioned 48hr’s brand / editorial vision.

4:00:40 PM – Stared at screen. Thought about 5th grade, Georgia Tech basketball camp, kid being named “Mr. Hustle” because he was really good on D.

4:03:10 PM – Reread theme description: “The entrepreneur living on credit cards and couches.” Thought of Ross.

4:03:20 PM – Envisioned interview: “Ross Borden C.E.O. of Matador, World’s Largest Independent Travel Publication,” then visualized “big blocks of text” in the layout of a magazine. Modified idea to a kind of log with entries like “hours slept this week,” “calls made,” accompanied by photographs of Ross (a) heli-skiing and (b) up working at 3:34 am.

4:05 PM – Went outside. Sat in sun with wife and daughter. Took pictures of daughter holding cat.

4:23 PM- 4:37 PM – Chatted with Ross about theme of hustle and interview idea within context of (a) being a good story and (b) getting on 48hr’s “radar screen” as potential media partners while at the same time realizing that if (b) was truly prevalent in my motivations it likely would negate (a) in terms of literary value, although not necessarily. Checked the loading times of a couple Matador links. Looked at 48hr’s POD partner.

4:40 PM – Walked across forest and airstrip with girls. Took picture of man burning leaf-pile. Kept thinking “hustle.”

4:50 PM – Went to cerveceria with girls for afternoon snack. Found cerveceria was closed. Told girls I’d go back and make tortillas. Left camera with Lau.

4:56PM – Walked back and saw old paisano carrying huge bundle of cypress trunks out of forest followed by woman in her 50s also carrying firewood, then a kid maybe 10, with a bundle. Thought “shit, this was the picture I needed.” Felt strong emotion when paisano set the bundle down 50 ft. away and I could actually hear heavy sound of trunks hitting the ground. Thought “there are hundreds of ppl right now simultaneously writing or thinking about writing on theme of ‘hustle’ but there are thousands of times more ppl just ‘engaged in basic survival.’”

4:57 PM – Crossed airstrip and thought about submitting the chat with Ross as a kind of meta-portrait of “hustle,” that if you discerned some of the layers (such as the breaks in the chat to check certain links for loading speed), you realize it is essentially a “snapshot” of hustling.

4:57: 10 PM – Thought: “No, nobody wants to read that. It has no point of entry for the reader, no context for anyone outside of our crew.”

4:57:12 PM – Thought: “But what if I could provide some kind of chronology as a substitute for narration? Would that be something that looks good in a magazine’s layout?” Realized simultaneously that if I was thinking this it meant I wasn’t going to submit anything. Felt stoked for some reason.

5:04 PM – Made dough for tortillas. 2 cups flour. 2 tsbs olive oil. Tsb of salt. Half tsb of baking powder.