Long and difficult week of teaching has me dead tired and wondering if I can return to manuscripts. Revisions of Monte Stories will have to wait until I can read through a mountain of student essays. And this week as I have been teaching I am more and more aware of this disconnect between teaching andContinue reading “random thoughts on teaching like a writer”
Author Archives: john paul jaramillo
six armed cross at la garita
Today I am sitting and studying the Six Armed Cross on the church at La Garita in the San Luis Valley in Colorado. Hope to travel there soon and have better pictures. Hope to draft more ideas returning me to the Monte Stories project. But today I am obsessing over the cross and the uniqueness.Continue reading “six armed cross at la garita”
barthelme and failure
Finished re-reading Didion’s Play It As It Lays last night and have some time before I have to re-read Fight Club for my Intro to Lit course and I don’t have to read Kingston’s last essay from her book Woman Warrior until Weds night–see what I mean when I say the brain of school hasContinue reading “barthelme and failure”
tami show and those puro classicos
I’ve been wanting to write about the TAMI Show for a while. I have the story in my head of Lolo travelling to Denver to see Gerry and the Pacemakers. They probably all have pacemakers now but back in the day this film and travelling concert series almost led Lolo to flunking out of school.Continue reading “tami show and those puro classicos”
donoso in the brain
A new writing assignment has me with José Donoso in the brain. All articles I requested and his book Hell Has No Limits all came in today like a spring force. I’ve been interested in Donoso since I read the short story “Ana Maria” years ago in an ethnic lit course. And now I haveContinue reading “donoso in the brain”
gorilla, my love
Some random thoughts on Bambara: I haven’t been able to teach an ethnic lit course for a while but I am glad to have the opportunity again. After Tancredo’s ridiculous call for literacy tests this last week and also the crazy comments I hear from my students in the hallways I can’t think of anything more important atContinue reading “gorilla, my love”
barthelme
Found this today. My old teacher talking about his old teacher. I wonder if I can take some time from my writing to read Daugherty’s book on Barthelme. http://oregonstate.edu/media/stgqf
the brain of teaching
The brain of teaching and conferencing has me and I haven’t been able to revise or draft as much as I have been wanting. I hope to go back to the Highland Stories this weekend because I have been discussing Denis Johnson and Amy Hempel stories and I have been inspired to pair down those storiesContinue reading “the brain of teaching”
prose home movies
The first time I heard of the ‘prose home movie’ I was in Will Hochman’s Major Authors course studying my beloved JD Salinger. I remember it was a seminar course and we sat round robin style and Will made fun of the white socks and black shoes I was wearing at the time. He admitted toContinue reading “prose home movies”
Random Thoughts on ‘Messy’ Writers
Because I am a sad intellectual type I found myself listening to NPR today, specifically Dave Davies sitting in for Terry Gross. And if you anything about me you know how I feel about Terry Gross. Anyway, today, Davies interviewed Paul Giamatti who I loved in Sideways as the frustrated novelist. I like that hisContinue reading “Random Thoughts on ‘Messy’ Writers”
Dust Bowl in Southern Colorado
Interesting article in the local newspaper today. The article is about how floods and droughts affected southern Colorado in the 1930’s. It all made me think of the Abuelito and his stories about growing up in Huerfano County and seeing the dust storms over head. I was skeptical of these stories–mostly because the Abuelito wasContinue reading “Dust Bowl in Southern Colorado”
Stegner’s Sense of Place
This morning I’m thinking about the essay “Finding the Place: a Migrant Childhood” by Wallace Stegner. I’ve gone on about how much I admire Stegner’s writing style focusing on nature and also his use of long, complex sentences–these remind me of Richard Hugo–and this essay was from a book of essays I bought in Colorado Springs lastContinue reading “Stegner’s Sense of Place”
Voices
This morning as I was driving out to school the following lines slipped into my head: The Jefita had her own clippers and sometimes she dragged the boys into the bathroom for hairuts. They protested and squirmed out of her grip but she was firm. Damn it, boys, the Jefita said. Do you want toContinue reading “Voices”
a Multitude of Stories Part 2
This morning–right before leaving for work–I found a story I wrote quite a while ago for Jenny Cornell’s Representation of Science in LIterature class. The story is called House of Two Bears and it is an exaggerated story based on something my Grandfather used to tell me. The old man was a great story teller.Continue reading “a Multitude of Stories Part 2”
a Multitude of Stories
Lately, I’ve had only two books on my coffee table around me while I write: Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros and the Collected Stories of Wallace Stegner. I’ve also been listening to Los Lobos and Bob Dylan today as I think of the world of the Little Lolo Stories. And I can say these texts haveContinue reading “a Multitude of Stories”