Aside from work and home, what is the third place I’ve been to this year? I think I have a tie for third: If you asked me at the beginning of this year, I would say school. I spent hours and hours at UIndy, even though I lived off campus. The student newspaper, The Reflector, … Continue reading Tied for third
Author: jfigy
I'm a writer, vegetarian, musician, francophile, and student at UIndy. I have a beautiful GF/editor, a big family, two rabbits, and a devil cat.
From my desk chair at Angie’s List, I watched two men walk around on the roof of another building. It was wet, and the shingles must’ve been slippery. But there’s something about standing on a roof and looking out over your surroundings. It’s freeing. I stood on top of that building once—before there was a … Continue reading Part of me is construction
In creative writing classes, people say many things that make little to no sense. It turns out that, no matter how much someone loves to read and write, most people are ill-equipped to talk about writing (want proof? Read Billy Collins’ poem “Workshop”). It’s easier to talk about craft in those lower-level composition classes. You can … Continue reading Talking about writing, characters, humanity
When I told my friend Ben that there was a petting zoo at the pumpkin patch, he was mildly amused. But once we arrived, one animal in particular made him ecstatic, chanting its name like some sort of charismatic worshiper. He said: “Llama! Llama! Llama!” I thought it was strange that he was so obsessed … Continue reading Grass mud horse (for your list of things not to say in public)
I'm already behind. I'm doing this thing called Think Kit. It's a month of writing prompts to jump start your blog, and a local company called Small Box curates it. I did the first prompt, but dropped the ball yesterday when I received this: What did you change your mind about this year? Was it a big deal – the … Continue reading Flip the script: vegan fish
Twenty Fourteen was a huge year for me. Even so, "the year 2014" sounds like the setting for a sci-fi story, and some of the events still feel as surreal as an alien invasion. I could easily write 5,000 words about everything that happened, but here's the Reader's Digest version. 1. I graduated It happened May 3, 2014, … Continue reading A Thousand Words
what's a simile for a brick? _____(as hard as a... _____as heavy as a... _____as red as a...) you build descriptions with bricks, not for them, bricks sit, indifferent— at home the shower water turns black at my feet, while obsidian tornadoes twist from nostril tombs, dropping detritus from my mucus membrane; sell the grime … Continue reading Before lunch we deconstruct a chimney questioning…
Poet Billy Collins looked at me, across the book signing table, and said, “How about: Go fuck yourself?” The former United States poet laureate stared through his round glasses, face stone serious expression. Quite literally, I was asking for it. Billy Collins read Saturday, Nov. 8, at Central Library as a part of Vonnegut Fest … Continue reading Why Billy Collins told me to eff off
I've come to talk to you again. North Carolina Pastor Alan Martin is reaching out to poor souls—that is, if they’re handing him a bowl of spaghetti. In September, he bought an Olive Garden never ending pasta pass for $100. Only 1,000 people total bought the pasta pass, and any one of them could break … Continue reading Hello pasta my old friend…
When the tour guide said Emily Dickinson’s bedroom was under construction and therefore off limits, I felt so relieved. This great dread dissipated like vapor, and I enjoyed the rest of the 90-minute tour much more than the first portion. But I couldn’t explain it: Why didn’t I want her room, where the magic happened, … Continue reading Places that haunt me
James Figy 