Blog
Asking questions can lead you to new places. Writing helps bring you to answers. And more questions.
Here, I’ve collected writings on a number of topics. Sometimes they’ve been published elsewhere, and other times they’re just for this blog.
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Pilsner is too often as a macro style that breweries carry as a gateway to more exciting styles. But Niko Tonks, founding brewer at Fair State Brewing Cooperative, explains what the beer was and what it might become again.
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I reached out to some poets and writers who are working today to get some suggestions on how to read poetry for enjoyment, not for a book report.
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Originally published on City Pages: June 3, 2019 The end is nigh and Hozier doesn’t want anyone to forget it. At last night’s sold-out State Theatre show, the Irish singer-songwriter led the audience through a packed set list, spanning sounds from heavy blues-rock to folky acoustic tracks. He spoke between songs only to remind everyone to enjoy themselves…
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17 Thoughts & Prayers
1: Thought Are roses still discounted the day after Valentine’s Day, if on Valentine’s Day there was a mass shooting? Or are those clipped stems, floating in a vat of water, still full price? After all, it’s a supply-and-demand thing—the way gun sales go up after a mass shooting—and either way, these people stand to…
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I have been spoiled
The front room of my house is called the pawffice. It has a broad desk, a chair, three windows, a guitar, and a varying number of cats, depending on which spot they fancy that day, that hour, that instant. I used to have to share the pawffice. Stephanie and I both started to work from…
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Learning to Fail Better
A few months ago, Fear No Lit accepted my pitch for an interview series called Fail Better. It explores how writers become better through trial and error, failing and learning how to fail a little bit less, a little bit better, the next time. It has been fun to learn from each writer.
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16 Things That Didn’t Suck About My 2016
Last night I superglued my thumb and forefinger together. Not on purpose. I was attempting to repair a ceramic spoon rest that my jackass cat, Herman, jumped from one counter he’s not supposed to be on to another counter, which he’s also not supposed to be on. A miscalculation on his part shot the spoon…
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The 60-foot tall Buddha and my first last day of teaching
– Ten days before teaching assistant workshop began, my wife and I got on a plane for Beijing. Reading books and workshop materials, and sleeping, occupied me over the thirteen-hour flight. Anxious about teaching, I studied the sheets closely, making notes. In China, we visited the Lama Temple, where visitors lit incense, despite the stifling…
James Figy 