Odd Words: Long Winter's Nap Edition

Art isn’t anecdote. It’s the consciousness we bring to our lives.
– “Dear Sugar” on TheRumpus.net

Its the busy holiday week for most people but there aren’t any readings of note and your favorite local indie bookstore is hopefully too busy ringing up the gifts to have anything going on. 17 Poets! is off for their holiday break and there is no reading at the Maple Leaf on Xmas Day.

I would check the Writer’s Block Facebook page to see if they’re meeting up on Boxer’s Day, and the same for Spoken Word New Orleans weekly Friday night event at the Red Star Gallery.

As you sit with family and friends this weekend, keep Sugar’s quote in mind. Collect up those anecdotes and family stories, and carry them home with the presents. Spend your lazy, overfed Sunday night weaving them into a tapestry of story. Imagine your own character in that narrative, and as you come up to the New Year’s begin the next chapter in your head, or better yet, write it down.

Resolutions are anecdote, fodder for idle holiday conversation. Oh, I promised to lose 20 pounds. How about you? Instead of making a list with the shelf-life of leftovers, take the beer man’s advice and write your own future.

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