Barry Graham's Blog, page 76

"We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all..."

“We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.”

- Jonathan Gottschall, The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human (via fleurstains)

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what advice do you have for someone that has had writers block for the past 6 or 7 years?

this will sound harsh but you’re probably not a writer.

writer’s writer every day. it’s ok, not everyone is.

but if you consider yourself one, get off your ass and get back to work!! write about why you haven’t been writing . anything. just write.

A note on Before

A note on Before:

Beforewas my transitional book. As I wrote it, I felt as though I was writing on the very edge of meaninglessness, of silence, of not writing at all. It was an attempt to discover meaning without plot or pattern, to be honest and not fudge anything, not hide behind literary tricks or devices. From page to page, I never knew where I was going to take it or where it was going to take me. I think it has a meaning that can’t be explained in words, but is found between the words,...

As Christmas approaches, are you unenlightened? That's because you haven't read Kill Your Self.

As Christmas approaches, are you unenlightened? That's because you haven't read Kill Your Self.:

Dark Heat: the perfect Christmas present for anyone who likes graphic novels and macabre sex and murder

Dark Heat: the perfect Christmas present for anyone who likes graphic novels and macabre sex and murder:

""My little brother works food service at the Oregon Zoo - a job that makes it really hard to..."

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"My little brother works food service at the Oregon Zoo - a job that makes it really hard to survive. In this position, he and his co-workers work for minimum wage for no benefits. Because they are classified as temporary workers, the Zoo allows them to work 1,040 hours a year before firing them and re-hiring them a few weeks later. These policies have made it very difficult for my brother to meet his basic needs.

In response, Little Bro and his co-workers started a union! They’re now a part...

Hurt: a new short story by me in PANK Magazine

Hurt: a new short story by me in PANK Magazine:

Shane is the guardian of the building’s trash.

It’s in a part of the city that used to be low-rent but has been gentrified. Even the small apartments are more expensive to rent than entire houses in other neighborhoods, except for the ones in the basement. Down there, it’s single rooms hardly big enough to be called studios, and shared toilets.

nprbooks:More than 500 authors from around the world —...

nprbooks:

More than 500 authors from around the world — including Don DeLillo, Ian McEwan, Arundhati Roy and Margaret Atwood — have asked the United Nations for an international bill of digital rights. They write:

“A person under surveillance is no longer free; a society under surveillance is no longer a democracy. To maintain any validity, our democratic rights must apply in virtual as in real space.”

Meanwhile, David Simon, creator of HBO’s The Wire, comments on the recent PEN American Center...

"I used to work at McDonald’s making minimum wage. You know what that means when someone pays you..."

“I used to work at McDonald’s making minimum wage. You know what that means when someone pays you minimum wage? You know what your boss was trying to say? ‘Hey if I could pay you less, I would, but it’s against the law.’”

- Chris Rock (via lamaracuya)