'Loo Go Bragh

The midwestern IWP squad came to Waterloo to celebrate St. Patrick's Day this weekend. I spent some time playin Virgil in Dante's Inferno, giving the tour of Hell, and we did lots of fun things, like walk the nature trail, crash the Bosnian bar because Jameson's was over capacity, and witness truly cutting edge karoke at the Tymes, where everyone leaves a little uglier than they did when they got there. There were some things we didn't get to do. The open mic at the Arts Center was a bust (a bigger heads up than a note on the door might have helped), Jameson's was too crowded like I said (apparently Ben was there the same time we were -- could have been standing right next to him and not known it), and we didn't play Pitch! We forgot! But I'm so happy and glad they all came and enjoyed Waterloo. I'm sorry the others couldn't make it, but there's always another get togther around the corner.

Co, Matt, and Lisa in awe of the Tymes' karoke:


Andrew appreciates the Tymes:


Me and Mandy at some point between "Sweet Home Alabama" and "White Wedding":


Exploring the woods out at Cedar Bend with Amy and Co's dog Dharma:


Dharma identifies an enemy target in the water and engages:


Wrapping up Saturday night:


The best news: Amy and Co are pregnant! I'm so happy for them. Congratulations and salinte!

Comments

Benjamin said…
Ooooh, the Tymes. Yikes. I got a great story about that place I should tell you some time.

Yeah, Jameson's was insane. I didn't get there till around 10:30-11, and I stayed because my peeps already had a table. I wouldn't have stayed otherwise, since the place was too busy (took a good ten minutes to get a pint from the beer wench) and I had another invite to Vic's.

Glad you guys still managed to have a good time. :)
1:14 AM
Matt Hanneman said…
Thanks for hosting Darby. We had a great weekend! Thanks for posting the pics too. Lisa and I will put our pictures up on our new photo blog soon...as soon as we have a new photo blog. It was great seeing everyone!
8:02 AM
Darby said…
Can't wait to see them. Thanks for coming, too, I'm glad everyone enjoyed the weekend. It was a big treat to have everyone here.
10:19 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mirror, Mirror

Image
Recently I bought a copy of a pretty well reviewed and promoted speculative fiction novel.  About two chapters in, the main character looks in a mirror and describes themself.  I literally closed the book and stopped reading.  The novel had other issues, but this put me right out of the story.  This technique - being generous here - occurs a lot in first person narratives, about as often as a story beginning with the main character waking up from a dream.  The mirror device is best avoided, but not necessarily because it's so overused - it's best avoided because simply put, it's so easy.  A character, especially a protagonist, should never be described; they should be imagined.
Read more

Conversations With: Dr. Daniel Dahlquist

Here's what I hope is the start of a new weekly (or so) feature on the blog: a mini-interview with writers about the craft. My good friend and teacher Dr. Daniel Dahlquist inaugurates the series. Dr. Dahlquist is a wonderful poet; his poetry has appeared in respected literary journals such as Prairie Schooner, New Virginia Review, River Styx, Kentucky Poetry Review, and the Louisville Review. He graduated from the University of Iowa's storied Writer's Workshop and holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from Southern Illinois University. His first book, SPEECH TO THE DEAD PEOPLE, was published in 1997 by Cedar Creek Press. You can read an excerpt from the book (and my favorite of his poems) here . Without further adieu: Q: What poets or other writers do you consider influences? A: The apocalyptic poets appealed to me when I was very young. I started writing poems at age sixteen, on my grandfather's 1928 L.C. Smith typewriter, largely to impress my English teacher.
Read more

My Advice For Writers

More and more I get asked for advice from aspiring writers. Mostly this is because I have a book, not because I really know anything. I'm not good at giving advice. Actually, I'm pretty good at it, just not very good at following it myself. So take all of this with a grain of salt. Actually, you should probably just click away to some other website right now. If you're still here, or have just reached the end of the internet, seriously: I've given a lot of thought to what I say to a serious writer who is asking me for serious perspective, and in so much as I can give it, I usually speak to these things: Find your faults . You have them. We all do. One thing my day job has taught me is to actively seek out process improvement. Usually we wait for problems to come to us - it's how we know they're problems - but most often in business, this can get you in trouble. The same applies to your art. It is a process; you should actively seek to impro
Read more