I Kan't Spell

 
Q&A - Bret

I snaked this from Doug - it was fun.

What fictional character would you like to date, and why?

Miriam Leivers from Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence would be my choice. Despite the obvious Oedipus complex this doubles as, it still evokes some memory of flowered fields and Miriam laying on clean linens wanting me to read to her. The character she portrays in this novel is a wild yet grounded socialite that has a desire to be forever moving, but moving in circles and not a line.

Introduce one other author you think people should read, and suggest a good book/place to start with.

Cormac McCarthy may be the greatest writer you already know. His books tend to lean to the intense over the top side but they are written like one puts honey on bread. I recommend reading Blood Meridian first...it'll change the way you read.


Offer a favorite sentence or passage from another writer.

"We always define the limits of our personality too narrowly. In general, we count as part of our personality only that which we can recognize as an individual trait or as diverging from the norm. But we can consist of everything the world consists of, each of us, and just as our body contains the genealogical table of evolution as far back as the fish and even much further, so we bear everything in our soul that once was alive in the soul of men. Every god and devil that ever existed, be it among the Greeks, Chinese, or Zulus, are within us, exist as latent possibilities, as wishes, as alternatives. If the human race were to vanish from the face of the earth save for one halfway talented child that had received no education, this child would rediscover the entire course of evolution, it would be capable of producing everything once more, gods and demons, paradises, commandments, the Old and the New testament"

- Herman Hesse - Demian

This is one of those books that you hold to your chest after you are done reading. It reminds you of your favorite thing in the world. If you have this book, especially if it is mine, give it to someone. You'll be giving a great gift. If you don't have it... please read it.

What is your favorite literary first line?"

Wow...Doug actually took mine from Ginsberg's Howl. I think the first line from that poem is brilliant, but although it probably may favorite first line of literature I took another one from a poem and one from a book.


"As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I lighted on a certain place where there was a Den, and I laid me down in that place to sleep: and, as I slept, I dreamed a dream."

The Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan.

I remember reading this book about 4 years ago. I also remember not being too enticed to read it but when I read that first line...I got off my elbows, put some pillows in back of my lower back and sat up with the book perched on two more pillows in front of me. I cracked my neck and was pulled into it as if I had found the answers I had been seeking.


"I am singing to you
Soft as a man with a dead child speaks;
Hard as a man in handcuffs,
Held where he cannot move:"

Carl Sandburg - Killers

I get chills every time I read it.



How did the last good book you read end up in your hands and why did you read it?

The last good book I read that someone gave me was Graham Greene's The End of the Affair. Doug gave it to me.


What makes your favorite pair of shoes better than the rest?

Suede sand colored Clark Wallabies wear every experience permanently on their soft cushioned texture.


Describe the best breakfast of your life.

Ordering in at a hotel and getting everything on the menu from Belgium waffles to sour dough ham sandwiches. Jas and I only eat half of it and then make love until it's time to check out.

What is your idea of absolute happiness?

Happiness is feeling as though I was always weightless, like in a pool.


What is your favorite indulgence, either wicked or benign?

I have(had) so many, but right now it would have to be a good Soccer match and an ice cold Stella.


Why do you write?

I'd like to think that I write for myself but in all honesty I write for several reasons. 1) There are things inside of you that come out so much better when you actually sit down to give them not only an audience but a texture of keyboard sounds and black blinky fonts. 2) I'd like to think that people that know me can communicate with me via what they write and what they read of mine. 3) There is an outside chance that you resonate with someone that you don't know and make some connection to them through your words.


What do you dislike most?

The walking dead hold a very place on my mantle of dislike. I dislike the people that stand in line at the Butcher's and bitch about how it is taking so long. I dislike those who yell at people at the MVA. I am not what you would call the most courteous person in the world, but I know enough about courtesy to keep the wheels of the world greased so that it continues to turn. The walking dead do not.


Talk about your vision of the ideal life.

I just got out of the pool and I have to squint my eyes from the water and sun. I can hear my young children running and squealing on the side of the house as they play with a hose. My beautiful and caring wife comes down to me with some Iced tea and tells an anecdote about the evening news. I stand up with my beverage in hand and my youngest son comes running to hug me and gets me from the back. I sway and am about to fall into the pool as my wife snaps a picture from our deck, and the surprise on my face and my son's laughter is immortalized by the crafting hands of our lady.

Who are your favorite characters in history? Have any of them influenced your writing?

My favorite characters in history are the writers. People like Pope, Locke, and Swift are heroes to me. Without them we wouldn't have had Orwell, Hesse, Huxley, and Hemingway. I really believe the myriad of writers over the years and the volumes that have been written are more valuable and influential than any war, leader, or singular national idea.

If I had to choose one character or what might be a non-literary figure I would more than likely have to go with Alexander the Great. The volumes of accomplishments are pretty much unrivaled.


Aside from other writers, name some artists from whom you draw inspiration and talk a little about their work.

Most impressionist paintings send me on a journey of thought that leads me to my own ignorance in order to smack it. They take me to the door in my head marked "Dummy". I knock and it opens. Inside I feel warm and enlightened and notice that there are 10 more doors all with different words on it. This is what I feel like when I look at art by Monet, Manet, Seurat, Degas and Tissot amongst others.

Any music performance leads me to new ideas or new feelings of release. The best kinds of performances are the genuine ones of the young and the unfolded. The shows that involve the sweat and the nervous tension between band and audience are intimate enough to capture inspiration. There is a message or an emotion trying to be captured by both parties. I love when this is achieved. I get this from almost any genuinely open concert I have been to.

In the For-All-Eternity category, what will be your final thought?

Intimations of immortality eventually end, and with my line will continue to do so.
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