December 13, 2017

Alabama rejoins the Union.

Handsome blue-eyed boy comes to fix my front door lock. He observes that the deadbolt had been inserted backwards. He takes a tour of the house. Circe adores him.

A student gathers a list of my “famous quotes” during intro to creative writing. I actually did say most of them:

Quotes by DH : Creative Writing Fall 2017

“Art never lies.”
“If you are in a prison then it is your duty to escape.”
“If somebody gives you an ignorant critique then just ignore it. It might be a wrong critique now, but the right critique at 6 tonight.”
“Believable dialogue is not the same as real dialogue. You could write down a conversation that you hear on the street and it might sound fake.”
“Something that is short always needs to be shorter. Things that are long always needs to be longer. If you write a haiku someone will always find a syllable that doesn’t need to be there.”
“There are no literary prodigies.” 
“Technique is the test of sincerity.”
“The highest fiction is that which is true to the author.”
“To me, imagination trumps experience.”
“People aren’t always born great, sometimes it accidentally happens.”
“Beware of decoration within writing.”
“You are confined by ropes of sand.”
“You have to get past yourself, but also into yourself to actually see.”
“You have the power as creative writers to have people to want to eat their children.”
“If anybody thinks quality is enough, they are crazy. It is right place, right time.”
“Nobody alive today has gotten anywhere on pure quality.”
“look around and notice good discourse.”
“Pre-writing might confine you within that character.”
“In poetry, communication comes after understanding.”
“Art allows artists to communicate things they don’t understand themselves.”
“Sincerity does not matter in poetry”
“Poetry is miraculously swift.”
“For you to have tragedy there has to be things that you cannot get over.”
“Comedy is tragedy plus one day.”
“Villanelles are games that you just have to play.”
“Mediocre poetry is this or that, but good poetry is this and that.”
“I want you to be scientists of imaginations.”
“A good poem makes a discovery.”
“I refute people who don’t like poetry with a wave of the hand.”
‘If you don’t eat donuts what do you eat?’ “Radishes”
“Today I failed to eat worms.” 
“Isn’t the vagina more poetic than inoculation?”
“Hello class” -Everyday
“I really eat a bag of radishes a day.”