#creative-nonfiction

[thepersonalwords]

Strive to be beyond what others perceive you to be, by striving beyond the limits of yourself.

Debbie Tosun Kilday, No Limits: How I Beat The Slots

[machinations-ii]

Debut Album of The Strokes' Is This It and Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights.

TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS

New York City was in transition in 2002, the devastation of 9/11 still lingered but a new sense of goodwill and compassion flowed through the city with dozens of bands reanimating a faded glory that had come to define the Giuliani era. Arriving after several well-regarded EPS that honed Interpol's Sonic and sartorial sense, it's possible no album captured this moment as vividly as their debut turn on the bright lights. Interpol took shape at NYU in the late 1990s where the band formed partially as a result of mutual fashion appreciation. Frontman Paul banks had come across bassist Carlos dangler in their dorm wearing skin tight black clothing and a giant crucifix. Meanwhile guitarist daniel kessler had already gotten to know Dengler in a world war 1 class after approaching him with a compliment about his shoes, and the trio eventually found replacement drummer Sam Fogerino while he was working in a used clothing store. Soon after coming together, the group started to jam at Funkadelic studios, PDA was already in embryonic form by then. After hustling in the NYC circuit and recording here and there, a chance meeting with Emma Pollock of the Delgado's led to the release of an Interpol EP in 2000 on the esteemed chemical underground label. On the heels of the EP success and in the midst of the post strokes gold rush in New York City, Interpol scored a deal with Matador Records then home to bands like Belen Sebastian, yo a tango, and pavement. Chris Lombardi of Matador claimed that he was most impressed by the business-like manner with which the band conducted themselves the suits first and foremost. Interpol decided to record turn on the bright lights at producer Peter Quedas's home studio in Bridgeport Connecticut to avoid all of the temptations New York City had to offer a hot young band while Cadis has gone on to produce the national, Frightened Rabbit, and Yan C, his most recent credit prior to turn on the bright lights was engineering the get up kids on a wire. Sessions were contentious Carlos D had wanted more keyboards, more nights on the town, and the title of the record to be celebrated baselines of the future. If banks had his way, PDA wouldn't have even made the record. However Quedas protested and told him that's their hit single, which it was. Quedas was not enthused with the new, until the final mix which had him in tears. But for all the seriousness and grandeur of turn on the bright lights moments of humor abounded. The spoken intro of Stella was a diver and she was always down; was recorded while banks was ad-libbing with ice in his mouth “this one called Stella was a diver she's always down”. Anchored by Carlos D and Fogerino’s hulking rhythm section, Banks created it in New York City recognizable to its citizens but in cryptic indelible lyrics. “The subway was a porno”, “relationships were a bracelet” and “they had 200 couches for you to sleep” when it all felt like too much. Beginning with a crowd stoking instrumental that would foreshadow runs opening for U2 and the Cure, turn on the bright lights resulted in music of unusually sweeping and grandiose gestures that felt foreign to rock music in general at the time but especially to indie rock. It's hard to imagine the transition towards the post-punk bombast of Arcade Fire, The Killers, and the National without Interpol opening the lane first. While local papers would occasionally snark at them as fashion victims and post-punk dilettante, critical acclaim for turn on the bright lights was overwhelmingly positive. The brilliance of turn on the bright lights is all the more apparent 19 years later a beacon that continues to shine radiantly during its city's darkest moments. IS THIS IT

Fueled by hype that was extraordinary even by the standards of the British press, The Strokes became instant superstars in the UK long before their fellow Americans heard “is this it” thirty-six stylish lo-Fi down-and-dirty minutes of unwholesome Downton Blues that evoke The Velvet Underground, The Ramones, television, and countless others who will firm New York City as the epicenter of punk rock cool, the strokes debut was already in stores in the UK for months before its eventual American release mere weeks after the September 11th attacks. Is this it subsequently took on an unintended resonance and became a sentimental document of a New York City that would no longer exist after Rudolph Giuliani, gentrification, and the war on terror. The Strokes may not have saved rock and roll themselves but The Libertines, Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, the killers, and the Arctic Monkeys likely wouldn't exist without “is this it”. while several members of The Strokes have been playing together since high school in a project called “just pipe” the band truly took shape after guitarist Albert Hammond jr. joined the group he and singer Julian Casablancas attended the same Swiss boarding school and reconnected after Hammond returned to New York City and serendipitously moved across the street from Elite Model Management which just so happened to be owned by Casablancas’ father. Contrary to the stereotype of The Strokes as a prefab overnight success, the group struggled throughout the late 90s playing to empty rooms before their demo got the attention of Rough Trade ANR man Jeff Travis, nor were they predator naturally cool from the start. before The Strokes first gig Hammond claims the band was so nervous they watched the Eddie Murphy movie Bowfinger to calm themselves. Preliminary sessions for is this it were recorded with Gil Norton best known for his work with the Pixies but also Foo Fighters “ultra slick the color in the shape” for the album itself The Strokes would reunite with Gordon Raphael who previously produced the modern age EP. The unorthodox production of “is this it” was the result of Raphael using a minimal number of microphones and following Casablancas says requests to have it sound like your favorite blue jeans not totally destroyed but worn in comfortable. According to Raphael an A&R guy named Steve obelisk II held is this it most unprofessional sounding music that he has never heard. The strokes declined the invitation from MTV to play alongside the vines in the hives at the 2002 Video Music Awards. The band didn't want to be lumped in to quote the new rock revolution it consisted of mostly bands with the word the and a plural noun in their names. Casablancas told MTV I'm not going to do a band off with them and strokes manager Ryan gentle said “that was pretty much the last time we were played on MTV”. The infamous bare-bottom on the international release of is this it is that of photographer Colin lanes girlfriend, however concerns about whether conservative chain stores like Target and Walmart would carry the record but The Strokes to switch to the American cover shot of a subatomic particle in a bubble chamber Casablancas is rumored to have liked it even more than the original. A more crucial alteration from the international version involves the removal of its own, New York City cops all involved agreed that a chorus of New York City cops they ain't that smart would be considered in poor taste after 9/11 even if the song was written years previous by removing the song from the US release of is this it there's not a single song in a Strokes album that has mentioned New York City by name. Well The Strokes achieved a level of popularity rivaled by few American bands in the 21st century is this it was considered a commercial disappointment in its time it peaked only at number 33 on Billboard while lead single last night topped out at number five of the modern rock chart with some day stalling at Number 17. Long story short, these two albums (and arguably two of the best rock albums of all time) had left a dent in my

life for it defined my teenage years when I had nothing, lost, and frustrated with my life. It reminded me the melancholic time that I had in the past. So I'll leave you guys with a lyrics from each album and try to find the song that corresponds to it :). "I have 7 faces, and I know which one to wear" "Soma is what they would take when hard times opened their eyes and saw pain in a new way"

[blingdien]

Before You Evict Another Part of Yourself in The Name of Growth

The idea for this piece came late into the night, somewhere between the end of a freelance gig and the onset of a caffeine-induced soul rummage. I had just finished writing something for a friend-slash-employer-slash-whatever-you-call-someone-who-pays-you-but-isn’t-technically-your-boss. You know the type that throws you a gig, pays on time, no HR policies, just vibes. The task was done but the…

Before You Evict Another Part of Yourself in The Name of Growth

[taikizetsu]

𝓐 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓜𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓪𝓰𝓮

Plaza, Aleck Vin Angelo L.                                                                         BE-11-HUMSS-1

Christian Haul is considered to be one of today’s pillar of modern romance due to the numerous novels that he published on love and relationships. However, Haul’s surge in popularity actually began to take off during the infamous Love Bug of 2008.

 On his interview, Haul reminisced his struggles as a no-name love guru trying to make ends meet. He talked about how he would only eat canned spaghetti for almost 2 weeks because of his lack of money. Then the Love Bug began.

 On December of 2008, a surge of hopeless romantics suddenly struggled to find love in New York City just in time for the holidays. Christian, who began to see the opportunity that this would bring him, published his first “guidebook to romance”, “A Love Message”

 Because of the Love Bug, “A Love Message” became an instant best seller, selling more than 1 million copies across the globe. Haul’s first book also topped the New York Times best selling list.

 Even now, Christian Haul said he will forever be grateful for the infamous Love Bug of 2008.

For more information about Christian Haul and his journey, you may visit his official website, LovebyChristianHaul.com

[sfsucw]

The Writer Summer Flash Contest 2018

PRIZE:  $1,000 and publication in our magazine

DEADLINE: July 15th, 2018

FEE: $25

SUBMIT: https://writermag.submittable.com/submit

GUIDELINES:

1,000 words or less

The entry fee is $25 (including processing fees). All entries MUST be submitted through Submittable to be considered. We cannot accept mailed or emailed submissions.

We encourage you to submit multiple entries for a discounted entry fee of $15. All entries must be submitted on the same transaction in order to get the discounted rate. The first submission will be $25 and each additional submission (up to 5 per transaction) will be $15.

You may choose to add on a critique of one of your entries for an additional $25. Our critiques are roughly 200 words and aim to show both your work's best strengths in addition to what might need improvement. If you submit more than one piece, our judging panel will critique the story that we felt was the strongest overall. Again, if you submit more than one entry and you add-on a critique fee, we will only critique one piece. You will receive your critique in an email via Submittable once we close the contest and announce the winners. It takes a great deal of time to read all entries and craft our critiques, so please have patience with us as we work through our entries.

You may enter simultaneously submitted work. However, if one of your pieces is accepted for publication anywhere else, please withdraw your entry on Submittable and email us at [email protected] so we know your story is no longer under consideration. We are not able to give refunds for contest entries that were accepted for publication elsewhere, so consider your options carefully before entering simultaneously submitted work.

Do not submit any work over 1000 words or it will be disqualified. (Your piece's title will not be included in the final word count.)

Please remove your name, bio, and any contact info from the file that you submit – including title page, header and footer. This is a blind contest and your confidentiality is essential. Once we close the contest and determine our winners, Submittable will allow us to contact you via your account information. There is no need whatsoever to include your personal information in your document. 

We prefer Word documents, but we do accept some other file types (such as PDFs). Please do give your piece a title and make sure that title matches the name you enter in the Submittable "title" form. (Your title will not be included in the maximum word count). For multiple submissions, simply enter one of your stories' titles in the Submittable form.

A blind reading of all entries will be conducted by the editorial staff of The Writer.

$1,000 and publication in a future issue of our magazine will be awarded to the winner. The runner-up will receive $500 and publication on writermag.com. The third-place winner will receive $250 and publication on writermag.com.

Close friends and colleagues (current & former) of The Writer staff and Madavor Media are not eligible to compete.

All submissions must be submitted via our online submission form manager. Again, we will not accept mail or email submissions.

All submissions must be previously unpublished. A work that has previously appeared on a blog or website is considered previously published and is thus ineligible for our competition.

Entry fees are non-refundable.

International (non-US) writers are welcome to submit. 

Must be 18 years or older to enter.

MORE INFO: https://www.writermag.com/writing-resources/contests/

[sfsucw]

Call for Submissions: OPOSSUM

OPOSSUM is a biannual literary magazine featuring work animated by music. We publish two print issues per year, each including a 7-inch vinyl record of author readings! After each printing, we trickle out all contributors’ work to the website where it is freely available to share.

DEADLINE: None

FEE: None

SUBMIT: https://opossumaliterarymarsupial.submittable.com/submit/

GUIDELINES:

You can submit multiple works in a single or in multiple genres, but please use your best judgment about sending us the best work you have that is appropriate to our music-driven mission. We also accept multiple submissions. Please inform us if work we are considering has been accepted elsewhere.

PLEASE NOTE: We are looking for written work to evaluate on the page. We are not seeking recordings, songs, or readings with musical accompaniment. Work will be considered for publication as an audio recording after we have accepted it for print.

Because we want to encourage work that relates to music in subtle, oblique, and surprising ways, we ask you to include a brief artist’s statement illuminating your work’s relationship to specific musical forms and artifacts. You are welcome to include an author bio as part of your artist’s statement, and we would also love to hear how you heard about us.

Flash Fiction/Non-Fiction:  We seek flash fiction and non-fiction animated by music, under 1,800 words in length. Please specify whether your submission is fiction or non-fiction along with an artist's statement explaining how your work engages the world of music. See our Manifesto to learn what we're looking for. Our pay scale for flash varies based on length. $75-100 is the typical range.

Poetry:  We are currently seeking submissions of poetry (3-5 poems, 10 pages maximum). Poems can be either lyrical or narrative, and the connection to music can be subtle or explicit. We like the weird and the sincere. See our Manifesto to learn more. We pay $75/poem or a negotiated rate for sets.

Non-fiction:  We seek non-fiction animated by music, up to ~12,000 words. But truly, we don't care about the man's definition of art!  If it grabs us, we won't stop reading because of some stupid stupid's rules.  Just so we're on the same page, please submit an accompanying artist's statement explaining how your work engages the world of music. See our Manifesto and previous issues to learn what we're looking for. We pay a minimum of $100 or $12 per page (12pt Times New Roman/double spaced).  

Fiction:  We seek fiction animated by music, up to ~12,000 words. But truly, we don't care about the man's definition of art!  If it grabs us, we won't stop reading because of some stupid stupid's rules.  Just so we're on the same page, please submit an accompanying artist's statement explaining how your work engages the world of music. See our Manifesto and previous issues to learn what we're looking for. We pay a minimum of $100 or $12 per page (12pt Times New Roman/double spaced).

MORE INFO: https://opossumaliterarymarsupial.submittable.com/submit/

[mrkindakooky]

Posted my english hw to Enclave