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Charity Spotlight

Why I Like Workers Interfaith Network: They host the best damn picnic in Memphis Rebekah Jordan Gienapp sat in our living room and asked us what we thought about future campaigns They want folks to make a living wage They don’t want employers to steal employee’s wages They fight on, regardless of whether the state legislature intends to run...

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Ain’t No Commies ‘Round Here

“At my feet, the winter grass was yellow and bent. Some, like Maureen, might call its color dead, but it reminded me of the cow’s salt lick after it had been in the fields for a while, sides curved by the flat, black tongues of cows. I studied my hands holding the poster board, hatch-marked with thin scratches, impatient when I wouldn’t wait...

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The Dance between Intellect and Creative Impulse

“Interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art.” Susan Sontag, courtesy of A-Word-A-Day “Revision must honor the creative impulse that led to the words that strived—neck stretched—to achieve something the intellect—sitting in the bleachers, watching the race—can only glimpse.” Ellen Morris Prewitt Listen to...

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Sunday Listening

“I don’t want to hear any more talk about heaven. Or Jesus,” my mom says. Still, I think it was a sign. Jesus talking like a surfer dude, except saying “skate” instead of “rock.” The real thing. So I decided to become a rollerblader for Jesus. My mom says, “Yeah, and before that, you wanted to retire the national debt.” “Rollerblader...

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Mentoring in Audio

Yesterday I joined the Podiobooks Mentoring Community. The Community is a Google+ site created by Podiobooks.com, a site offering free serialized audio books. Last year, when I was struck by this wild idea to record my short stories and make them available on-line for free, I found podibooks.com. I hung around their community for days,...

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What I Discovered

If you’re gonna ask folks to listen to your work, your writing needs to be clear and easy to understand. The ear is not as flexible as the eye, which can re-scan a sentence almost without your knowing it. The ear, if confused, just sends signals to the brain causing it to shout, “Wait, wait, wait!” Originally, I had 18...

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An Ode to Freedom

I am not patriotic. I don’t like red, white and blue. I mean, I don’t like the colors. I’m not particularly a flag person, either. The only time I reacted to the flag was shortly after 9/11. The color guard marched in at a University of Memphis game, and everyone stood up like they meant it. Even then, the wave that washed over me was more a...

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Why I Like Mid-South Peace and Justice

They support the MATA riders On Easter Saturday, in response to the KKK rally, they hosted MEMPHIS UNITED They have cool t-shirts Paul Garner, the MSPJ Organizing Coordinator, helped start The Bridge street paper They empower men and women who have experienced homelessness I bought my tomatoes from them one summer To contribute to Mid-South...

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