July 26th, 2010 / 12:52 am
Random

Some Sentences Recently Written In My Moleskine

“I saw the flag, and the sun slanting on the broad grass.” — William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury

“Thank you for not walking your dog in this area.” — Sign at an RV park in Estes Park, Colorado

“Summer or winter, the shade of trees or their hard shadow, I never seem to get into my Rice Krispies until noon.” — Grace Paley, The Little Disturbances of Man

“Talk to LaRhonda: SEX” — From a notebook found on Southwest Flight 620, San Francisco to Denver

“When Haley Joel Osment thought about Dakota Fanning’s father he saw a normal-looking man sitting on the edge of a bed in the morning, standing in an office with a neutral facial expression, walking to his apartment at night, walking into his bedroom, quietly closing the door, screaming in agony, brushing his teeth, sleeping.” — Tao Lin, Richard Yates

“But then, why would I want a chick no one gives a shit about?” — Some guy walking near 16th and Dolores

“The sun was like a huge fifty-cent piece that someone had poured Kerosene on and then had lit with a match and said, ‘Here, hold this while I go get a newspaper,’ and put the coin in my hand, but never came back.” — Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America

43 Comments

  1. zusya17

      One of these things is not like the others,
      One of these things just doesn’t belong,
      Can you tell which thing is not like the others
      By the time I finish my song?

      / can i say i recently wrote this online?

  2. charliestarch

      Best thing I recently wrote in my non-moleskin notebook was: “He gotta trust me like I’m birth control.” Bengals WR Chad Ochocinco re: relationship with QB Carson Palmer

  3. stephen

      i was amazon-searching/wikipedia-ing richard brautigan the other day. seems like an interesting author.

  4. charliestarch

      Best thing I recently wrote in my non-moleskin notebook was: “He gotta trust me like I’m birth control.” Bengals WR Chad Ochocinco re: relationship with QB Carson Palmer

  5. stephen

      i was amazon-searching/wikipedia-ing richard brautigan the other day. seems like an interesting author.

  6. Rich

      In my non-moleskine notebook I wrote down this quote about the Roaring 20’s from a book I’m currently reading,

      It was, said one commentator, “sex o’clock in America.”

  7. James Yeh

      He is. I liked both In Watermelon Sugar (a novel) and The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster (poems). If you had to pick just one, In Watermelon Sugar is probably his most well-known and essential book.

  8. James Yeh

      But both are worth the read and available in one handy volume, along with a book of his I can’t remember right now.

  9. Lincoln

      Dude, no mention of his actually most well-known book that comes in the same volume?

  10. James Yeh

      I actually skipped that one, for some reason. I still stand by my recommendation of the other two though.

  11. Lincoln

      You skipped it when you read the book? You should go back and read it. It is great.

  12. Rich

      In my non-moleskine notebook I wrote down this quote about the Roaring 20’s from a book I’m currently reading,

      It was, said one commentator, “sex o’clock in America.”

  13. stephen

      cool, thanks james

  14. James Yeh

      He is. I liked both In Watermelon Sugar (a novel) and The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster (poems). If you had to pick just one, In Watermelon Sugar is probably his most well-known and essential book.

  15. James Yeh

      But both are worth the read and available in one handy volume, along with a book of his I can’t remember right now.

  16. Lincoln

      Dude, no mention of his actually most well-known book that comes in the same volume?

  17. Kristen Iskandrian

      I like this post. It has reminded me about Grace Paley, whom I’ve been away from for too long.

      That Brautigan line is memorable for me too. But something syntactically about it is bugging me:

      “The sun was like a huge fifty-cent piece that someone had poured Kerosene on and then had lit with a match and said, ‘Here, hold this while I go get a newspaper,’ and put the coin in my hand, but never came back.”

      It’s the “and put the coin in my hand.” I want it to be just: “and then put in my hand”.

      I don’t know, it’s an image I love but a sentence I want to edit.

  18. Reynard Seifert

      indeed. although i like in watermelon sugar a lot and think it is maybe a better book, trout fishing is more than worth reading in the way that found food is worth eating when you don’t have any money. don’t really like his poetry that much; it’s okay. i think all his books are fun to read, which is more than i can say for much of the western canon.

  19. Reynard Seifert

      i thought the same thing, kristen. but then i feel like sometimes it’s the awkward sentences that get wedged in my brain. this is one.

      i think i might write: “The sun was a huge fifty-cent piece that someone poured Kerosene on, lit with a match and said, ‘Here, hold this while I go get a newspaper,’ then put the coin in my hand but never came back.”

  20. Reynard Seifert

      i should say that i think his poetry is weird because it’s like a guy muttering to himself, whereas the novels are like poetry.

  21. James Yeh

      I actually skipped that one, for some reason. I still stand by my recommendation of the other two though.

  22. Kristen Iskandrian

      You’re right about that, about the unwieldy ones.

      I’m still tinkering. But maybe: “The sun was like a huge fifty-cent piece that someone had poured Kerosene on, lit with a match, and put in my hand, saying, ‘Here, hold this while I go get a newspaper,’ but then never came back.”

      Still bothering me, though, because of the referent traffic jam. It’s tempting to attribute “but then never came back” to the sun, not the someone.

      Good chat.

  23. Paul

      It’s sex o’clock somewhere.

  24. Lincoln

      You skipped it when you read the book? You should go back and read it. It is great.

  25. Reynard Seifert

      totally. absence and ambiguity attract me. maybe that’s why my relationships are plagued by them.

  26. Rich

      Yes, indeed!

  27. Reynard Seifert

      “I could hear my watch whenever the car stopped, but not often they were already eating   Who would play a   Eating the business of eating inside of you space too space and time confused Stomach saying noon brain saying eat oclock   All right   I wonder what time it is what of it.” — The Sound and the Fury

  28. stephen

      cool, thanks james

  29. Eric Beeny

      Brautigan…

  30. Steven Augustine

      I think this neatly implies the physical difference between polishing a word doc and working out material on a manual typewriter

  31. Kristen Iskandrian

      I like this post. It has reminded me about Grace Paley, whom I’ve been away from for too long.

      That Brautigan line is memorable for me too. But something syntactically about it is bugging me:

      “The sun was like a huge fifty-cent piece that someone had poured Kerosene on and then had lit with a match and said, ‘Here, hold this while I go get a newspaper,’ and put the coin in my hand, but never came back.”

      It’s the “and put the coin in my hand.” I want it to be just: “and then put in my hand”.

      I don’t know, it’s an image I love but a sentence I want to edit.

  32. Reynard Seifert

      indeed. although i like in watermelon sugar a lot and think it is maybe a better book, trout fishing is more than worth reading in the way that found food is worth eating when you don’t have any money. don’t really like his poetry that much; it’s okay. i think all his books are fun to read, which is more than i can say for much of the western canon.

  33. Reynard Seifert

      i thought the same thing, kristen. but then i feel like sometimes it’s the awkward sentences that get wedged in my brain. this is one.

      i think i might write: “The sun was a huge fifty-cent piece that someone poured Kerosene on, lit with a match and said, ‘Here, hold this while I go get a newspaper,’ then put the coin in my hand but never came back.”

  34. Reynard Seifert

      i should say that i think his poetry is weird because it’s like a guy muttering to himself, whereas the novels are like poetry.

  35. Kristen Iskandrian

      You’re right about that, about the unwieldy ones.

      I’m still tinkering. But maybe: “The sun was like a huge fifty-cent piece that someone had poured Kerosene on, lit with a match, and put in my hand, saying, ‘Here, hold this while I go get a newspaper,’ but then never came back.”

      Still bothering me, though, because of the referent traffic jam. It’s tempting to attribute “but then never came back” to the sun, not the someone.

      Good chat.

  36. Paul Cunningham

      It’s sex o’clock somewhere.

  37. Reynard Seifert

      totally. absence and ambiguity attract me. maybe that’s why my relationships are plagued by them.

  38. Rich

      Yes, indeed!

  39. Reynard Seifert

      “I could hear my watch whenever the car stopped, but not often they were already eating   Who would play a   Eating the business of eating inside of you space too space and time confused Stomach saying noon brain saying eat oclock   All right   I wonder what time it is what of it.” — The Sound and the Fury

  40. Eric Beeny

      Brautigan…

  41. Steven Augustine

      I think this neatly implies the physical difference between polishing a word doc and working out material on a manual typewriter

  42. brittany wallace

      trout fishing is in it. it’s a very three-in-one

  43. brittany wallace

      trout fishing is in it. it’s a very three-in-one