study abroad election interview

A few weeks ago, before the election, one of the exchange students from Ohio interviewed a few of us about whether or not we felt disconnected from the election coverage, and i got my 15 seconds of pseudo-fame - hehe. Check it out...
http://www.palestra.net/videos/play/17986)

live gig @ milkwood jam *video

In a new town far away, and with the encouragement of new friends - and my flatmates where no doubt tired of just hearing me sing in my room, i finally got up the nerve to get on stage and do an open mic night with my guitar and belt out some of the songs ive written over the years. Milkwood Jam is a local venue here in Swansea that has an open mic night on Wednesdays for singer songwriters. Here's the video (thanks big time to dan for taking it!)...
10 seconds wide

she's not alone

kurt vonnegut - rules for writing fiction

a friend of mine posted this somewhere today and figured it was worth throwing on here...

Eight rules for writing fiction:

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a sadist. Now matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

- Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 1999), 9-10.

vote day. yay!

i stayed up all night watching the election in the little pub here in the student village - a decent crowed of international students showed up. I've gotta say, im so damn proud of my country right now! I wish i was back home, so i could feel the excitement from the inside, instead of feeling more like an american observer than a participant. I did get my absentee ballot to the county clerk on monday though, so i guess i can say i've taken part. -I will wearing a big smile today. cheers america, nate.

i dropped my earbud in my coffee

i dropped one of my new earbuds in my coffee this morning, the right one i think. which sucks because i just bought a good new pair that i really like - a vast improvement on the tiny, ringy-pingy mess that the stock ipod ones are. before i did though, i listened to one of my new favourite podcasts - its from the theMoth.com who does a weekly podcast of people who do an unscripted and note-less short storytelling at a venue in NY. i listened to the one from 8/25 this morning. you should too - its good stuff, seriously.

cheers,
nate

okkervil river in britain

my favorite band is crossing the pond - i couldn't be more excited - gonna see them in london on february 11th! Im doing my best to get an interview for the radio station, so wish me luck. If your not an Okkervil River fan you should be...

p.s. please don't p2p their stuff. d-load it here... The Stand Ins(or where ever, just don't pirate it!)