So far I have been careful not to write about politics on my blog(s), with the exception of a few non-partisan posts about design, comedy, and music. I have also tried, usually with success, not to comment on other people’s political posts. I have done this thing which is so strange for me — that is, to NOT say what I think — because while I tend to have strong opinions, I also value and respect the opinions of others, who may not always agree with me, and I do not wish to alienate anyone. To me, people are worth more than politics.

However, Andy has recently subscribed to The Economist, and in flipping through the Oct 30th issue, I came across their endorsement of Obama, which I found to be extremely eloquent. I link to it now because each and every sentence is almost exactly the same as what I have thought, felt, and concluded myself.

America should take a chance and make Barack Obama the next leader of the free world

Before any McCain/Palin supporters get upset, OR any Obama/Biden supporters applaud me, please read the editorial. It’s not very long, and I believe it treats both men fairly, giving due respect to McCain and his service to our country, and expressing legitimate concern over Obama’s potential presidency.

Also, please note that comments have been disabled for the first time ever. I’m not looking for an argument, or even a friendly debate. My mom and I had plenty of those when I was home last week, thank you very much.

Regardless of who you support, I sincerely hope that all of you vote tomorrow. For local concerns, consult your newspaper or Google “[your city] voter guide” to do some quick research on the candidates and issues on your ballot. You can even “vote” ahead of time and then write down or print out your results to bring with you to the polls. (That’s what I did.)

Speak now. Exercise your right, your responsbility, your privilege. Your vote.

Unfortunately, I have yet to read any of Zadie Smith’s books. However, given her renown at such a young age (according to her Wikipedia page, she was basically courted by publishers during college) I decided to read her Atlantic Monthly interview. When I did, the title of a certain Ani DiFranco song came to mind, hence this post’s title.

Zadie Smith believes that fiction is a “hypothetical area” in which to experiment with possible courses of action.

I have to admit, it’s been a while since I thought of it that way, and I was glad for the reminder. Lately I’ve been so stuck in “What would really happen? What would these characters actually do?” that I feel like some of the “let’s play make-believe” aspect has gone out of my writing. And isn’t that the most fun part?

Later Zadie says:

In a lot of American fiction, particularly young American fiction, the idea of writing third person is anathema. But I didn’t even know there were novels that weren’t in third person until I was quite advanced in years. So that kind of narrative voice seems natural to me.

I felt the same way — Books in first person? Isn’t first person bad? Isn’t literature about the characters, not about me? — which is another reason I had a hard time writing in the first person myself. (Except for personal essays, of course.)

I also found her methods VERY interesting:

I don’t take notes. I don’t have any notebooks. I keep on trying to do that because it seems like a very writerly thing to do, but my mind doesn’t work that way. I tend to get the idea for a novel in a big splash. Usually I work out the plot for the first half and then kind of feel my way through the other half. I wouldn’t say I make excessive plans, though.

I don’t think I could work that way — I love my journals, and I’m desperately trying to finish #23 so I can start #24, because there’s nothing so exciting as starting a brand new journal! — but it almost elevates Zadie to an unreal level of cool that she doesn’t need notebooks the way most writers do.

Also, WOW, can I just say how much I love her for saying this?!

All my books are made up of other books. They’re all deeply structured on other fiction, because I was a student in fiction and I didn’t have much actual living to draw on. I suspect a lot of other people’s novels are like that, too, though they might be slower to talk about it.

THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH NOT HAVING MUCH “ACTUAL LIVING” TO WRITE ABOUT YET. JUST LOOK AT ZADIE SMITH!

I think every writing student needs to hear that. And every parent of a writing student should probably hear that too. Or maybe just my mom…

When it came to writing the academic part of the novel, I was thinking about how I felt when I was a student—how lost I felt a lot of the time, and confused about what I wanted and what I was getting.

THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH FEELING LOST AND CONFUSED.

I think I know a few people who could stand to hear that too.

And finally:

You’re constantly told in college and elsewhere that good taste and good fiction are about not pushing, about not expressing your opinion too forcefully. So we’re always hearing things like, “Oh, it’s a very good novel about a young black boy, but unfortunately the author presses too hard on the question of race.”

And the same with women’s fiction. It’s nonsense, and it’s time to stop. I felt like a hand was at my throat when I first started writing. That if I was going to be a proper writer, I’d better be as polite as possible and as calm as possible and as un-angry as possible—and recently I’ve been thinking, you know, fuck that, basically.

Like I said: fierce, flawless.

I went to this page to support a friend; I was pleasantly surprised to get a good story, too.

Madeline DeGrace’s Fundraising Home Page

I’ve only met her a few times (including once in Spain!) but even in those brief meetings I could tell that Marci’s mom was as wonderful and strong as Marci says — if not more so.

And how could I not like someone with the same first name as my first novel’s protagonist?

900 words

Note: I was asked to speak about women at Carnegie Mellon’s 2005 Community Collage, our freshman orientation diversity forum. I struggled for months to write a speech that I thought would be appropriate. Then, two days before I was to give the speech, I scrapped it and completely rewrote it. This is the result.

Hi everyone, I’m Kristan. Let me start by saying that I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to make this speech interesting and applicable to everyone. Kind of ironic, huh? I’m supposed to speak to a group of 700 people, about diversity, and I want to appeal to all of them? No way. There is no way.

So what I decided to do instead was to talk about something — or rather someone — who is really important to me. My mom.

Continue reading →

Between shopping for a casual men’s jacket, going to Discovery Green in the rain, catching up with Barbara (Alex’s Momma #1 and my Momma #2), and spending hours trying (unsuccessfully) to get our sailboat’s motor to start, I unfortunately did not find time to upload any photos on Friday. I am so sorry. Please accept these fireworks as a display of my never ending regret.

“Not good enough!” Andy says. “Actions speak louder than intentions, and you did not meet your deadline. Thus you have failed, and I banish you to that vine-like prison.”

“What vine-like prison?” I ask.

“THAT ONE,” he says, pointing.

“Oh,” I say.

“Wait, this one’s prettier!” my mom chimes in.

“Hey! Whose side are you on?” I ask.

She takes a moment to consider her answer.

“Andy’s,” she finally replies.

“Oh,” I say.

And so it was that I came to be jailed by my mom and boyfriend in a giant red claw. Or something.