Alltop

March 15, 2009


This happened a few weeks ago, but I’m a little behind.

Black Marks on Wood Pulp is (one of) the newest site(s) on Alltop.

I can be found in the Twenty-Something category. That’s what happens when there’s no central topic - you get lumped into a category you’ve already grown out of.

But until there’s a “Nothing” category, here I am. Go check out the site. It’s pretty awesome.

Alltop, confirmation that I kick ass

Tags: Random |

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Do it better

January 22, 2009


Eyes watering, lying on my back, I stared into a fluorescent light. Metal scraped against my teeth, the taste of plaque cascading across my palate. I thought about how fitting it would be to write about how much I hate the dentist – how it’s both cliché and intensely real; a necessary evil that we’re all forced to live with in order to keep, you know, chewing things.

And then I got to work. I started to type. Something hit me.

I’ve already talked about this.

”Intrusive. Awkward. Banal. Antisepticised and stretched taut with rubber.

Have you ever chewed on your fingernails? You know the taste you get, like a grinded piece of old plastic, dark and deep yet earthy and natural?

Mix that taste with cinnamon, then scrape at your eyelid.

That, to me, is the dentist.”

That’s from June of 2007. From this site. From my mind.

With over 1,000 posts in the backlog of Black Marks on Wood Pulp, I’m finding it increasingly harder to find topics I haven’t already written about. And at work, after only three years of writing copy, I’m discovering a newfound mental block, where the only ideas I can come up with are old ideas.

It’s not writer’s block – that would assume I can’t think of anything at all. It’s more like writer’s blockage, with thousands of previously written ideas are flooding back at once, blocking the progress of anything new or creative.

When this happens to us – in any form of creative work – it’s easy to give up. To say, “Oh, all of my ideas are dry,” and move along with something trivial, or accept a less than stellar idea in the name of Getting Work Done. We are led down the simple path. The path to hackdom.

But it’s important to realize that, indeed, thoughts are rarely original. Except in the case of new forms of media, everything’s been done. Creativity isn’t coming up with new ideas – it’s taking the existing ideas and mixing them in a way you don’t expect.

There’s a quote from director Jim Jarmusch (which I discovered just a few weeks ago on Please Feed the Animals) that sums this up:

”Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination.

Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic.

Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it.

In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: ‘It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.’”

So I can write about going to the dentist again. Or, I can write about writing about the dentist. Or, I can forgo the dentist completely and talk about what would happen if I didn’t go. I can write an ad for a dentist. I can look for anagrams. Describe my walk from the car to the dental office in the same vein as an executioner’s walk. Speak from the vantage point of my teeth.

It doesn’t matter if it’s been done. It matter if it’s done well.

Tags: Random |

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Facebookery

December 16, 2008


It’s the slow season around the BMOWP offices. Actually, it’s the busy season everywhere else, which leaves the phones at BMOWP on “Away.” Or something.

In the meantime, you can check us out on Facebook. Kind of. Through the “Blog Networks” add on, you can become a fan/friend/follower/whatever of Black Marks on Wood Pulp.

So do it, to it. Join the BMOWP Blog Network. I think that link works - it’s hard to tell, Facebook sucks most of the time.

Tags: Random |

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New domains

July 31, 2008


It’s been busy around the office and at home, and it doesn’t look like things are letting up.

With that, a quick note. I have been sitting on two domains - mrvilhauer.com and coreyvilhauer.com - for a few months now. I’ve finally gotten around to activating them and sending them here.

So go ahead. Now you have three ways to get a hold of me! HOORAY!

More real BMOWP goodness to come. Eventually. I think.

Tags: Blogging, Meta, Random |

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Swallowing small amounts of saliva

June 23, 2008


“The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.” – George Carlin

George CarlinSome comedians depend on physical humor. Some search for political twists or pop culture foibles. Some just try to be cute.

George Carlin was simply real.

He took the inconsistencies of language and turned them upside-down. He made logical and crucial observations on life in our country and made us realize that, at times, no jokes were needed – at times our country could be screwed up enough as it was.

He made words funny. Not jokes. But words. A linguist, a talker, a thinker. He was smart before it was cool, counter culture before it became a way of life. You could tell that he spent every minute of every day thinking. Thinking about life. Thinking about words. Thinking.

Imagine that – a comedian that made you think.

It was more than the seven that got him arrested. Every word was genius, every thought well-crafted. From tame to curmudgeon, he was the best voice on the comedy stage. And, in his own words, he lived by the creed that it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

I’d say we’d miss him. But his words and his personality transcend his death. His influence on million – including myself – lives on even in his absence. And best of all, he’s left us enough material to last us decades.

Goodbye, Rufus. Good luck crossing that final line.

“By and large, language is a tool for concealing the truth.” – George Carlin

Tags: Random, Words |

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Fresh baked

June 14, 2008


Queen City BakeryJust a quick gush.

Queen City Bakery in downtown Sioux Falls has some of the best baked goods you can imagine. Using fresh fruit and veggies from Warner’s (where we get our CSA) and a healthy dollop of butter, they’re heavenly. Seriously.

And as if that wasn’t enough, they’re in this great little loft-style bakery next to Latitude 44 - a classy, rustic looking downtown building filled with great food. It’s like a little bit of big city bakery mistakingly dropped into the middle of Sioux Falls.

The best part? They’re doing well. There was a sizable line the last time we went. Which is refreshing. If you’re in the Sioux Falls area, you owe it to yourself to visit. And tell Mitch hello.

Of course, our pear muffins and lemon-citrus scones and asparagus quiche from Queen City weren’t the only baked goods we ingested. On a day where we wondered how we could use our super-healthy CSA share, we spent more time devouring delicious pastries and donuts.

Donuts? Not from Queen City - from across the state: Wall, SD. Specifically, Wall Drug. They’re about as tasty as you can get. I suggest the maple frosted donuts.

(And yes, the Wall Drug donut mention is really an excuse to post some pictures I took with our new Canon. I love food porn.)

Donuts from Wall Drug

Tags: Random |

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WIBR Tournament – Round 2, Bracket 3 & 4

April 25, 2008


After today, the road to the Final Four is just one win away. We’ve got some heavy hitting match-ups, ladies and gents.

Click here for the entire bracket.

The What I’ve Been Reading Tournament of Books
Bracket Three:

Travels with Charley - John Steinbeck
vs.
Rabbit Angstrom - John Updike

It’s a pity that Travels with Charley was in this bracket. Though let’s be honest – it made it a round further than I had expected. The simple fact is, at the time of writing, I am still trying to figure out if Rabbit Angstrom or The Road will make the Final Four.

Which, I guess, writes Travels with Charley out before it even had a chance.

That’s too bad. Travels with Charley might be the perfect sunny day camping book. While reading Rabbit Angstrom would require an entire month of sunny camping trips.

Rabbit Angstrom

The Winner: Rabbit Angstrom – John Updike

You Shall Know Our Velocity! - Dave Eggers
vs.
The Road - Cormac McCarthy

Dave Eggers, your cuteness fails you.

McSweeney’s is great, and this book was good, but none of it seems to have any social impact. You never quite grasp the idea that a book can be powerful without throwing yourself into it.

The main character of your life doesn’t need to be the main character of your books.

With A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, it was okay. It was a great plot device, and it was a touching book. It’s your best, and the only one I’d read again.

With What is the What, you never failed to mention your involvement in the book, and while you never physically showed up in the story, you were always there, floating above the story, reminding us of your worth.

But the worst was with You Shall Know Our Velocity. A great story, marred by your infernal meddling. You just had to butt in, throw a wrench in anything we had believed at the time, breaking down the fourth wall and wandering into our engaging fiction novel.

Cormac McCarthy would never do that. He’d just kill the entire nation for our pleasure.

The Road

The Winner: The Road – Cormac McCarthy

Bracket Four:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer
vs.
Then We Came to the End - Joshua Ferris

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (ELIC) was read with rapt attention. Then We Came to the End (TWCE) was read quickly, devoured in just three days.

ELIC is multi-layered, featuring touching relationships and a three-tiered historical set of characters. TWCE is about advertising.

ELIC is filled with beautiful imagery, a tragic story and clever typography. TWCE is written in the simple and expressive style of a copywriter.

ELIC and TWCE could be on separate ends of the spectrum, yet both had a feeling of lightheartedness, though ELIC’s lightheartedness hid a sleeping remorse. TWCE’s lightheartedness didn’t hide anything but a good time.

That’s all fine and good.

What really matters is that Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a great book with great characters. But Then We Came to the End is a book I can relate to. And laugh with. Over and over again.

I guess that wins, right?

Then We Came to the End

The Winner: Then We Came to the End – Joshua Ferris

Black Swan Green - David Mitchell
vs.
Like Life - Lorrie Moore

I feel like I’ve already reviewed this match-up. Except in slightly different circumstances, I guess.

Lorrie Moore, in the grand scheme of writers, is not Jorge Luis Borge. Of course, neither is David Mitchell – it wasn’t the quality of the stories that knocked Mirror of Ink out, but the impact and length.

Still, David Mitchell’s short story collection resonated with me because it was joined together to form a perfect novel-like progression of total dork to nearly accepted cool kid. It felt good to me, like all of us total dorks had been somehow vindicated through Mitchell’s stories.

And, if I remember correctly, I chose Like Life to win because…

I just liked Lorrie Moore better.

No real reason. It’s hard to explain. Maybe I’m just a sucker for stories set in New York City. Maybe I like a slice of city life more than I like a slice of trailer park trash.

Or maybe I just liked it better. Let’s go with that.

Nothing against Lorrie Moore, who’s one of my favorites in the short story genre (if you’re curious, you’ve got to read “People Like That are the Only People Here: Canonical Babbling in Peed Onk” from Birds of America) but Black Swan Green has stuck with me a lot better.

BSG

The Winner: Black Swan Green – David Mitchell

Tags: Books, Literature, Random, What I've Been Reading |

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