From the Beat – Runnin’ with the Mustangs

 

I was back on the sideline on Friday (Sept. 23) at E.M. Bud Cole Field in Morrison as the host Mustangs played the previously winless Sherrard Tigers. I have a lot of memories from covering the Mustangs for the last 18 years.

One of my first preseason football assignments I received was doing a preview for the 2005 version of the Mustangs. I vaguely remember the Mustangs were coming off a couple down seasons and looking to turn it around. Morrison made the playoffs in 2005 starting the Mustangs ascension to a state power by the end of the 2000s. I covered their state championship win over Maroa-Forsyth in 2009 and designed the section for their state championship in 2011. I was at their classic postseason quarterfinal matchups with Newman in 2010 and 2011.

The current team entered Friday’s game with a 2-2 record, but the story turned out to be Sherrard, which scored late to break a 13-game losing streak with a 26-22 win. The Mustangs must win three of their last four games to become playoff eligible.

Here’s a link to my full game story: Morrison rally falls short in TRAC Rock loss to Sherrard – Shaw Local

Write On Prompt: A Pair of Poems

 At our writing group meeting last night, we worked on a couple writing exercises. The first was a poem writing exercise. The type of poem was the Kimo, an Israeli variant of the haiku form. Here’s the rules:

• No rhyme scheme.
• Ten syllables in first line
• Seven syllables in the second line
• Six syllables in the third line
• Most Kimo poems are focused on a single frozen image. 

Below are the two images I used and the poems I produced.

 

Two tracks

Two tracks cutting across an empty field

Scars from so many journeys

Left in Earth’s memory.

 

Apples

Was the first temptation red, green, yellow

Knowledge gained from just one bite

Sin comes in all colors.

***

The second activity was a series of questions designed to think about characterization. The idea is to take a simple sentence and see how adding character details can enrich the character and catalyze the plot. Here is what I produced.

1.  Start with a simple sentence introducing a character and have an action.

Billy jumped from the hayrack.

2.  Write six physical traits about his character.

• 68-years old
• Gray-haired
• Tall
• Suntanned
• Brown-eyed
• Strong.

3. What is one thing this person cares about?

Tradition.

     What is one flaw that this character has?

Stubborn.

5.  Write three sentences that include the action from the first sentence and some of the traits from above.

For fifty-four years, Billy had bailed this field, first with his grandfather then his father and now his own grandson. He might be gray-haired, long-in-the-tooth, as they say. By God, though, he could still jump from a moving a hayrack and land okay. 

Write-On Prompt - Five Goals for Rest of the Year

 

We had prompt night on Tuesday at Write On, and I usually like posting those here, I just haven’t had a chance until now. Unlike other times where I’ve spewed forth the first fiction idea that comes to mind, this prompt was more directed.

The prompt: Five Short-Term Goals to finish by the end of the year.

Some of my compatriots worked of other prompts provided and were much cleverer than me. I stuck to a straightforward approach and jotted down a sentence or two for each goal. I have expanded here to provide further detail. Since we usually write for an hour, I worked a little on what I think we’ll be Goal No. 4. I will share a paragraph or two of that after the goals.

My writing goals for the rest of the year:

1. Get story archive finished and files organized. This way I know what I’ve wrote, what genres, how many words, where I have them saved, etc. Determine which stories need more work, are ready to publish, and establish themes between stories for possible collection. I have started an archive including one detailing the 25 stories I’ve produced for NYC Midnight. It’s an Excel spreadsheet (somewhere Jodi is laughing). I still must go through files on my hard drive to find other stories. My sense I have around 50 short stories lingering about in various states of completion, and not counting other things that I just started and never completed. That list is even longer. I just need to be organized and have some sort of system.
2. Write four new poems. – Just to practice using impactful words and play with rhythm of language. I am a bad poet, but it’s a good exercise and sometimes a bigger idea came come from them. Besides, it’s important in writing and life to delve into the uncomfortable every now and again.
3. Submit stories to at least 10 publications a month. Hopefully get one yes by the end of the year. So, I don’t get to 10 every month, but I usually do submit to about 4 to 6 places a month. Story submission is an arduous process, so it tends to be a matter of taking time to read research places and read guidelines. Getting accepted is always a crapshoot.  
4. Start a longer work whether for NANWRIMO or just on my own. Goal – 50,000 words by Jan. 1. I hear the Sterling library is providing support for NANOWRIMO this year. I’d like to participate, but not sure I want to commit to 50,000 words in a month. It’s such a lot of pressure, plus last time I did it, I felt overwhelmed by the thought of revising what I had with so many words already in place. I think stretching this out over 4 months might be more effective.
5. Research editors and/or beta readers for “Get a Life,” 50,000-word plus collection I’ve sat on for two years. So, I shared the first part of this story on this blog – I believe it was one of the first posts. I’ve sat on the complete set of stories for the last two years after backing out of contract with a place I wasn’t getting good vibes about. Now, I can put it back on the market, but I think I want a new approach, possibly hiring an editor to dig down to possible issues with the overall text. I think that could be an informative process.

 

So, those are the goals. As I said, I spent the rest of the time the other night working on piece. I’ve always wanted to write some sort of apocalyptic western in the vein of The Dark Tower series. I slowly conceiving something that might have that sort of hero’s quest mixed with the ambiguity of Game of Thrones. I don’t pretend it will turn out to be anything nearly as good as either of those, but I prefer to shoot big and miss than shoot low and reach my goal. We’ll see where this goes. Here’s what I have so far.

Cago Junction

The skyline of Cago Junction jutted from the sparse landscape at dusk, its ragged congregation of structures forming a broken spine of silhouettes against the setting sun. Rusted rail lines approached from each direction, the wooden ties rotted and buried in the dust and weeds. The echoes of the locomotives chugging along the steel was lost to time along with the honks of automobile horns, the hum of computers and most of the other buzzes, blips, and booms of technology. The remaining sounds were created by the wind or insects or beasts. Sounds like the clop of hooves, such as the clops approaching Cago Junction from the southeast, clops made by two quarter horses, one the color of a dust cloud with sprinkles of gray snow and the other ash with splotches of white near the hooves and on its hind quarters.

 On the backs of the two horses were Peacemakers, wearing dark brimmed hats, loose-fitting cotton tops, brown denim slacks, burgundy sashes that cut across from the left shoulder to the right, and the heavy irons with sandalwood grips drooping slightly from their hips. Extra shells were kept in loops along their belts, and their well-worn boots came to golden points at the toes. Behind them was the whole of XXXX (I don’t have a name for this yet) Barony, ahead was Cago Junction, the last human outpost along the northwest territory.  Beyond Cago Junction was bad lands, a jagged collection of exposed stone and cavernous valleys, so barren that life would be more suited on the surface of the moon, at least according the last round of surveys taken a hundred years back. The Peacemakers were on their way to Cago to get sense from the locals on if the bad lands, were still, in fact, bad.

“Maybe there’ll be some real men out there,” Myra turned her head from her position in the lead. Her brown eyes and brown skin were made for the intense sun. Oan’s face was burnt red, his complexion made for caves rather than the open plains.

From the Beat: Back on the Sideline for 2022

 

I returned to the sideline on Friday night, covering a high school football game between Fulton and Galena High Schools in northwestern, Illinois. I covered a couple playoffs games last fall, but this was the first Friday night game that I had been too since 2019. 

Because of the printing schedule, SVM has way earlier deadlines than when I left the Sports Editor position late in 2015. That being said, I asked not to be assigned games that would be included in the paper editions on Saturday morning. I have too many concerns with technology to be relied upon in that manner, which proved prophetic last night, as our internet service was slow and my emails were getting caught in SVM’s spam filter for some reason. 

I’ve come into this season wanting to try some different things each game that I can include as blog posts. I thought last night I would try taking some photos. It turns out that there is a reason I’m a writer. I did get a few OK ones, the best I thought was this silhouette of myself. I had a few others, but I am having an issue getting them to load on our desktop today. 

As far as the game story went, I struggled to come up with a lede. I have always been a strong believer in writing ledes that hook readers, and I couldn’t quite find one last night. I liked a quote one of the Fulton players provided about preparing each week for the team they wanted to be rather than the team they were playing. I wanted to build the story around that since while the Steamers won, they suffered a few stretches where penalties and mental mistakes cost them, including almost letting Galena back into the game during the second quarter. 

As it turns out, I felt much the same about the story I put together. Ultimately, it wasn’t where I wanted it to be. Good thing it was the first week for me, too, and hopefully by the end of the fall, I’ll find my groove again.

Here is a link to my game story: https://www.shawlocal.com/friday-night-drive/news/2022/08/27/good-start-for-fulton-better-to-come/

Try-It Tuesday (8-23-22): American Slang by Gaslight Anthem

 

Note: On Tuesdays I will be reviewing albums that are new or at least new to me.

Album Released: 2010

About Gaslight Anthem: They formed in 2006 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. American Slang was the band’s third album. The band went on hiatus from 2015 until announcing in March 2022 that they were working on a sixth album.

Members: Brian Fallon (Lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Alex Rosamillia (Lead guitar, backing vocals), Alex Levine (bass guitar, backing vocals), Benny Horowitz (drums, percussion).

What I Know: I stumbled upon singles “45” and “Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts” sometime over the last decade. I like their pop-punk sound.

Did You Know? According to stacker.com, Bae is the most popular slang among American youth. It is a term of endearment for a beloved person in your life. … Lead singer is also a part of the duo the “Horrible Crowes.”

Why this album: One of the songs was featured in my Spotify “Discover Weekly” playlist. I had enjoyed previous things I’d heard from this band but have never taken a deep dive into their catalogue.

My thoughts on American Slang: The longest song on this album is 4 minutes, 12 seconds, and it’s clear this a group trying to write catchy, steady beat, guitar-driven rock. I’m fine with that. The vocal and lead guitar tones are distinctive, and they lean into both regularly.

The title track opens the album, it’s the most popular song according to Spotify. It sets the tone and pace I mentioned above.

I think this an album if I listened to it twenty times, I could start to distinguish the individual tracks, but after a first listen it was hard to pinpoint much unique from one song to the next. The exceptions to this are the title track, which I think is just a cut above the rest, and the final track.

The album closer is “We Did It When We Were Young.” The pace is slower, but the layered vocals provide some interesting moments. The rock vocal on top is nearly the same as the rest of the album, but slowed down, and below that is a lower, deeper backing vocal that provides an echo effect. The wall of sound builds as the song crescendos. Just an effective tune.

The Wrap: This has a very 2000s sound, reminiscent of a band like the Ataris. If you are into that, you’ll like this album. Like I said, the standout points are the title track and the final track. Nothing in-between stands out after one listen.

You’re Up: Let me know your thoughts on this album, or anything new to you that you are listening to this week.

Poetry - Ode to Rejection

I have a subscription to "Writer's Digest" and each issue they have a Poetic Aside which showcases a poetic form. I usually try to write one using that form just as a writing exercise. Then, each year I enter one at the Carroll County Fair. Below is a poem I wrote sometime in the last year (I haven't had a chance to go back to clarify the form of poem it is. I'll post a note, if I find it). 

From what I remember is that each line had to be seven syllables. Each stanza is four lines. The second and fourth lines have an end rhyme. The last word of Line 1 rhymes with the third syllable of Line 2, and the last word of Line 3 rhymes with the fifth syllable of Line 4. 

When one submits to magazines, agents, and publishers often, you tend to get used to form letters of rejection. Sometimes more is offered, but often it is a "thanks for sending" and "doesn't fit what we're looking for." type response. Below is a satire of one of those letters. 

By the way, this took the blue ribbon at the fair. :). 

Ode to Rejection

Dear Mr. Writer, Thanks For
Sending your story to us
Though we enjoyed your tight prose
Your plot never rose much fuss.

It circled and circled down
As a clown fumbles a joke
And trips over too big shoes
Best read with cold booze, plus toke.

The characters are well drawn
Like a yawn or a sad song
Played loud when the mood is soft
You misuse words oft, just wrong.

Please don’t suffer denial
No retrial for your book.
We suggest a new vocation
Or hobby for fun. Fry cook?

Try-It Tuesday (8-2-22): The Country by Tennessee Jet

 

Note: On Tuesdays I will be reviewing albums that are new or at least new to me.

Album Released: 2020

About Tennessee Jet: It’s the stage name for singer/songwriter TJ McFarland – note he was raised in Oklahoma.

Members: Just McFarland, although Dwight Yoakam’s touring band play a prominent role on this album.

What I Know: Nothing. Never heard of this fellow, but it came up on Spotify and thought I’d give it a go.

Did You Know? Tennessee Jet’s parents were rodeo performers. …His musical idols are The White Stripes and Kurt Cobain. … This is his third album.

Why this album: See What I Know.

My thoughts on The Country: This has the feel of an alternative country album in the vein of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, as it blends old-time country, folk, and rock ‘n roll. It was his goal to showcase the range of country on this album. I hear a little of Steve Earle in his voice.

• The opening tune “Stray Dogs” is a borderline rocker with a nice hook. It’s the most listened to original tune on the album.
• The second tune, “The Raven & the Dove,” has some classic steel guitar and some solid harmonica.
• “Johnny” is the third track, and it is a tribute to Johnny Horton. It features some heavy rock-influenced guitar and drumlines.
• The first of two covers is fourth with Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho & Lefty.” He gets help on this one from Cody Jinks, Paul Cauthen and Elizabeth Cook, and some nice horns. Just a great song, and a nice take on it.
• “Off to War” is a slower, statement song, followed by a honky-tonk type of tune in “Hands on You.” He then swings into a ballad for a country dance in “Someone to You.”
• The title track delivers the message of the album with the line: “I miss you like the country, radio don’t play anymore.” This is an ode to what should be on country radio rather than the pop drivel country that pollutes the airwaves. This tune is a straightforward acoustic song with vocals, and it’s well done.
• The second cover is the ninth of ten songs in the Black Crowes’ “She Talks to Angels,” and he gives it a bluegrass sound. It’s an interesting take, with banjo, violin, and solid backing female vocals.

The Wrap: I like the experiment of purposefully taking a tour of the various sounds of country music. If you like off-the-beaten path country, this is one for you to check out. If you want songs about drinking and summer and girls in jean shorts, it’s probably not for you.

You’re Up: Let me know your thoughts on this album, or anything new to you that you are listening to this week.