Wednesday Linkstorm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAKoU_W_mf8Greetings again from the Sewanee Writers' Conference. It is Jim Carroll's birthday. Please enjoy the above video for People Who Died feat. teen Leo. It is not at all dated. Nope, I think it holds up.Links first, then I'll talk about the conference.Gore Vidal has bummed everybody out by dying today at age 86. Here's some old New Yorker stuff to read in his memory.Y'all are following this Jonah Lehrer thing, right? God, it's delicious. Bersell, this might be a good thing to tackle in an upcoming Nonfiction Pizza Party.It's the most wonderful time of year, Booker season! This is actually a thing I get way, way into. I like to read the whole longlist and then speculate on the winner like it's the Oscars or something. The pure of heart are welcome to join me on this journey.Here's a blog about all of the real life Boston landmarks in Infinite Jest. No real reason to look at that if you have a functioning imagination.David Rees is the all time funniest. [Linkstorm template: Author birthday, author death, music link, DFW mention, David Rees plug, 50 Shades joke, personal anecdote, byline]Okay here's a Q&A with myself about Sewanee for those interested.Linkstorm: You're still there?!ES: Yeah, I know. It's way too long. I'm here till Saturday.Linkstorm: You still haven't been workshopped?!ES: Nope, this afternoon.Linkstorm: What great stuff have you done?ES: Attended amazing readings by John Casey and Kevin Wilson. Had a couple surprisingly non-scary meetings with agents and editors. Finished a story. Also, a hike to a waterfall as a hangover cure.Linkstorm: Did you lose your best blazer, the most perfect blazer in all the land, the crown jewel of your blazer collection?ES: Alas, yes.Linkstorm: What are the most important lessons you've learned so far?ES: So some good advice I got from one of the fellows here (a person with a fellowship, not just "a guy") was you gotta get involved with the community. It's important to go to these things, these conferences and events and stuff and talk to people. Even if it makes you uncomfortable, even if you think you suck at it.And the other thing I learned (which, warning: uncharacteristic sincerity ahead) is that I like and respect my peers at UNH more than I even knew. Sitting in a workshop with strangers (who are all cool and great  by the way) I've found myself  missing the ragtag bunch of misfits from my workshop at school. I miss the guy I exchange looks with when someone says something questionable. I miss the fella who makes the funniest comments in class, funnier even than my own. I miss the beers afterwards at Libby's where a stranger once yelled at me for using bad language in earshot of children. So next fall when you guys catch me rolling my eyes at some thing you say (leopard can't change its spots), just remember that on the inside I'm doing John Belushi doing Joe Cocker. See below.--Erin Somershttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHaA4RePosY