Drink Order

“Hi!
I’d like an . . .
in-house
grande
decaf
extra hot
skinny
iced
orange-
cranberry-
toffee nut-
white chocolate-
mocha
sugar-free vanilla
peach
mango
latte
with extra whip!

Oh, and can I get a piece of non-fat
cinnamon-apple-streusel layered coffeecake to go?”

Punctuation Erotica

My boyfriend is a comm. major with an exhilerating interest in language. We were talking the other day about our favorite punctuation marks. His is the interrobang (!?), while I prefer the semicolon. What does this mean, for us--for the way we communicate, internally or externally?

!?: A question and an exclamation. In life, not only loud questions. Questions that come with something, some sort of expectation, perhaps. I don't know. Important questions can be whispered, but should be whispered with enthusiasm.

Invest in your questions. Invest time and thought into your questions. Invest words too.

;: The semicolon is a quiet mark. Subtle. It fuses the comma and colon, and it also fuses sentences. It involves bringing ideas together. I like the idea of that. Fusion. The interrobang also fuses, but more explicitly.

Perhaps I am an introvert. I'd like to think that interrobangs are a part of my being as well though.

Next time I see my boyfriend, I think I'll whisper a question to him, maybe about fusion.

my poems are all autobiographical

Bellarmine University hosts the Guarnaschelli Lecture every year and this year (at tonight's event) their lecturer was Salman Rushdie. Rushdie is hysterical. He talked about the novel as autobiography in disguise. He also talked about the parallels between good (captivating) oral narrative and good (captivating) writing. (Hint: juggling is a good exercise to try, but it undoubtingly requires much practice.)

I must read more Rushdie. I've read "At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers" in East, West. I must read more. I have a feeling Rushdie has a lot to teach me about freedom and religion, and freedom from religion, and about this thing called writing.