TrickyBuddha Studios

Here’s some stuff I’ve written over the years. I’ve been updating it haphazardly and will continue to do so as long as I have stuff to add. In each sub-section, chronologically-newer stuff is at the top.

(last updated: 29 June 2009)

Screenplay:

• “B.ourbon S.treet Medley” – (April 1999) Mostly about one of the nights I spent in New Orleans during the Mardi Gras festival – if you can believe that. Most of the scenes are real or based on (a perceived) reality. Ha! :p

Short story:

• “The Interview” – (18 Jan 2010) 1st version of a short story. Kind of an exploration of a collective life? Had more fun writing this one than my last one.
• “Doubt” – (29 June 2009) 1st version of a short story I’m working on… the write-up on this one is a little more lengthy so click here for the post about the story.
• “floating” – (18 January 2009) 1st version of a short story I’m working on… I wanted to write something to cover a few themes. 1) moving through life, aging, going through patterns and routines, 2) the idea of the end of the Earth but not the end of the world, and 3) the idea of artificial intelligence becoming self-aware, but not in an evil/ominous/scary. Rather, in an innocent, new life way.
• “Calm” – (“recurring dream” version 2) (2009) Retitled and revised for a submission to the Bizarro magazine. And yes, I need to delete all the carriage returns… *sigh*
• “recurring dream” – (30 May 2004) Short story about, as you might guess, a recurring dream. I grew up on a barrier island and loved it. I never had any fears or worries about the ocean. But every once in a while I’d have this really intense dream of standing out on the beach and watching a tidal wave surging inland. I loved the intensity of that sight. One day I thought to turn it into a story and this is what popped out. Side note, I probably wrote another 500-750 words for it that I loved but didn’t quite fit.
• “useless keys” – (1997/1998) This is one of the first stories I wrote. I’ve tried to re-write it a few times after learning more about writing, but it never worked very well when it was more polished. I think it just needs to be simple. It’s probably one of the least surreal stories I’ve written. Really, it’s a somewhat straight-forward, drunken, awkward romance. I’ve always liked it.
• “A Flower For My Love” – (April 1997) I was walking back from the cafeteria while on campus and had a feeling *like* zoning out or getting a migraine (as in, a visual tunnel) – but it was a creative impulse, I guess. I skipped to the computer lab, sat down at a computer, and more or less blacked out. A few hours later I had written this story. One other note, I had to read it for my class and no one believed I could have written it without experiencing an abusive upbringing. Well, my parents were never abusive. They were great parents. So, go figure. :p The first version was rough but my friend Steve helped me clean it up a lot. It could probably still use some editing, though.
• “living in the past” – (1997) In ways this is pretty straight-forward. I don’t think I wrote this around the time I read Death of a Salesman but I think there are some obvious thematic similarities. I think this story stemmed from a dream about waking up on a road and being so disoriented as a car approached that I didn’t know what to do. I like that visual. I like this but it’s not one of my favorites. The scene makes me happy but the story doesn’t move me.

Poetry:

• Untitled II – (27 Feb 2002) I think I’d gotten home late from a night of drinking with friends and, as I was taking my shoes off, heard one of my roommates shuffling about in her room. This poem flashed into my head so I ran downstairs to write it.
• Untitled I – (29 Jan 2002) It had been about three years since I’d written a poem and then I wrote this one. I was walking to work and everything happened just like it says. That moment really hung with me, though.
• Wrong Number – (23 March 1999) Someone actually left that message on my answering machine. I thought it was kind of poetic in its own way. It haunted me for a while.
• Elusiveness – (2 Feb 1999) I’m not really sure where the idea of this came from. I do remember where I was when I wrote it. I had an appointment to tutor someone in English in the library on campus and I think I was like 10 minutes early. I sat down and thought, “Hey! I should write a poem!” And a few minutes later, I had. But, again, no clue on the subject.
• Winter Blanket (16 Jan 1999) I came home one day during 9th grade and it was snowing. I laid down in the snow and remembered being surprised at how I wasn’t freezing to death. Or even cold. So I stayed there and ended up dozing a little. It felt so peaceful.
• The Bull Fight – (27 Nov 1998) This one, I was at my mom’s house in Tennessee. It was a Sunday morning and she was up, watching TV. I was still in bed. I think she had just come back from church or something. Someone on TV kept saying “contemptible,” stressed each syllable. I remember thinking it sounded funny, like “Come, tempt a bull.” And… poof! A poem.
• Colours (27 Nov 1998) I was at my mom’s house in Tennessee. It was a day that felt like a Sunday. Slow. Warm. Sunny. I was in the front yard and I heard a plane flying overhead and for some reason I could hear sax playing in my head – like something out of a Mike Patton solo album. I don’t think this poem (there are like 10 versions) ever matched my expectations.
• A Sonnet to Lust (24 Nov 1998) Yes, it’s an actual sonnet and follows the rules. As for the content, it’s just a dream I had. Kind of perverted, I know.
• S&M (31 October 1998) An ex- told me about some strangulation stuff she had been trying, and it inspired me to write this poem.
• Society – (26 Oct 1998) I took a field trip to a monastery in Georgia for an Astronomy course with my friend Nancy. A lot of this poem is based on that day. I don’t remember much about the day now but this has always been one of my favorite poems. I originally had the little recipe blurbs in Latin (I used an Internet translator) because I liked how it sounded and meshed with the monastery, but it was just too confusing.
• Stephen Dunn’s Cabin (14 October 1998) I went to a shindig at Stephen Dunn’s house or cabin or whatever. It was a pretty big group there, mostly students and friends. I wasn’t into writing then and I didn’t know much about him, but I liked the idea of this fawning group juxtaposed against a down-to-earth fella.
• type o fetish (5 October 1998) I honestly don’t remember much about why I wrote this. I think I was just playing with rhythm and phrasing. I do remember the coffee house as a place I loved to go, on campus in TN.