Moving Water, Tucson

Peggy Shumaker creates a very interesting narrative and a memorable protagonist, despite the fact that her story only runs for a few paragraphs. We get a sense of the children’s lives in the desert and the mystery that the floods bring and what will come about because of them. It carries with it the idea that water is life, water is death and that water is creation. They’re never quite sure how forceful the storm will be or what it will bring, but they know that they must respect this uncontrollable force. When they all see one teenager attempt to take on this force of nature, this force of life, they are in awe, jealous, concerned and happy all at the same time. The story presumably ends with the death of this teenager, but that conclusion is left for us to decide. We’d like to think that this kids bravery in the face of certain defeat could end some other way, but more than likely, he perished.

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Time Indefinite

I found Ross McElwee to be both fascinating and extremely disturbing. The fact that he spent most of his life observing through a camera lens shows that he has some problems coming to term with reality. When you’re looking through a lense, its almost as if you see yourself living in a movie instead of reality. The fact that he would attend all his families social gathering and film the entire things instead of socializing almost makes it seem as if he sees himself as a member of his own personal society. When he shows up to his blind date, video camera in hand, it seems as if he wants to push society away and live in a world of his own. I was stunned when he actually found a woman to marry him, and more stunned to see that she was actually an attractive woman. I couldn’t see how she could put up with such a person, or that she would let him film her gynecologist appointment.

The format of this movie is very similar to a personal essay because his narrations are the most telling in the film and the film itself is almost a back drop for his musings. I also find it amusing that he has such a bleak outlook on life but still wishes to bring a child into this world. This whole film is largely about life and death, and he seems pretty fixated on the notion of our fragile existence. When Charlene criticizes him for bringing their son into this evil world, he takes no heed. I guess this is in line with how many people, myself included, can contradict themselves within a piece of work because our thoughts and actions aren’t always in line with one another.



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Brevity: Issue 31

I found the pieces in this issue of Brevity to be quite intriguing, with prose that evokes distinct images in my mind and get me in the moment. However, due to the short length of these pieces, I found that they left me wanting more, as if the stories ended without resolving, seemingly without purpose. Sherman Alexies piece about a reading he did in Germany was amusing because of the interaction he had with the woman about the United States unjust treatment of Native Americans. Miller’s story “Swerve” also caught my attention because I’ve been in situations similar to this, where I have regrettably taken the wheel at a time I shouldn’t have. I had similarly manic thoughts as I sat in a jail cell, following my arrest for driving under the influence a few years ago. These types of stories, or snippets of peoples lives are a welcome deviation from normal, long-form essays because they may not be telling a whole story but you still take away some lesson or tidbit about this events meaning in their lives.

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Sanders

First and foremost, I would just like to say that it seems as if this guy has had a really shitty life. He grew up in a neighborhood of Jesus freaks and alcoholics next to a war zone and this ends up forcing him to become a work-a-holic. I can't personally relate to his childhood but I know that my grandfather was an alcoholic and this makes me think about what my mom might have thought about as a child. He was a functioning alcoholic but my mom is very similar to Sanders in many ways. We never talk about his past addiction, she rarely drinks, and she is one of the most obsessive compulsive work horses I've ever seen. I think that his essay isn't self-absorbed in any way because it is about his traumatic relationship with his father and he is writing as a way to help alleviate some of his pain. His use of slang is heavy without being obnoxious but its written in a very serious way. Its not written in a manor that is asking the reader to take pity on him and feel bad, but rather, in an informative way. Hes telling the reader that this is something that is a serious problem and has consequences on the family and friends of those related to the alcoholic. Its true that alcoholism is treated as a joke in many ways in our country and its media but this has to be a slap in the face to people like Sanders.

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