Brad King:

Down with the King

Brad — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:03:24 +0000

I’ll arrive at my 18th South by Southwest later today. I can barely remember what that first experience was like. I certainly didn’t imagine it to be a life-changing one. And yet, I owe much of what I do today to my experiences there. I’ll be blogging this year’s experience at The Cult of Me, [...]

Killing Myself Redux, Or What It Takes To Love (41 of 90)

Brad — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:53:25 +0000

A few years ago, my world was crashing. I’d met a girl. A fabulous girl. We shared the same interests, the same passions in life. We were Type As who liked the home when we weren’t working. And we liked to drink. And write. Of course we hit it off instantly and found ourselves in a [...]

“My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys”

Brad — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:27:04 +0000

Driving through the California desert and into the vast emptiness of Arizona after seven days digging through my family’s past, I’ve had this song in my head all day. And I wonder how I have ended up where I am. Sometimes I think I took a wrong turn:

To Live With Great Intensity (40 of 90)

Brad — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:53:09 +0000

I’ve never been much help to my students when they’ve asked me for advice on becoming a writer. It’s not because I don’t want to be helpful. I remember their angst and confusion and loneliness, trying to contemplate a life where I get paid to simply put words on a page. It seemed, to steal from [...]

Stop Thinking About It (39 of 90)

Brad — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:45:19 +0000

I’ve stopped and started this post several times today, which is ironic considering the idea behind it. These things happen, though, and I’ve made my peace with such contradictions in my life. Enough with the trying to say it perfectly. I’m just going to let it rip: I do not understand people who refuse to have a [...]

The Salton Sea (38 of 90)

Brad — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:03:54 +0000

My buddy Austin and I find movies for each other. Or we used to. Back when we actually had time to do things like watch movies and then share them with each other. (The best moment is when, on the same day, we each picked out Donnie Darko for the other one. Unbeknownst to the other. [...]

The Year of Friends: Southwest Edition (37 of 90)

Brad — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:37:21 +0000

It’s Sunday. Day Four of my Western Road Trip. I won’t lie. I’m a bit worn out right now. I’ve already logged 350 driving miles (not counting the 60 mile trip to the airport) and four hours of flight time. I’m ready to relax, something that won’t happen until tomorrow at the earliest. This is a gauntlet, [...]

Deletions (36 of 90)

Brad — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 07:15:06 +0000

I’m sitting in the Bagel Nosh, a little half-baked cafe in Phoenix just down the street from my parent’s time share. It’s a gorgeous day, mid-seventies. A far cry from the grey and wintery white that has blanked Indiana for the past month. Truthfully, though, the grey and the winter haven’t bothered me this year, not [...]

“Here I Am, On The Road Again” (35 of 90)

Brad — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 07:14:36 +0000

Out there in the spotlight/You’re a million miles away Every ounce of energy/You try to give away As the sweat pours out your body/Like the music that you play Later in the evening/As you lie awake in bed With the echoes from the amplifiers/Ringin’ in your head You smoke the day’s last cigarette,/Rememberin’ what she said *** I should start by [...]

Because Sometimes Endings (34 of 90)

Brad — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:45:35 +0000

I’ve never been very good with goodbyes. Actually, it’s endings I disliked. The sense of loss, the incomplete-ness of it. A closed door that is never quite shut but inevitably locked. Always knowing there are things – some unknow-able things – that are happening on the other side. For years, I fought against endings. And in some [...]