Adventures of an Indulgent Short Story Reader

This blog/project is the product of a soulful reflection on what is missing from my life.
Keeping a somewhat consistent journal of my teaching life in Kanazawa, Japan, was one of the most edifying routines I have ever committed to. I found the simple act of recording the day-to-day impressions and experiences of a stranger in a strange land gave meaning to the usual, and depth to the ephemeral. I remember my days in Japan as substantive and strange. Returning to the U.S. marked not just a departure from the land of my mystical year, but also from the sensory focus I had spent so much time refining (perhaps unwittingly) through writing. I miss it. Here is my attempt to get it back.

Remember the requisite "creative response" option high school teachers gave us "artsy, higher-order thinking" types? The one where we could choose one of the short stories we had read in class to write a new ending for? Imagine if you had taken on this challenge only to find that the story you had chosen had no ending.

"Story + Life" combines reflection and creation: It is journal, criticism, story, and most of all, indulgence. It is all the connections we have made but were afraid to admit. My goal is to read a different short story each week (published or not), write about it here, let it lead me to a new story, and fill in the blanks as though each is a part of an infinite story. In other words, I intend to chronicle the life of a reader.

Hope it works.