http://brbp.gather.com Recent Articles on Gather by Becky Powell en-us Copyright Gather Inc 2009 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:11:02 GMT 2010-01-03T16:11:02Z en-us Copyright Gather Inc 2009 http://www.gather.com/images/header/logo_gather.gif http://www.gather.com/ http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977563435 I hope all my Gather friends are off to a great new year.  I've missed 100 word stories and writing prompts and reading all the great stuff my friends write.   I haven't been . . . Wed, 14 Jan 2009 23:24:38 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977563435 Becky Powell 2009-01-14T23:24:38Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977366530   They say walk a mile in someone's shoes to understand another's life.   Nobody sought that from me.   I was new once, I suppose, but can't remember if I once trod a better . . . Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:14:09 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977366530 Becky Powell 2008-06-09T13:14:09Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977363112   The highway blew away the town years ago, like dandelion feathers on a breath fossils is all that's left Brittle things that got nowhere to go           . . . Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:24:53 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977363112 Becky Powell 2008-06-06T12:24:53Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977355602   This wino was dumpster-diving in the alley, brittle and bent like a dead plant.   Not unusual. Mrs. Darcy always goes out before daylight to water her red geraniums.   . . . Wed, 28 May 2008 13:49:26 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977355602 Becky Powell 2008-05-28T13:49:26Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977351094 The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, translated from the Japanese by Jay Rubin, Vintage Books,1998. Haruki Murakami's The Wind-up Bird Chronicle is a fat, ambitious book that . . . Thu, 22 May 2008 12:27:23 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977351094 Becky Powell 2008-05-22T12:27:23Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977350546     The Rhyme and Reason of Poetry "A poem is an idea caught in the act of dawning."   --Robert Frost I am not an expert on poetry.   Far from it. . . . Wed, 21 May 2008 18:22:43 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977350546 Becky Powell 2008-05-21T18:22:43Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977344848   "Now what I want is, facts," said Tilda.   "None of this storybook crap for me."   She dropped her cigarette, and crushed it with her shoe "Stories . . . Tue, 13 May 2008 20:17:42 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977344848 Becky Powell 2008-05-13T20:17:42Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977341383   I was in my car when I heard Meg Wolitzer on NPR discussing her new novel, The Ten Year Nap.   For a weird second, it seemed like I was talking on the radio, but that was impossible . . . Thu, 08 May 2008 15:24:59 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977341383 Becky Powell 2008-05-08T15:24:59Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977334942   Archimedes will be remembered when Aeschylus is forgotten, because languages die and mathematical ideas do not.   "Immortality" may be a silly word, but probably a mathematician . . . Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:33:47 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977334942 Becky Powell 2008-04-29T19:33:47Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977334867   Daddy was a professor, not an adventurer.    The Wildlife Ranch was a stretch for him.   Immediately, an emu aggressively hammered Daddy's window with its beak.   . . . Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:37:15 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977334867 Becky Powell 2008-04-29T17:37:15Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977334857   No one should have to dance backward all of their lives.  ~Jill Ruckelshaus   Feminist criticism focuses on assumptions about gender in literature and how these assumptions . . . Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:26:57 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977334857 Becky Powell 2008-04-29T17:26:57Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977330884   Meaning is an inescapable notion because it is not something simple or simply determined.  It is simultaneously an experience of a subject and a property of a text.  It is both what . . . Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:41:13 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977330884 Becky Powell 2008-04-24T02:41:13Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977329398   Watcha in for?" was the first thing I heard him say. "Sloth.  You?" said the other. "Adultry." "Ouch." "I had it comin'." . . . Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:04:31 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977329398 Becky Powell 2008-04-22T13:04:31Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977325369   If you are into ghosts at all, you have to have the comprehensive ghost-hunting guide, Ghost to Coast , by Rhetta Akamatsu.   Ghost to Coast is a compendium of ghost tours across . . . Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:09:23 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977325369 Becky Powell 2008-04-16T23:09:23Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977324955   She looked at the name on the wedding cake.  She couldn't remember whether she was Lisa, or Beth, or Mary.  She was Judy this time.  She looked at her new in-laws, who . . . Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:26:20 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977324955 Becky Powell 2008-04-16T14:26:20Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977319757   One of the perks about living in Nashville is being able to hear songwriters perform their own songs.   These casual and uncluttered performances are as pure as it gets.   I was . . . Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:27:18 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977319757 Becky Powell 2008-04-14T22:27:18Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977319467   The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor...It is the mark of a genius. --Aristotle A ny parent can attest to the effort necessary to explain to . . . Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:22:08 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977319467 Becky Powell 2008-04-14T21:22:08Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977307562   Here it is April, and the primary campaign season is still in full swing.   I don't know how the candidates do it, campaigning up one side and down the other for months on end.   . . . Fri, 11 Apr 2008 12:17:47 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977307562 Becky Powell 2008-04-11T12:17:47Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977307200 Looking back at the pivotal moments in our lives, it's hard not to wonder what might have happened if we'd taken a different fork in the road.   In her new book, The End of an Error . . . Fri, 11 Apr 2008 01:11:43 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977307200 Becky Powell 2008-04-11T01:11:43Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977305005   She put her last eight cigarettes beside a clean ashtray.  After the last eight, she'd quit.  It was too little, too late, but still.  First cigarette to calm her nerves.  . . . Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:20:48 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977305005 Becky Powell 2008-04-08T17:20:48Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977304149   Long ago in a faraway desert, a man of whom we know nothing decided that the words he had scratched onto clay were not conventional accounting signs numbering legal decrees or heads of cattle, . . . Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:44:59 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977304149 Becky Powell 2008-04-07T19:44:59Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977298414 Naomi slid out of bed so she could shower first, before Jack could make the bathroom steamy and damp.    Getting out of the shower, she realized she'd forgotten her robe.   She carefully . . . Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:57:17 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977298414 Becky Powell 2008-03-31T23:57:17Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977298262   Last night I said farewell to old friends.   I left them where they were and walked down the dirt road that led through town.   I passed through the heavy gates that protected the . . . Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:19:23 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977298262 Becky Powell 2008-03-31T21:19:23Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977293849   An unimpeachable source, refusing to be named in order to remain anonymous, divulged today that John McCain would absolutely die for controversial mega-star prophet Tom Cruise as his running . . . Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:27:22 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977293849 Becky Powell 2008-03-26T13:27:22Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977292684   Putting it in Context Imagine your editor asks you to write a literary critique of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.   What factors would shape how you analyze the book? . . . Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:59:50 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977292684 Becky Powell 2008-03-25T00:59:50Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977287383   Study Notes #1 "Literature is no one's private ground, literature is common ground; let us trespass freely and fearlessly and find our own way for ourselves." --Virginia . . . Tue, 18 Mar 2008 13:11:36 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977287383 Becky Powell 2008-03-18T13:11:36Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977286549   I'm changing things up a bit at Book Talk.  I realized that my attempts to get reading discussions rolling over the last few weeks have been pretty lame.  I've gotten some nice . . . Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:26:03 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977286549 Becky Powell 2008-03-17T15:26:03Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977285057     Don't look, I told myself.   I didn't want to see what the anchor woman liked to do after three martinis.   But it wasn't as easy as turning away, this new . . . Sat, 15 Mar 2008 16:35:46 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977285057 Becky Powell 2008-03-15T16:35:46Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977284436   This time last year I weighed sixty pounds more than I do today.  I gave up hope that I'd ever be thin again, no more admirers, no more double-takes.  I'd given up hope of ever . . . Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:00:58 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977284436 Becky Powell 2008-03-14T18:00:58Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977283582 The family dinner table is a great place to mine for stories.  That's where I learned about the Night Riders, these guys who suited up like Klansmen, and put felt pads on their horses hoofs so . . . Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:54:15 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977283582 Becky Powell 2008-03-13T17:54:15Z