During my time at Nola Studiola, I hope to stretch myself through the essay form, but maybe it will end up in verse or as a manifesto in disguise. Or a series of clip art and images found on Google as a “post.”

Here are some of the things that I hope to explore during the month of April 2014, in a list form, not in order of importance:

-How there always seems to be a difference between the way that I see myself vs. the way others see me (like that time I wore my dad’s old leather jacket in middle school, thinking I looked cool, only to be reminded that I looked like a mini Triad greaser by my bitchy friends).
-Also see: “What I write vs. what book buyers actually want to see on the shelves/online catalogues” or “How I talk to loved ones and pets vs. how I talk in a normal grownup conversation” and if the differences are reconcilable (or are the differences irreconcilable, like a Hollywood marriage?).
-How art privileges some aesthetics over the others. The realistic, the beautiful, and the divine over the ugly, the grotesque, and the cute. Why chasing after mimesis is boring and what we should do instead (hint: fuck. shit. up.).
-Why language is not neutral and a “pure” form of expression and why I cannot remove my identity politics out of my poetry. Why it is boring to seek out “universal” experiences in art.
-Why it is important for me to have good, cheap, Asian eats in the city I live in, and why I still also need to eat Panda Express and mall teriyaki chicken.