prose and cons

i am back from the southampton writers conference..kind of like summer camp for writers...first...i was a wreck heading out there...this was definitely a push out of my comfort zone...both physically and mentally...physically: living in a dorm if you were born let's say before '85...not so much fun...four months since my left-knee arthroscopy...three months after schlepping morning, noon and night when we moved...and there i was schlepping again...clothes, bedding, enough crap for a month to the dorm room...and white cinder block walls, the drone of the a/c and an industrial mattress do not a good nights sleep make...the communal bathrooms...do i have to say anything?...my personal favorite moment was when the lights went out in the bathroom while i was in the real luxurious shower stall...daisy shaver in hand, of course...realizing that deciding to do this at 3 in the afternoon, none of my suitemates in a screaming distance, was not the smartest move...luckily this lasted about one minute...no tv...i know, i know...i was there to write...but fuck, i was a tv major in college...i need a dose at least once a day....mentally: reading your work, allowing the criticism of peers...then rethinking the wheel and starting again...once my stomach stopped flip-flopping as i read and listened it was kind of freeing...my "classmates"...let's just say there are a lot of talented writers out there...but this wonderful group...these poets left it all on the page and then some...mary karr, our "teacher"...the original badass...the high-five from her after reading my revision that last day...pretty good...dining under tents in the southampton sun...people from all walks of life, from all around the globe, all born with a pen in hand, a need to create...and then enjoying the local scene...playing hookey at cooper beach...saturday night drinks at a semi-dive bar that looked like it doubled for the bar in "perfect storm"... the local bar flies trying to buy a round for me and my friend...then feeling the need to comment on our "breasts" on the way out...we laughed, but probably both took that writers' mental note...great line...and great time