Back in 2005, the Appalachian Program, a project of the Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College, put on a play based on local oral histories. This first largely addressed prescription drug abuse. This spring, they're back again with a new original musical drama at the school's Cumberland, KY campus, according to the Harlan Daily Enterprise, with "Higher Ground 3: Talking Dirt": "Natasha Painter, of Wallins Creek, said this is her first year participating in Higher Ground. She said she plays the part of Beth. 'Beth is a really strong character,' said Painter. 'She’s confused about whether to leave Harlan County or not. She loves the area and [...]
"Thomas Wolfe put the finishing touches on Look Homeward, Angel while living on the second floor of 27 W 15th Street in 1928": A literary tour of New York City that you should never bother to take. Look, here's an alley where someone once walked! (via)
Playground next to low-income housing. At night. Modular squares of beaten rubber serve as gridlike, lunar ground. Swoop of a tubular plastic slide. Sag of a miniature plank bridge that joins a pair of raised platforms, one outfitted as nautical helm, the other roofed with a ziggurat. The vast brick cake—apartment complex—beyond. Counterfeit moons in clustered bulbs, the color of scrambled eggs, on poles.
Medicine cabinet mirror ajar. Shelves a mosaic: prescription orange, paradise blue. Twin hairs stuck to the grooved little shelf that should offer soap. Silver faucet a mounted bird’s neck. Raised drain-stopper whose ridge amasses a layer of slime. Damp jeans draped on translucent rod. Tile [...]
