I Better Start Writing This Down: Stories and Sound Design by Joe Stracci
IBSWTD is meticulously-edited, obsessively-produced, far from perfect, and always thoughtful. It’s not a tell-all. It’s not a memoir. If you listen really closely, the strands don’t always connect. But it’s got heart. It’s taking the leap. In time, it will get there.
At one point, to describe it, Joe Stracci thought he might go with something clever like, “Five-minute stories/Four lightbulbs/Once a month,” but he realized that only one of those promises could be kept.
IBSWTD’s tagline comes from the Amy Hempel short story, “The Harvest,” a stunning piece of fiction that can be found in her collected works. You’ll see the connection.
EPISODES
IBSWTD Notes:
The IBSWTD Light Bulb is by Scribbles Designs.
The IBSWTD Skull and Crossbones is by Cliparts.co.
IBSWTD is best enjoyed through quality headphones. To make the show, I use these.
(Please note that that’s an Amazon Associates link. If you click it and buy the headphones, I get a small percentage of the sale. Thank you for your support.)
IBSWTD Suggested Reading:
“I Remember” by Joe Brainard
“Point Omega” by Don DeLillo
“The Harvest” by Amy Hempel
“The Deer at Providencia” by Annie Dillard
“A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again” by David Foster Wallace
IBSWTD Important Quotes:
“What was the barn like before it was photographed?” he said. “What did it look like, how was it different from other barns, how was it similar to other barns? We can’t answer these questions because we’ve read the signs, seen the people snapping the pictures. We can’t get outside the aura. We’re part of the aura. We’re here, we’re now.”—Don DeLillo, “White Noise”
“All these weirdos, and me getting a little better right in the midst of them. I had never known, never even imagined for a heartbeat, that there might be a place for people like us.”—Denis Johnson, “Jesus’ Son”
“I leave a lot out when I tell the truth.”—Amy Hempel, “The Harvest”