Ep. 12: Carry That Awareness With You

Summer vacation writing assignments were always prompted with: how I spent my summer vacation.

So here’s mine.

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Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.

Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.

I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:

“Book of Numbers” by Joshua Cohen

To download “Book of Numbers” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.

Ep. 11: Big Cleansing Breath

The birth of a baby isn’t anything like they show you in the movies.

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Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.

Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.

I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:

“Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times” by Jennifer Worth

To download “Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.

Happy 2 Months, Marley Marl!

Season 2 Trailer

Season 2 of I Better Start Writing This Down—coming in October of 2015.

Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.

Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.

The Harry Houdini audio featured in the trailer is from The Public Domain Review.

Oh, and I’ve never been terribly annoying about this, so allow me this one time to say that, if at all possible, please listen to this trailer on your very best pair of headphones. It’s worth it, I promise.

Ep. 10: Brendan O’Connor

“Ocean, don’t be afraid./The end of the road is so far ahead/it is already behind us.”

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Mementos:

“Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana” by Michael Azerrad

The Audio-Technica LP120-USB Direct-Drive Professional Turntable

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Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.

The poem featured in today’s episode is called “Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong” by Ocean Vuong and was originally published in The New Yorker.

Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.

I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:

“Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain” by Charles R. Cross

To download “Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.

Ep. 9: I’m Going Back For Your Mother

There are three out-of-context facts that I want to give you at the beginning of this. They deal with sneakers, gloves, and drifts.

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Mementos:

A box of four pairs of HotHands Hand Warmers

An LE LED Headlamp, which has 18 White LEDs and 2 Red LEDs, the latter for SOS mode. It has 4 different brightness levels, and includes 3 AAA batteries.

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Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.

Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.

I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:

“The Shining” by Stephen King

To download “The Shining” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.

Ep. 8: Drive Me Crazy Forever (Wild World)

I want to tell you about what would turn out to be the last Christmas present my mother would ever give me.

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Mementos:

The Scotch-Brite Heavy Duty Scrub Sponge

The Melissa & Doug Deluxe Standing Easel

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Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.

Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.

I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:

“Horton Hears a Who” by Dr. Seuss

As an educator, my mother loved Dr. Seuss. “Horton Hears a Who” wasn’t her favorite Dr. Seuss book, but it was up there. And the best part? The Audible version I’m directing you to is narrated by Dustin Hoffman. Yes, that Dustin Hoffman. To download “Horton Hears a Who” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.

Ep. 7: The Most Fruitful Period of My Creative Life

I always thought I’d be terrified to fly in an airplane.

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Mementos:

The Long Winters’ EP ‘Ultimatum.’

The Sony MDR-7506, which are really affordable professional-grade headphones.

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Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.

Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.

I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:

“A Prayer for Owen Meany” by John Irving

“Owen Meany” was my mom’s favorite novel. She always told me that I should read it, and I never did. I’m going to now though. To download “A Prayer for Owen Meany” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.

Here’s the episode of Song Exploder that I mentioned. If you like music, I can’t recommend Song Exploder enough.

Here’s the episode of Roderick on the Line that I included two clips from. If you like philosophy and laughing and early 70’s Suburbans and the history of the Nazis, I can’t recommend Roderick on the Line enough. And thanks to fellow RotL fan, @capnmariam, for finding the episode for me.

Ep. 6: From Not Home, To Home

When I sat down to write about loss, I realized: I do not want to be forced by grief to learn how to process it.

But can you prepare yourself?

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Mementos:

The essay collection “Running After Antelope” by Scott Carrier

The memoir “The Night of the Gun: A reporter investigates the darkest story of his life—His own” by David Carr

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Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.

Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.

I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:

“The Philosophical Baby: What Children’s Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love and the Meaning of Life” by Alison Gopnik

“The Philosophical Baby” is my favorite parenting book that I’ve read so far. To download “The Philosophical Baby” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.

Ep. 5: I Didn’t Even Ask to Be Born

Since my daughter, Luna, was born in April of 2013, my wife and I have used the same voice to impersonate her.

One of my favorite lines of Luna Speak was a specific phrase.

It was funny to us; it felt appropriate. Even at six, seven, eight months old, it seemed to be exactly what she was thinking, even saying, at the moment.

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Mementos:

The essay collection “Loitering” by Charles D’Ambrosio

The Blue Yeti USB Microphone

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Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.

Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.

I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:

“This Is Water: The Original David Foster Wallace Recording”

“This Is Water” is the commencement address that Wallace gave at Kenyon College in 2005, an address that has taken on a life of its own. It’s one of my favorite sources of daily inspiration. To download “This Is Water” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.

Ep. 4: Miniature Boxes of Cereal

In the basement of my grandparents’ house, there was a bookshelf on the wall to the left. Books about the history of the mob lined the shelves.

In that house, nobody spoke about the past, and by extension, neither did my father.

But, like all leaky ships, the past sometimes found its way in.

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Mementos:

The Godfather: The Francis Ford Coppola Restoration Blu-ray

There Will Be Blood, the Blu-ray of the 2007 Paul Thomas Anderson film

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Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.

Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.

I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

We’ve all seen the movie, sure. But have you read the book? To download The Godfather for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.

Ep. 3: I Can Do It

I’ve got an index card in my wallet, but I’m not going to tell you about it until the end.

First, you need to understand how I came to be in possession of it.

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Mementos:

The Franklin Sports MLB 3-Way Pitch Return

Ten 100-count packages of Pendaflex Oxford Ruled Index Cards, 3x5 Inches, White

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Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.

Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.

I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.

Ep. 2: The Envelopes

My most common dream construct is that I’m being chased. Being chased through houses, schools, terrorist attacks. I always wake up right as the capital T They are about to pounce. I jolt awake in bed, like in a movie, sitting up with a terrible, loud, intake of air. My wife will ask if I’m okay. I’ll tell her that I was having a horrible dream.

Were you being chased again? she’ll ask.

Yes, I will say.

Are you okay? she'll ask.

Yes, I will say.

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Mementos:

The Dreamer’s Dictionary by Stearn Robinson and Tom Corbett

The House With a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs

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Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.

Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.

I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.

Ep. 1: A Revised Truth

I’ve reached the point where, as a writer, and maybe because I’m a writer, I'm no longer able to clearly delineate between memory, fiction, and most of all, the memories that have slowly mutated over time into something caught between a memory and a lie. 

A revised truth.

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Mementos:

The Gilmour Full Size Zinc Pistol Grip Nozzle with Threaded Front

One Dozen Bulk Painted Fish Squirt Bath Toys

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Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.

Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.

Ep. 0: An Introduction

I Better Start Writing This Down, a new podcast from Joe Stracci, is coming in February 2015. To hold you over, and introduce you to the show, here’s a trailer. Tell your friends. Tell your enemies. Maybe it’ll help you to patch things up with them.

Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.

Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.