SAN FRANCISCO/ST. PETERSBURG-

June 20

St. Petersburg is nothing like Prague, where half the population speaks English. In St. Petersburg, people dress like they’re auditioning for a Las Vegas dance troupe, but when you try to speak to them in the language of Las Vegas, they roll their eyes and suck on their cigarettes like you’re a piece of trash on the street to be ignored. In fact there’s plenty of trash on Nevsky to be ignored, probably because there are no trash cans, so maybe Russians are simply averting their eyes to avoid becoming morbidly depressed at all the ugliness in the world, my sorry non-Russian speaking self included.

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SAN FRANCISCO/ST. PETERSBURG-

June 19

Today I learn something very important in Kevin Canty’s workshop. I learn that I have no idea how to write a plot. I can write characters and scenes and dialogue, but when it comes to writing a story with a real live narrative arc, I have no idea what I’m doing.

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SAN FRANCISCO/ST. PETERSBURG-

(To read the intro to this entry, click here.)

June 16, 2007

There has been a delay at the airport, a scandalous delay that began with lost luggage and lead to someone from our group being ushered into a glass chamber by Barbie-looking security guards who, for mysterious reasons, refused to accept his passport.

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