One: Yesterday the Proprietor placed in public view a short post of mine entitled, “Appreciating Your Betters.” Read It, if you wish to, with your eyes.

Two: Today there magically appeared a post featuring the Top 3 choices for favorite books, movies, and books, from (most of) the contributors to The Rabbit Room. So, deeply exciting I am sure, you can go and see for yourself how superior my choices are to those other fellows.

Also, go over and list your favorites in the comments. I dare you.

Note: I wasn’t sure if it was limited to things produced in 2009, but assumed it was. If it had been merely things consumed (so to speak, but a better way to say it is “received“) in 2009 then my list would have been pretty different. But I like the things I listed.

Did this fine book make the list?

OK, I have given you enough of a break from talking about Eric Peters.

So, Eric came to town and a great time was had by me and my family and friends and everyone was very complementary of him after the concert. Great reviews from the (pretty good-sized) crowd.  

One thing people kept saying (especially in my family) was how much Eric reminded them of me. Also, we really do have a lot in common. The disconcerting thing about this truth is that it reveals my oft-expressed admiration for EP as your basic prideful, self-love. Dang it.

But, honestly…Fact: I have nothing like the talent of Eric Peters. He is a unique bird. Plus I’m taller and, I assume, much better at lawndarts.

Here’s a video my brother (Will) shot and my other brother Daryl (Josiah) put on the “internets.”

Eric introduced this song by making a very clever joke about the connection between 80’s music and vermin and things that kill vermin (Ratt, Poisen, Anthrax, etc.). Then he talked about discovering the music of a different era, the music his parents loved. The Turtles, the Beatles, etc.

All I can say to that is a huge “ditto.” (How predictable, right?)

It’s a catchy EP tune from the Beckley, WV concert called, “Little by Little.” You can find it on the record Miracle of Forgetting. (My favorite EP album? May be.)

“Early in the Old Testament, God told His people to tell and retell to their children the story of how He saved them from slavery in Egypt. (Deut 6:20-25) With this command to be life-long story-tellers, we are reminded that while our redemption in Christ is very much set in doctrinal truths, these truths are anchored in an amazing and true tall tale.”

Andrew Peterson

This snippet is from a podcast which features the first of Russ Ramsey’s much anticipated Advent series over at the Rabbit Room. Listen to it here. Highly recommended.

Android: A human-like machine.

Factoid: People are becoming symbiotic in their relationship with their computers.

Fact: Everyone is officially on Twitter. Plus if you’re really famous you’re probably on there at least twice, once with “fake” in front of your name.

Of course most people are fake enough on Twitter anyway. Not me, but other people who hack my account.

I made fun of Twitter publically in a Rabbit Room post a few weeks prior to joining up myself. Can you say “hypocrisy” with less than 140 characters? 

Ron Block promptly called me a “Twaitor.” That is one of the most brilliant rejoinders I have ever been on the receiving end of. He should have tweeted it on Twitter so someone could actually read it. I guess he can still share it in one of his thirty-or-so Facebook Status Updates a day –which is veeerrryyy different than a Twitter tweet.

But in my (actual) view Twitter isn’t nearly as important as many of its apologists/cheerleaders say.

Also, it’s not as egocentric and banal as its detractors say (or it doesn’t have to be).

OK, now that I’ve done the most irritating thing in the world and set up two poles and put myself between them and called that “balance,” and “quite moderate,” I will now show you one reason why I love Twitter.

If you hung out with really smart, wise, godly, creative, or just generally uncommon people, you would hear them say things in reaction to some bit of news (or whatever) and you would laugh, or ponder, or be very puzzled. But wouldn’t it be swell to hear some morsel of what your favorite artist is thinking right now, or your favorite author, or chef, or pastor, or whatever? Well, that is (can be) what Twitter is. I cite Al Mohler from 11.16.09. Mohler tweeted thus:

albertmohler: Kanye West: “I am a proud non-reader of books. I … get information from doing stuff like actually talking to people and living real life.”

Then he tweeted this follow-up…

albertmohler: Please note that proud non-reader Kanye West is the author of a new book, “Thank You & You’re Welcome.” I am a proud non-reader of his book.

Bam.

                    Aside: It’s so very shocking to learn that Kanye West doesn’t read.

Let me make it clear that I agree with the vast number of sentient beings who recognize that sitting around on Twitter or Facebook for hours is almost certainly a HUGE waste of time. But the doing of many things to excess is often an avenue to wasting life. I gotta hurry this up, there’s a football game on…

Most of what is on Twitter and Facebook is not worth seeing. Lots. Of. Narcissism. And you can spend half your day just getting through the exclamation points on any tweets/status updates by teenagers you know!!!!!!!!! And like don’t even get me started on this jk/lol business. AND ALL CAPS!! Blech.

The truth is there are few who seem skilled at using the tool well, and I certainly don’t count myself among them. But there’s some out there. Who are your favorite people to follow on Twitter? Why? Comment away.

Oh yeah, follow me on Twitter and be my friend on Facebook. If you wish. Or don’t, snob.

sdsmith_: Just wrote a post, now eating a cookie. Here’s a picture of me. It’s the one I use on Twitter! lol, jk, lol!!!!! Cookie now finished.

My Rabbit Room compadre A.S. Peterson’s debut novel will release soon (end of November!). The cover was revealed yesterday to well-deserved applause (Evie Coates, another Rabbit Roomer, designed). I love the cover, it feels old, and I am very much looking forward to the book.

Pete (as he is better known at the moment) has basically been about the business of starting up a new publishing house, Rabbit Room Press. This will be the debut, full-length fiction offering from RRP and it looks to be a stalwart flagship.

Rabbit Room Press, for now, is a small, independent press. This means that Pete has to think of clever ways to help offset costs. He has settled on the idea of a patronage, and offers some limited edition, and first edition, hardware for those with the vision and generosity to support the start-up and launch his book. It’s an opportunity to invest in something special. In ten years when A.S. Peterson is a house-hold name and Rabbit Room Press’ stock is trading on the New York Stock Exchange, you will feel that warmness of the heart that comes from blazing trails and supporting worthy ventures.

You can find out about Tier 1 and Tier 2 (with a limited edition companion book) patronage at Pete’s website.

I am for this kind of thing in general, and for Pete in particular.

Check it out.

In the spirit of my post Tuesday –The Hunt for (a more widely) Read October– and on the anniversary of my first year at the Rabbit Room, I am posting this original essay which first appeared one year ago today on October 2, 2008 in a dimly lit corner of said Rabbit Room. The regulars laughed. Some walked out. But some stayed and some new chaps came and started small fires which caused hundreds of quid in damages. The original RR post is here. -sam

“Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.” –Joyce Kilmer

There are few finer pieces of practical theology I have read (outside of Scripture) than those tremendous words. I want to consider them in light of the Word of God, and alongside some thoughts by three guys I met at a football game -guys named Lewis, Tolkien and Milton. OK, to be honest, it wasn’t a football game. It was in books. Books are things people used to read before they invented text messaging. Sadly, these three amigos are unlikely to appear at any football games I may attend. But if my fantasy life is ever fully realized then you may see Jack Lewis coming on to kick the game-winning field-goal for the West Virginia Mountaineers with an able hold, laces out, by “Tollers.” Milton, blind as a bat, would be the long-snapper.

Continue reading

Writing is a business fraught with innumerable obstacles and marked by disappointments. No, it’s not like fighting-a-war hard, but it is simply very challenging if you are serious. That may seem silly but it won’t to anyone who has ever tried to get beyond the “I have a few ideas” stage and actually set to work. I don’t say that to garner pity (alone) but to say that it is easy to get discouraged about a lack of progress. I have been fighting that feeling off with varying degrees of success lately, and trying to keep my frustration in check. Then here comes October.

This October reminds me of last October. Last October was a good month for me in my efforts to be a “real writer.” I got my first paying gig writing fiction for West Virginia South magazine as they accepted my proposal to publish The Fledge Chronicles. The first story was published last October, “The Lion, the Bridge, and the Wardrobe Malfunction.” Since then they have continued to publish an installment of the serial in each publication. I am very thankful for Audrey Stanton, the editor of WVS, for being willing to publish the stories, and for her abundant supply of enthusiasm for them.

Last October I also debuted at the Rabbit Room, by the whimsical invitation of Andrew Peterson. I have posted two, or three times a month there (as AP requested) for the last year. It has been a joy to be in the company of such incredible artists and to get to know some of them a lot more betterer (see, writing is hard). The readers and posters over there have been a big encouragement to me, and I am so thankful to Andrew, and to the whole gang.

So, all in one month, I was being read by a lot more people and getting paid for it. Reflecting on this has been humbling for me this October. Who knows what awaits for me this October? Maybe more literary success. Maybe not. But I have reasons not to grumble.                 

Further, God seems to be kicking me in the pants with numerous exhortations to be grateful. Reminders of the mercy I’ve been given are jumping out in front of my car in a way impossible to miss. Mainly it’s the Gospel –pardon and peace with God! But it’s also babies, books, and bluegrass and many other things all singing from the same sheet music.

So October comes again. It’s another reason for skipping grumbling and going straight to gratitude. Who gets thanks? The God of Abraham.

This is part 2 (and the conclusion) of our interview with our very own Eric Peters (though he is a free man). Part 1 is right here. Read it and watch out for the unicorns. Stay tuned at the end of this interview for a chance to win your very own copy of Chrome for free.

Photo by Jeff Holland

SDS: How can those of us who are “way in” support your work and is there anything in particular we can pray for you and your family for?

EP: Sure. Work. Preferably in the form of shows and concerts. I don’t want to rehash a dead horse (a rather disgusting and ghoulish image) here, but 2009 has been something akin to sheer crumminess, work-wise, for me. If I’m supposed to be doing this with my life — I’m still trying to figure that one out — then encouragement (not to mention income) comes in the form of bookings. To know that somewhere out there some person connects enough with my songs to invite me to play at their home or church or chili cook-off, that is affirming and edifying. The lack of those bookings combined with what seems like the effect of running into a brick wall in terms of approaching other folks (inviting myself) to play at their church or wherever, has been less than sweet dreams. Personally, it’s been a roller-coaster year; from career, to finances, to news of marriage troubles. I sure don’t want to wish away the days, but I can only hope that 2010 brings brighter light.

How can you pray for me and my family? Pray that I can find identity in Christ. Alone. I’m no good to my wife and my family if I don’t know and believe the richest things that God says about me, how he sees me, how safe I am with him. I need to rely, depend, and rest in this. I’m struggling to do that what with the ongoing conflict of faith, art and commerce. Continue reading

Note: As I am about to demonstrate to the world, I have no idea how to do a real interview. But Eric Peters, in his mercy, agreed to do one with me. Now I’m thinking of a lot of questions I should have asked, but they aren’t really good ones either. So the dumb stuff is my fault. Yet I love that this interview does reveal Eric’s sense of humor and humility and made me even more of a fan than I was previously. EP is rare indeed, like a bloody, tasty steak. If you haven’t bought his new album, Chrome, yet (which I somehow failed to ask enough about) then you should remedy that soon. Some of the songs will appear on the soundtrack for the upcoming film Smith/Peters directed by Opie Taylor. The interview will be posted in two parts. The films will be an endless franchise making millions of buckskins. -sam

SDS: All right EP (this is SDS, by the way), some easier questions may follow, but first things first. What is your favorite color and what do you want to be when you grow up?

EP: Red in the fall. Black in winter. Green in spring. Purple in summer.

I’d like to be you when I grow up. You’re Sam Shepard, right? Do I have to grow up?

SDS: Sam, I am. Occupation: Shepherd. And, keep aiming high; follow your dreams and any unicorns which you may see. Speaking of unicorns, on a scale of one to two, how fun/effective was it to work with Ben Shive in making the new record, which, correct me if I’m wrong, is called “Life in Puebla Georgia As Seen From A Book-shaped Heap of Coal?”

EP: Few people know this about Ben (Shive), but he’s an avid unicorn hunter. It’s slightly different than snipe hunting in that the hunter must offer a reed of salt-cured bamboo to the male unicorn, otherwise, you’ll get no closer than 100 yards to either sex. Or, wait, maybe it’s a Twizzler.

Aside from hunting fantastical forest creatures, working with Ben in the (non-fictitious) making of Chrome (This is the correct album title; you might have had me confused with Erik Estrada) was definitely a 1.9 out of a possible 2. I laughed more making this record than I have in a long time. Since laughter is in short supply these days, I was glad for it, and welcomed it like I would a leprechaun riding a unicorn dragging behind it a pot of gold.

Ben is immensely talented, as creative as anyone I know, and, in the case of Chrome, was a giant for me in the way of encouragement and seeing through some of the dark lyrics to the soul of what I was trying to say, even finding and instilling hope in those places. Ben is absolutely an artist, and is one of the hardest working dudes I know. I am deeply grateful to him for taking on my project even on a shoestring budget, and for treating it as if it were making him wealthy and famous. Which it didn’t. Which it won’t.

SDS: OK, That was the best answer ever in the history of journalism. Probably because of my penetrating question and the presence of unicorns. Continue reading

Note: I rarely/never use all caps or multiple exclamation points. So, you know I’m stoked.

Today’s the day you’ve been waiting for. Chrome is out! Get that.

I love this record. You will as well. It has been tested on me, my wife, and kids and reports are glowingly glowlike. My kid’s, matter-of-fact, came in from playing outside last week and (unaware they were being observed) started dancing to EP’s Chrome. My son (3) said to his sister “Wow, this is really cool music.” And she (6) said, “I know, it’s sooooo cool.”

So there you have it. My case = rested.

I plan to do a review, so look for that sometime. Meanwhile, enjoy Pete Peterson’s review/announcement at the Rabbit Room and this interview Eric gave to “Saving the Setlist.”

I wish I could do an interview with EP. (Sad face.)

Fooled you. I’m doing it right now! Look for that in the very near future.

Most importantly! Today is the LAST day you can get a copy for 10$ (if my sources inside the Government are telling the truth –and who could ever doubt that?). So get yours now.