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David Brandt
- Beauty in Solitude
- Vain Posturing
- A Fine Moment
- The Acorn Experience
- Films that Changed Me
- Punk in Context
- Bizarre Jobs
- In Front of People
- Visitor Center
- Ill Manners and Hope
- Theft and Hope
- The Promise Keepers
- It’s Spring
- High School Biometrics
- The Horror
- My Tandy
- A Calm Place
- The James River Greens
- Strange Energy
- In the Shenandoah Valley
- The Flower that Became a Boy
Author Archives: dust exchange
Beauty in Solitude
It was known as Ultima Thule, which means “beyond the known world.” It was changed because Ultima Thule had some significance regarding Nazi sympathizers. It became Arrokot, which comes from the Powhatan tribe of the Chesapeake Bay. It means sky. … Continue reading
Posted in Object in Space
Tagged Arrokot, Kuiper Belt, NASA, New Horizons, NOVA, PBS, Powhatan, Solar System, Ultima Thule
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Vain Posturing
I wrote a song called “Party Favors” while living in the dormitory. It’s just about the darkest lyric I have penned. It was the only song I could perform competently. Walking down the street in Richmond, I saw a friend … Continue reading
Posted in Rock Music
Tagged Awareness Art Ensemble, Blackstone, Bongos, Crisp Fabric, Free Jazz, Harrisonburg, Improvisation, Nashville, Party Favors, Party Scene, Percussion, Richmond
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A Fine Moment
It was a hot summer day. Clay was inside the supermarket, buying beer. I was standing outside, smoking a cigarette. A young girl came outside, with a sly attitude. There were two long rows of shopping carts, with a space … Continue reading
Posted in Grocery Store
Tagged Children, Clay Keith, Gratitude, Kroger, Lost Child, Mischief, Nashville, Shopping Carts, Summer
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The Acorn Experience
We were at Luigi’s. It was the evening of a cloudy day. Brian, Dustin, and I were at a round, black table beside a large window. The three of us were having a conversation when a girl walked to our … Continue reading
Posted in Surreal Behavior
Tagged Acorn, Brian Temples, Childhood, Dustin Bugg, Harrisonburg, Luigi's, Odd Behavior, Strange Behavior, The Friendly City
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Films that Changed Me
Posted in Dark Cinema
Tagged Agatha, Cinema, Elephant Man, Film, Mushroomland, Natalie Wood, Polish Surrealism, Robocop, Satanic Influence, Smile Guide, Surrealism
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Punk in Context
“What good fortune for those in power that people do not think.” … Continue reading
Posted in Counterculture, Punk
Tagged Appomattox, Collages, Counterculture, Dead Kennedys, Jello Biafra, Kroger, Major Label, Maximum Rocknroll, Nashville, Punk, Punk Rock, Scissors and Glue, Selling Out
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Bizarre Jobs
Entrepreneur: We didn’t stay in California long. It was my first semester of kindergarten, and Stephen was in second grade. We came up with the idea of having a “plant sale” on the front lawn. We gathered containers and put … Continue reading
Posted in Employment, Odd Jobs
Tagged Austin, California, Carpet Cleaning, Golfballs, Junior High, Kelly Services, Kids, Microfilm, Nashville, Plant Sale, Richmond, Temp Work, Turlock
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In Front of People
In high school, the senior play for the class just ahead of me was Bye Bye Birdie. I ran sound. Brian Hudson, who played the lead role, was a good friend. My first instrument was bass, and the first guitarist … Continue reading
Visitor Center
There was a war going on. A friend was in the Army, in the middle of the action. He could have backed out after September 11, but it only strengthened his conviction. There were gaps in my work history. I … Continue reading
Ill Manners and Hope
My mouth was terribly dry. I was waiting for family at El Cazador, the only true Mexican restaurant in town. I figured that, when my family got there, I could go inside and order an iced tea. In front of … Continue reading
Posted in Morality, Society
Tagged Appomattox, El Cazador, Hip Hop, Kroger, Loud Music, Manners, Morality, Nice, Obscenity, Profanity, Rap, Redemption
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Theft and Hope
I went to the bank for a roll of quarters. As I handed him the ten-dollar bill, the teller asked if I was going to wash my car or do laundry. There was a teller I liked standing behind him, … Continue reading
Posted in Morality, Society
Tagged Appomattox, Bank, Confederate Boulevard, Crime, Drink Machines, Five Dollar Bill, Five Dollars, Laundromat, Laundry, Manners, Morality, Poor, Redemption
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The Promise Keepers
A friend from Seattle visited me in Nashville in the fall of 1997. We were both editors of underground publications. We had met briefly at a restaurant in D.C., three years earlier. In that cruddy little apartment on Evelyn Avenue, … Continue reading
It’s Spring
The golden strandOf the ceremonial stringCalls out beyond intelligence: it’s spring. Spring is never happy,Spring is always dull.It’s a lie that flowers bloom and the yellow moon shines bright upon the earth. It’s a lie. Fools play in the fields.They … Continue reading
High School Biometrics
A long time ago, I graduated from Appomattox County High School. Things were simpler then. Not better, but simpler. Maybe different is the right word. This was before the horrors of Columbine, before the War on Terror, before internet bullying, … Continue reading
The Horror
As dictated by the letter X, I liked Stephen King as a teenager. I read Firestarter, Pet Sematary, Thinner, and two short story collections. Pet Sematary was first-rate horror. It contained one of the most terrifying sentences in modern literature: … Continue reading
My Tandy
To quote Milhouse, “I’m not a nerd…nerds are smart.” I don’t even know the difference between nerds and geeks. Yet, I have no problem calling myself a vintage computer geek. In its day, the Tandy 1000SX was one of the … Continue reading
A Calm Place
My Dad liked to travel. He and I took two vacations down the East Coast several years ago. I was sleep deprived, so I didn’t drive much. I wish I had done more driving with all the trouble we had … Continue reading
