Skiing the M

(Stats from our day and more photos are here:: https://annvinciguerra.blogspot.com/2018/01/skiing-m-stats.html)

2017-2018 marks my 13^th winter in Bozman, but only the second time I’ve skied the M. Lack of snow at its low elevation and frequent winds make good conditions on the M trail a rare treat. My first attempt was a socked-in, wind-effected mess, and I have always wanted to hit it in good conditions.

Update: A revised version of this story appeared in Outside Bozeman in winter 2018-2019.

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Writing Exercise: Skiing Goose Creek Meadow

The writing prompt was: Describe a familiar setting to someone who's never been there. 

Musical Memories from the Early 1990s

There was life before digital photography and these photos prove it! Below are some screen shots from social media posts (Facebook kindly reminded me of one of them recently) I made to my radio show page. https://www.facebook.com/onthebuswithanniev/

I'm on the air this Sunday, 6-9 pm. I'm creating a special show for Christmas eve and am taking requests. Leave them here. Sorry, I won't play Jingle bells.

www.kglt.net - we stream live!

Bozeman's L Street Graffiti

If you follow this blog you know that I created it as a way to document my life and act a sounding board for my writing, an eclectic mix of a cyber-journal meets writer's note pad. 

Here is the latest. I want to post it before too much more time goes by. Still a work-in-progress...

Be an Outdoor Athlete or Just Look Like One

An updated draft of something I wrote a while back. I want to sent it to a glossy outdoor magazine, but I don't think their advertisers would appreciate it.

My Favorite Street

It amazes me how little is said in so much of today's travel writing. In addition to showing the reader next to nothing about a destination, much of the writing sounds forced and corny. On one hand this is depressing but on the other, it gives me confidence in my ability to produce a publication-worthy travel story.

I mimicked a cliched travel article a few weeks ago (http://annvinciguerra.blogspot.com/2017/09/laramie-travel-piece.html) and when I stumbled across this article in the in-flight magazine during a recent trip, I knew I had found my next exercise.

Mike and I gallivanted off to Oregon last weekend to spend time with his family in the shadows of Mt. Hood and catch up with my friend Jim Bergman. 

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The Three Sentence Travel Story

Walking Above the Amalfi Coast

Another writing exercise...

Bozeman Graffiti Wars

More on development & updated photos from Bozeman's graffiti scene...

A while back (http://annvinciguerra.blogspot.com/2017/01/paradise-ruined.html)I wrote a piece about graffiti around Bozeman. The post specifically highlighted markings that have appeared on the apartment building and quartet of little white houses in a prime location on West Lamme. Recently, I passed by during a run and my curiosity was piqued once again. Upon returning home from my run, I went to the all-knowing Google to find out what’s going on. Below is what I discovered…

My Path to Musical Maturity

The latest work from my writing class. I took two posts from this blog and worked them into one. Great feedback from my class resulted in this piece. Your feedback is welcome.

Exploring an Under-the-Radar Gem: Laramie, Wyoming

Mimicking the Cliched Travel Article

One good writing exercise is the imitation exercise: find an article in a magazine and mimic its style on a different topic. Recently, I came across a city profile in a popular travel magazine and decided to use it as the starting point for my essay. The author of the original piece works in the restaurant industry and is a judge on one of television's well-known cooking programs. The article didn't provide too many concrete details nor did it make a compelling case to visit the city. But if you're a star in the culinary world I guess that gives you authority to write in a well-distributed publication, even if you don't say a whole lot.

As I read over what I wrote, I will say I have succeed in mimicking the flowery language found in the original piece. I can't say I have created a journalistic masterpiece, but it was a fun and easy exercise. At some point, I will rewrite this story with more concrete detail and less travel-writing fluff.

Braided Essay - Antelope & Gymnastics

In my writing class last week, one of our exercises was the braided essay. We were instructed to pick a wild animal and an experience we are proud of. We were then given four minutes to weave these two seemingly distinct things into a playful essay that connected them. Many of us found the topics we choose were connected even if we didn't know it at the time. I chose antelope and gymnastics, and had so much fun with the exercise that I decided to expand upon it here.