Greetings from Casper (a.k.a. Oil City)

Blogging "Live" from the Natrona County Public Library in Casper...

I'm here for the Casper College Literary Conference, which features Nick Flynn, author of the boffo memoir "Another Bullshit Night in Suck City," and Belarus poet Valzhyna Mort. They both read at a lunchtime session on campus, as did Casper short story writer Chad Hanson. More to come over the next two days.

I always enjoy reading the Casper Star-Tribune Online. The Trib has traditionally been Wyoming's statewide newspaper and, at least when Charles Levendosky was editorial page editor, the only paper that printed your letter to the editor verbatim and, if possible, in its entirety. Now those comments can be found Online. Lots of juicy comments recently about Gary Trauner and his renewed run for Barbara Cubin's seat in the U.S. House. Right-wingers call Gary a carpet bagger, which means he's from some place other than Wyoming. In this case, he's from THE EAST COAST. Horrors! Cubin isn't a native either. She's fallen for the Bush agenda hook, line, and sinker.

Also check out the comments about wolves and their place in the ecosystem. Most are along the line of the bumper sticker I recently saw in Cheyenne: "Wolves: Eliminate, don't legislate."

Maybe we could say the same about Barbara: "Cubin: Eliminate (via election)! Don't let her legislate!"

Lots of good name-calling on the CST Online. Many aspersions are cast. Great breakfast reading.