Author: El Portal
-
Finals Week Procrastination Resources
We’re breaking away from all things literature and writing this week, as it is Finals Week at ENMU. We’ve opted to post a number of distractions for fellow procrastinators out there….. 1). Journey through Middle-Earth (Google Chrome App) 2). Cracked.com 3). VICE Documentaries/Films 4). io9 5). Filler (game) 6). BuzzFeed Taste Tests 7). Safety Graphic…
-
Thinking West: Herman Melville (Moby Dick)
[A]s for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.
-
Thinking West: Carl Sagan & Wanderers Short Film
Exploration is in our nature. We began as wanderers, and we are wanderers still. We have lingered long enough on the shores of the cosmic ocean. We are ready at last to set sail for the stars.– Carl Sagan, Cosmos
-
IT’S HERE!!! Episode VII – The Force Awakens Trailer
We’re breaking away from literature and all things writing today. We’ve decided to post the teaser trailer for the upcoming Star Wars film. Star Wars has something to do with El Portal, right?
-
Thinking West: Advertisements for Western Land
Thousands went West believing the hype surrounding those western lands being sold by the nation’s railroads. Railroad companies sold the West as a place of prosperity and plenty. The West was an edenic paradise, where one could grow grapes the size of watermelons and melons the size of wagons–a true land of milk and honey.…
-
Thinking West: Henry David Thoreau
Men rush to California and Australia as if the true gold were to be found in that direction; but that is to go to the very opposite extreme to where it lies. They go prospecting farther and farther away from the true lead, and are most unfortunate when they think themselves most successful. Is not…
-
Thinking West: The Devil’s Highway (Luís Alberto Urrea)
“The Devil’s Highway” is a name that has set out to illuminate one notion: bad medicine. The first white man known to die in the desert heat here did it on January 18. 1541. Most assuredly, others had died before. As long as there have been people, there have been deaths in the western desert.…
-
ENMU Writers’ Retreat: In 2015 We Will Do Real Pretty!
Because from June 28th to July 10th we will be joining Dzanc Books and Disquiet International Literary Program in Lisbon, Portugal. Study with amazing, internationally renowned writers; experience Lisbon’s unique cityscape and atmosphere; and make friendships that will last a lifetime. And to stay in touch and find out how you can apply for scholarships,…
-
Thinking West: Long in the Tooth (Idiom)
Idiom: noun. 1. a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., raining cats and dogs, see the light ). 2. a characteristic mode of expression in music or art. The idiom “long in the tooth” might be the weirdest way to say that someone…
-
Thinking West: The Bleeding Edge
Bleeding Edge: noun. The forefront of innovation or development, esp. in science or technology, typically when still theoretical or experimental in nature. The most advanced stage of a technology, art, etc., usually experimental and risky. The frontier is often seen as a hardscrabble place. In our imagination, the frontier is located somewhere in the mystical…
-
Thinking West: Comparative Wests Project
Check out the Comparative Wests Project by Stanford University. Read the small blurbs below and check the project’s website (click on “read more here…”). The Comparative Wests Project is an interdisciplinary collaboration focused on exploring the common histories and shared contemporary issues among Indigenous populations and settler colonialists in Australia, New Zealand, Western South America,…
-
El Portal Submissions Deadline!!!
Today is the last day to get your submissions in! You can send submissions to the editor at el.portal@enmu.edu.
-
Thinking West: Water-Witch
Water-witch*: noun. One who claims to be able to find underground water by means of a divining rod; a dowser. Finding reliable sources of freshwater is a problem that plagues the American West. People resort to a number of obscure methods for obtaining sources of subterranean water. New homesteaders in the American West might pay…
-
Thinking West: The Occident
Occident*: noun, adjective, or verb. 1.) Chiefly used in poetry and literary texts as a noun. The part of the world situated to the west of some recognized region; spec. the countries, civilization, or culture of the West. Originally with reference to Western Christendom or the Western Roman Empire, or to Europe as opposed to…
El Portal Literary Journal 