I’m the kind of guy who when there’s a problem, I like to get on it. I don’t like the problem to get me, I like to get it. When there’s a problem, I face it—I don’t let it faze me. You could say I like to faze it. I like to face my problems and take care of them, I don’t let them take care of me. So when there’s a problem, I’m the kind of guy who addresses it immediately. If I don’t know my problem’s address, I find it out, and I go there without warning. My problem could be sleeping—don’t matter, I go there without calling, without giving my problem any heads up. I like to catch my problems unprepared in that way. And if my problem is prepared, so much the better. I like to face my problems at their best. That way, they have no excuse. I don’t want my problems to get the better of me, and I don’t want to consider them as problematic in any way.
LOREN GOODMAN is the author of Famous Americans, selected by W. S. Merwin for the 2002 Yale Series of Younger Poets, Suppository Writing (2008), and New Products (2010). He is an associate professor of creative writing and English literature at Yonsei University / Underwood International College in Seoul, South Korea, and serves as the UIC Creative Writing Director.
