Slop: An Audio Improvisation
By
Jon Cotner is the author, with Andy Fitch, of Ten Walks/Two Talks (Ugly Duckling
Presse, 2010). It was selected ... Last month, the day following a blizzard, I took a 90-minute walk around Brooklyn during which every sentence I spoke contained the word “slop.” Here’s a 2-minute Mp3 of that walk called “Slop.”
New York City is an infinite zone for walking and talking. On any given day, you can have either sustained or quick conversations – depending on your preference. Many dialogues unfold with people you’ll never see again (in spite of the common farewell “See you later”).
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The “slop” walk was designed as an experiment. I’d searched my brain for a word uniting us all, one arousing laughter and frustration, and “slop” is what I came up with. So I hit the slushy sidewalks.
“Slop” ends with a violet-haired hairdresser on cigarette break in front of a slop pile. I said: “It must be nice to smoke a cigarette and contemplate the slop.” Her response: “Exac…you know what? That’s, I thought you were gonna say how beautiful – no, you’re absolutely right. Absolutely.”
I couldn’t have anticipated this response, or any of the others. At bottom “Slop” is a meditation on the city sidewalk’s humorous randomness. 
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