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August 30, 2003 Good news again. Skidrow Penthouse will be publishing one of my poems. Thanks, Rob! Also, there's a new little journal out of Philly that looks great. Check out Joss, run by the staff at Molly's Bookshop. It's very nice, too, to have been added to two estimable blog rolls this first month. Thanks. I'm planning to work up my own for the September blog. I updated the Frequency Series page this morning with photos and the new schedule. Please come out! ____________ Miscellanious Mania Coffee ____________ August 25, 2003 A weekend away is worth a million, sometimes. My cat Marvin had to have his tooth pulled today and on the way home, our car service car broke down. Double no fun. The Frequency Series starts up soon!
August 22, 2003 We're going out of town this weekend, but I wish it were for more than a few days. I'm tired. Laura Miller's review of Chuck Palahniuk's Diary is provoking just the kind of reactions she hoped it would, I guess. I have to admit, that after reading the first paragraph, I didn't find it necessary to read the rest. It's pretty clear from that sampling she doesn't like it, right? So why bother with a day pass? Of course, Miller's not my favorite. She hates DeLillo, which makes no sense to me. And speaking of factual inaccuracies, doesn't anybody remember her review of Underworld? I came to the conclusion that she hadn't even bothered to finish the book before writing the review. She messed up some major plot points near the end of the novel, man. Anyway, her latest is exactly the kind of review that makes me wonder about the value of book criticism. I talked about this a bit in set 2 of CAConrad's 9for9. (Fixed now. Thanks, Conrad!) I mean, when is the trashing of a book or its author valuable? I happen not to like Palahniuk myself, but that's certainly not because I read a negative review somewhere. And should book lovers (which I'll naively assume book critics to be) really be discouraging potential readers from reading? Miller's vitriole won't prevent any of Palahniuk's fans from getting Diary. In fact, her review has probably boosted sales. I guess the question is really what does the trasher hope to achieve? I get the sense it's a display--rants are after all only fun when spewed in public--and more about the trasher than the trashee. You might as well be in the 7th grade lunchroom saying "Oh mi god, did you see Chuck's ugly shoes!" Such a trashing leaves the purported goal of thoughtful assessment out of the picture. I find enthusiastic recommendations (like Ron Siliman's emerging "Essential Titles" list) much more useful--and often do actually go out and buy a book based on some critic's high praise. Now, for a confession. I was a bit, just a bit, delighted that CP was getting trashed. He's recently been not very nice to a friend of mine. But then I felt guilty.
August 21, 2003 Hey, I'm going to have a sestina up online at McSweeney's. That's pretty neat. If you're on my mailing list, you'll get the usual Shameless Self Promotion email when it's up. There's also a link on the Current page.
August17, 2003 Yes, I really do get paid to write about personal massagers, among other things. It's hard not to laugh when you're typing
things like "tangle-free hose" in such a context.
August 16, 2003 During the blackout, Shawn and I walked from Times Square to our place in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. We stopped off at a bar that was running a "Blackout Special." $2 Buds on ice. How could we resist? (See play excerpt below.) We finally got power back yesterday at 5:45 p.m. Ahhh, A/C. How spoiled are we all?
August 15, 2003 Blackout Special! Characters: • 3 Worldcom employees, • 1 single girl • 1 drunk couple, laughing • 2 couples • 1 tourist _________ Act I: The Dam Is Compromised Act II: The Smokers' Patio Act III: Bathroom by Candlelight _________ An excerpt The Smokers' Patio WORLDCOM 3 ALL WORLDCOM 2 WORLDCOM 1 & 2 SINGLE GIRL DRUNK COUPLE ___________________________________ Tuesday, August 12 2 New Yorkers 1 Wall Street Journal 2 office memos 1 Russian novel, in Russian 1 real estate circular 1 paperback of The Fig Eater by Jody Shields 1 lottery ticket 1 New York Times 1 widow coverings catalog 1 unidentifiable magazine 1 Daily News (read by one of the earlier memo readers) 1 black & white speckled composition notebook 1 copy of Time Magazine 1 book by or about Goddard (she was at the far end of the car) 1 cell phone display (playing a game perhaps?) 1 brochure for something (he read this for the entire trip) 1 tearsheet of an article called "The Fine Print" Nobody read the ads.
August 8, 2003 An second actual bloggish type entry: Jim Berhle rocked the house at Dan's Karaoke + Poetry = Fun this week, and he's posted some funny drawings about it too. I neglected to introduce myself, though I did meet Chris Martin from Puppy Flowers who will also be in the next LIT. Suddenly after 5 beers, my shyness disappeared and I found myself on stage singing. Geez.
August 4, 2003 An actual bloggish type entry: Visit tomhop.com for a photo of me w/ Steve, Dan, Shawn & Chris at the Brooklyn Inn after a Frequency Reading. |
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