p.s. Hey. Oh, I was going to say for whatever it's worth that the post today is related to something I'm working on in my novel, and I would have tagged it as a scrapbook page except that to explain how that relationship works would call for something too complicated and lengthy for me to even want to try, so I decided to just let the post fend for itself, but thinking it might be kind of opaque, I'll just quickly note that it's derived from a novel-related experiment for the record. Nothing else to report off hand that I can think of. ** David Ehrenstein, Yeah, I understand what you mean about wit being the payoff in Anderson's work, but I do love the scenes in his films where he delivers a kind of quotation marks-bracketed emotional payoff -- the wolf scene in 'FMF', the 'Jaguar Shark' scene Sypha mentioned in 'Life Aquatic', etc. I find those scenes' reserve and kind stressed formality to be strangely and complexly very moving. I think Jagger's cool in 'Performance'. It's just that every time I've seen Jagger act or try to act, it always feels kind of forced and insincere to me or something. No big, though. I know of Jerome Charyn, but I don't know if I've ever read him. I can't recall. That Dickinson novel sounds very, very interesting, so that might well be my entrance. I heard about that James Franco short film, and, yeah, how about them apples? Thanks, D. ** Dan Callahan, Ken's amazing and one of a kind, absolutely. I just wish he'd write a new novel is all, ha ha. I think 'Pizza Face' is an under-recognized classic, and that wish is pure greed on my part. Thanks for sending me the novel. I'll read it as soon as I can. Yeah, that 'I shouldn't have married you' moment is incredible and beautiful. Thanks, Dan. ** Put The Lotion In The Basket, I'm really glad you like the Jack Skelley. That Brian Jones piece was pure grace in motion. Skelley's really something. And glad of course you liked the Hannum work. Again, so much grace. Awesome that the Birmingham gig went so well. That strobe thing sounds really effective in my mind. Oh, those doubters in the Q&A were such total self-incriminators. I love when that happens. Oh, yeah, Nick Zedd at least was -- I don't know what he looks like now -- very cute, and all the moreso somehow for being such an intense, egomaniacal yet weirdly sweet dude. I wish I had a copy of the interview I did with him. I'll look for it in LA. Richard Hell should put the 'Cuz' archives online, not that he doesn't already have plenty to do. ** Tosh, Lucky you re: the Arclight show. It wouldn't surprise me if the sets and props show up at the Cinematheque. The French totally get and love Anderson's films as the high art they are. Thanks, Tosh. ** Alan, Oh, I totally adored the film, and I need to see it again right away. There's so much 'there' there, as they say. I think there'll be at least a small number of blog comrades around this summer, which is cool. It's looking like that, and I think Oscar will still be here. Yeah, I meant comrades in both or all senses of the word. Thanks a lot for that article link. It was very helpful and instructive. ** Sypha, Yeah, definitely rent 'FMF', and, yes, exactly, that Shark Jaguar scene in 'Life Aquatic' is amazing and just what I was talking about. That's what I was kind of thinking about the theologian/writer. You have a wonderful and unique mind, and I can totally imagine you bringing a lot to that kind of writing if you were inclined to combine the two. ** Puella Aeterna, Hey there! How great to see you! Yes, the death of Jason Parsons was pretty devastating, and there's a lot of resonance. Is POKE out now? Do you know if it's distributed at all in Paris? Yes, I do know Larry Fondation, both his writing and him, and I admire his work and him a lot. How terrific that you published his work! Oh, sure, we can set a time for the Ponystep interview. I can do it whenever you like, basically. Do you want to do it by phone, or ... ? Ready when you are, essentially, and just let me know. I'm going to post the third Elizabeth Young day sometime in the next few weeks. I'm just looking for the right, interesting spot. ** Bill, Hey. Nothing specific re: SF other than what I said about coming in the day of the reading and leaving sometime the next day. I'll be driving up with Mark and Jim and then flying back to LA solo. I'll let you know when things get more precise. Oh, that's too bad about this summer not working out re: the Recollets, obviously, but, yeah, what can you do? As for July 2011, well, unless I can pull some strings or something, I won't be living here by then 'cos my allotted time will be up, although I do get the feeling that maybe the Recollets might play a little looser with me if I can find a way around the rules. So, technically, I'm not supposed to still be living here by then, and I don't know if I will be or not. Scott will be gone by then. I think he leaves the Recollets this September. ** Postitbreakup, Look, it's totally okay, it really is. A number of people, including me, have had rough patches here, but this place has an almost magical ability to keep things and us together, and what happened is not a rupture of any kind, just one of those 'talk things out' and increase the closeness kind of moments. Take time away if you feel that's important for you, but there's no need for that as far as I'm concerned, and I honestly think it's fair to say I'm speaking for everyone here when I say that. Really, man, I think it maybe comes down to the drinking and the comments left when you're inebriated, pure and simply. And if you don't remember the comments you made re: David and Jesse, that might be kind of a sign that the problem doesn't have to do with you but rather just a bad combo of alcohol and commenting. You're admired and loved here, and that hasn't changed a bit, and know that. ** Oscar B, We missed you at the cafe. Yeah, Palais de Tokyo. I'll call you soon after I hit the 'publish' button. ** Chris Goode, Hey, buddy boy. Yeah, the name Nuttall took me back in such a good way, and I have a scribble here telling me to find and reread him. I never met him, but I either did publish him Little Caesar or I published something about him, I can't remember which. No, no, 'History of Airports' is blowing my mind, Chris, not attacking it. Wow! I'm about halfway through the book and am in just the giddiest state of awe imaginable, and, concurrently, a state of desperation to see even one of your works in the flesh, for Christ's sake. Damn the fucking English Channel. Why is it even there? Somebody explain that to me. Ooh, I just clicked over and got my first glimpse of that meaty looking interview. I'll scroll down with great concentration later today. Everyone, Chris Goode, English theater making and poetry writing god, d.l., 'Transductions' conductor, and even more, is interviewed at delicious length on a quite tasty looking newish blog called 'Intercapillary/ Space', and need I urge you to click this link and thereby praise your own mind with Chris' help? Cool. Beautiful and kind, true thoughts to Postitbreakup, Chris. Thank you. ** Bacteriaburger, That's fine, you take a breather, and I'll continue celebrating over here, and I'll leave the lights on in case you get a second wind. ** Pisycaca, Hey, pal. Day by day, right? I'm glad yesterday was a good one, and I hope the goodness hangs around for a while. That's a tough thing with your dad's wife. I mean, I won't even get into the interpersonal difficulties that arose between my siblings and I when my mom became so ill. I hope she either chills out or stays reasonably out of your way somehow. Oh, you should see 'FMF'. It's such an awesome, clever joy of thing. It might be just the right kind distraction you need. Love and more love to you. ** JW Veldhoen, Not to burst your bubble or anything, but I think that late night free drinks number isn't a NYC exclusive. Mm, I think I agree with you re: the latter answer. I'm not sure about "real". In the broadest sense, of course. But my works never quite ever become more than flat, text-based machines to me. Are a magician's tricks ever real to him? "Real', maybe. Not that I think I'm a magician by any means. But is achieving what one decides is a form of expertise and presenting a physical example of that expertise that receives the response one hoped mean the trick is then real to the magician? Or something? I've paged through 'The Nude Male'. I don't know, I guess it didn't excite me. The only Thomas Ruff stuff I like very much are his very early head shots. ** Misanthrope, Characteristically kind and wise words to Postit there, man. I'm with you on the glories of Panda?dom all the way. I think the new Pacific Blush is even heads and shoulders and heart over the first album, and that's really saying something. ** Empty Frame, Interesting. I was all into that 'v)', and then you had to go and spoil it, ha ha. Love to you too. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hey, Ben. First, it's super wonderful that you feel yourself on the brink of romance. I'm really happy for you, my friend. That's very heartening and very beautiful. Yeah, I can imagine you're nervous about that particular reveal. Look, it's something for her to need to know about you and to think about, but it seems to me the only important thing is that you help her understand that the condition is just a part of you, a challenge to you, one of the ingredients with which you're composed and that will in some way direct your life and how you negotiate it, but that adding this fact about you to her understanding of who you are doesn't mean she's being made privy to some terrible secret that changes the person whom she already knows you to be. Maybe the main thing is to just relieve her of whatever pre-existing fear and misunderstanding she might have of/about MS now, assuming that right now MS is mostly just an abstract thing that sounds spooky to her from a distance, and to try to make sure it doesn't become more important to her than it is to you. I don't know if that makes sense or is just plain obvious. I bet it'll be totally okay when you tell her, Ben. Let me know what happens, if you don't mind and feel like it. ** Steevee, Oh, ugh, about the interview falling through, but, yeah, even based on the way you talked about that, I guess it's not a big surprise. Curious to hear the new Newsom album. Pitchfork was very over the moon about it. So far, I admire what she does, but it's never quite suited my tastes or something. Interested to try to the new one, yeah. ** Justin, If I bought the Julius cargo pants, I'd just have to hang them on the wall and look at them due to my stupid clothing allergy. Or wear very thick long underwear and keep my hands out of my pockets. Probably too much trouble. I fear I will always admire fashion from a great distance, which is fine. No, I didn't get to see Dodie Bellamy's show of Kathy Acker's clothes in person, just the online photos that I imagine you've seen. Yeah, Yury went to a Pivot Point school in Moscow, and, had he not been so unfairly denied a student visa, he would have attended another PP school in Chicago, although I imagine he's told you all of that. I don't know the school Barrett's, but, gosh, why would I, ha ha? It seems theoretically like an art teacher's recommendation on that front might be a good one? ** Rigby, Thanks, Rigster, I'm really glad you dug it. No, I did not know about CC, and, yes, it seems like a serious godsend. I should share that. Everyone, courtesy of Rigby and going out to all you music loving types, meaning, well, everyone presumably, check this site out. I think you really want to click that link, guys. Nice one, R. ** Creative Massacre, Woo, indeed. I'll head over to '1000WTD' pronto. Blizzard? Weather is so wacked out these days. But now you're finally there in Atlanta unless there was another blizzard, I guess. You've never flown? Oh, it's not so bad, but then I've been flying so long it's like riding a bicycle or whatever. That'll be a quite short flight for you, at least. Well, now I'm curious to hear about Atlanta and the flight too, ha ha. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, The rain didn't stop long enough for me to walk all the way over to the crepe stand I was eyeballing, so I was deprived on that front. But, hey, crepes are a dime a dozen in Paris, so ... Sorry about the vomiting and the knee. The latter especially since I guess you didn't get the full effect of that minor if lovely post-vomiting pleasure burst effect. I've eaten a shredded cheese sandwich before, not by choice unless laziness is a choice. Mm, I don't think that's exactly writer's block by the dictionary definition. I think you have to be really tortured by not being able to write when you want to. Or that's my personal writer's block sub-definition. My day wasn't much more eventful than yours. I'm still on that writing jag, and time just kind of fritters away without anecdotal charm during these periods. I listened to the aforementioned Pacific Blush album, and that was probably the highlight. Oh, I had a coffee with Kiddiepunk. He's taking Italian lessons right now, so he told me about that, and I ranted about my worries re: how my texts are or aren't going to work in the new theater piece. It kept raining and raining, and it still sort of is. I watched a very interesting show on French TV about the history of the Marais, the Grand Boulevard, and the Hotel De Ville. I love seeing or reading about the history of Paris, so that was riveting. I read some of three books: Chris Goode's book, Christopher Higgs' novel, and a novel by Matty Byloos. All of them are terrific, and I'll probably do a 'recently loved books' post about them soon. Not much else at all. I think that's it. Today might result in more interesting reportage. I'll try. In the meantime, hit me (not literally, not that could). ** Disco3-way, Hey, hey, hey! Your novel is out? Wow! That's fantastic! I'm so behind. Yeah, I want one badly. I'll send you my address, or, if you see this first, here's the address: c/o Centre International des Recollets, 150 rue du Faubourg St. Martin, 75010 Paris, France. Great about the good reviews! I miss you, man. I wish we could hang and celebrate the long awaited birth of your work of genius! ** You-x, Hey, pal! Jeez, it's been a too, too long a while. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes to your Pacific Blush Day. Pretty please, even. Get that to me, and I'll put it up in as close to a heartbeat as possible. Like I said above, I absolutely love the new album, and I'm only just easing into it, so it's only going to heavier in the love and awe departments. I hope you feel a lot better pronto. Yeah, no pressure, no guilt, no expectations or anything, but you are greatly missed here, so don't think twice about saying hey or more at the drop of your intuition's hat, okay? In the meantime, gimme that Pacific Blush Day, please oh please? A love supreme to you and to Matt too if you ever run into him, ha ha. ** Chris (British), I'd actually forgotten all about seeing Don McLean until you mentioned him, so it was less a matter of gig name dropping than gig name resurrection, I guess. ** Blendin, Yeah, fuck love. Meh. Rain check. Why not? Life's too short. Those all kind of had invisible 'ha ha's' after them. What are the hours of your newsstand? Would doing it right after the Book Soup event makes sense? Just a thought. Anyway, yeah, what are the days/hours that the newsstand is open or else that you're there working or whatever? Let's start there. ** Alec Niedenthal, Hey, Alec! Such a pleasure to see you! Oh, cool that your work and Jeff hooked up for that anthology. With Jeff at the helm, it's going to be a very, very good book. My novel's going well right now. It's getting there. Making good progress, and I'm hoping the good luck hangs out for a while longer. Feel better, like, now, or, if the sickness insists, only very slightly later than right now at the latest. You're missed around here too, man, but I'm happy to get to keep up with you over at HTMLG at least. ** Bollo, I've got one of Hannum's zines, and it's amazing, and it's actually what drove me to spotlight his work in the first place, so, yeah, highly recommended. Whoa, the performance sounds crazily promising. Do record its sound and image if possible. That Harron Mirza work does look very interesting. I think I managed to piece together a sense of it. I didn't know that work before so, yeah, thanks. I'll explore further. My day was pretty good. Bet yours was too. ** Morgan, Hey, Morgan! Awesome! Oh, shit, no, I didn't send the letter yet. I spaced out thinking that ... I don't know, that I would talk to you before the time came and would get reminded. Shit, I'll write it and send it today, and I'll hope it isn't too late. I'll explain to them that any lateness is entirely my fault. I'm so sorry about that, man. Damn my brain. I'll get on that and get it done. Ugh. I feel awful about that. Uh, err, no, I haven't heard the new Pollard. In fact, I just realized right now that an mp3 of the album was sent to me about a month ago, and I forgot I had it. Jesus. If I smoked pot I'd say that I should really stop smoking pot. That is kind of wild that you're about to turn 22. We have known each other a long time, man. Isn't that strange? Great and strange simultaneously. Okay, Morgan, one more cringing apology about spacing out on the letter, and I'll go try to right that problem as soon as I post this. ** So that's Thursday for you. The post is the post is the post, and it's yours now. I'll see you tomorrow.