----
*
p.s. Hey. I'm kind of sleepy and spaced out this morning. I think that's going to show. Please refer back to the sentence beginning 'I'm kind of ... ' and ending ' ... this morning' if you find my responses underwhelming. Thank you. ** Todd Colby, Greetings, Mr. Colby. Its always a great pleasure and an honor to have your words here. Thank you kindly. ** Laurabeth, Hey, pal. I'm so with you. Tests over papers any old day. God, I hated writing papers. You'll get it all done by the 7th, I'm sure. I know you. As for your question about a poetry book recommendation for your friends, hm. A couple of people recommended Richard Brautigan, which isn't a bad idea since he's mega-hippie. You can never go wrong with Rimbaud, I don't think. Gosh, I'm kind of blanking out due to my sleepiness. Let me throw your question out to the blog's very savvy gang and readers. Everyone, the great d.l. Laurabeth needs some help and hints. Please hear her out and post your advice, if you don't mind: 'if you dennis, or anyone here, could recommend a book of poetry and/or short stories that would please and interest two friends of mine, who i wouldn't hesitate to call (albeit-modern day) hippies. they live off little, move around every few years, are totally into festivals and organic locally grown foods and tiedye and making their own clothes... i could go on, but my point is, i need to find them a christmas gift. any author or specific collection come to mind as i described 'em? i totally appreciate any input! xoxo'. Good luck with all the school stuff, and if another book idea springs to my bleary mind, I'll add it. ** Math, Hey, Math! Very cool! Yes, I got your email, and I'll write you back very soon. Sorry, I've been in novel finishing overdrive. It's so great to see you my friend. Much love to you. ** Bernard Welt, Thanks for the good words to Laurabeth, B. ** Misanthrope, Man, that friend of your brother's sounds totally intolerable. You did the right thing, but it's good you gave him a smack down rather than a smack. Or some smack. What a prick, totally. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, David. I'm sorry to hear that about 'The Fighter'. I know my friend CB had very high hopes for it and went all out on its behalf. Sounds like O. Russell made a very wrong turn. Ah, that's too bad. ** Dandysweets, Hey. That is a really nice scene, yeah, but, and not to be an Elton John curmudgeon, but I guess I would say that there are hundreds of songs that could have been played over that scene and had the same effect if not more effect. But that's me being nitpicky. The song works there, yeah. EJ's voice, among other things, just kind of drives me up a wall, but I know that's my weird problem. Anyway, how are you doing? What's going on at the moment? ** L@rstonovich, Cool you liked the Markson excerpt. It's a really wonderful book. I've got your skronking penciled in for around 5 to 6 pm today. ** Sypha, I don't remember hearing your brothers' version of 'Rocket Man', but that sounds awesome, actually. I'll fish it out. Well, yeah, about NiN as an entranceway. Being a signpost can be enough to earn your keep. ** Patrick deWitt, Hey, Patrick. Oh, yeah, a ton of the people staying here have children. That doesn't seem to an issue at all. In the majority of the rooms in the Recollets' main build, the walls are really thick. But, yeah, there are a lot of children and babies here. You might do a residency here? Fantastic! I might even still be living here then. Alert me when you apply so I can talk you up to the boss, and definitely mention me as a reference. ** Jose, Hey, J. Thanks for the thoughts on Kinect. For me, saying the Wii has a total lack of quality is way harsh. Or the 'total' part at least. I think the recentish games that Miyamoto masterminded or supervised have been pretty top notch. Anyway, how's everything on your end? What projects are in the works at the moment? ** Michael_karo, Oh, thanks a lot for the story behind your name. Really interesting. There's just something about Elton John's songs that make my skin crawl. I think it's partly his voice, which sounds so very affected to me. I don't know. Weird. Anyway, oh, right, I do remember you seeing Leon Russell at that festival. ** Dan Callahan, Hi, Dan. Really nice to see you. Yeah, I had intended to include the dispersion of Markson's library into the shelves of The Strand in the post, and I don't know why I ended up resigning that interesting end result to a link. 'Stud lover boy', wow, ha ha, that's a good one. Thanks, Dan. How and what are you doing? ** JW Veldhoen, I think you have to use a Facebook app to fill out those lists and surveys, right? I've got a 'no apps' policy over there. Probably a little paranoid of me. I'd like to know more about the avant-garde poets in Calgary if you ever feel like it. Springsteen's 'Dream Baby Dream' cover is good? I'm kind of surprised. I'll try it. ** Bill, Hey. Oh, I'm sorry about the gravity of your LA trip. Well, I mean sorry for the loss and somberness of the occasion. I hope you get to do some other stuff. I can't imagine that I would need to urge you to hit David Wilson's Museum of Jurassic Technology if you can. ** Killer Luka, Here's your Pulitzer. It's imaginary, but it's an honor. Imaginary honors, like imaginary sex, are always the best. Well, if you don't like vegan bacon, that just means there's more for me. Pass the platter. ** Pisycaca, Hi, Montse. Yeah, I really hope the Dazed & Confused thing happens too, obviously. I haven't spoken to Bradford since he and talked about the 'Helicopter' thing. Oh, I really hope you guys can come to Paris. No, I'm so completely eaten by my novel that I haven't sorted out the Barcelona possibility. I need to do that. Yikes. Happily, the concert last night turned out to be a full-on Xiu Xiu gig. I'll say more about that to Itmpw. ** Chris Cochrane, Hi, Chris. Oh, are the 'Them' dates firm? I need to check my email. Awesome, if so. No, haven't picked up the book yet, but calling the DHL folks is on my agenda for today. ** Rigby, That novel is well worth a gander. Favorite flower? Hm, maybe the Tricosanthes. And yours? ** Colin, Hi, Colin. Thanks about the Markson. I'm very glad to know you're a fellow lover of his work. You have a favorite by him? And awesome that you're reading Rene Ricard. Yeah, he's an amazing poet. I really wish some press would put out his Collected Poems because there are so many amazing poems by him that are impossible to read these days. If you ever come across an affordable copy of his first book, just titled 'Rene Ricard' and published by the Dia Foundation in 1979, snatch it up. It's incredible and a beautiful object too, designed to look like a Tiffany catalogue. Little Caesar Press distributed it back in the day. Great news about your forthcoming books! Oh, shit, I owe you a blurb. I've been completely spaced out by my novel work. Is there still time? Damn, my sincerest apologies for spacing out. ** Mark, Hi, Mark! Great to see you, man! Thank you again so much for the help with the Sharits post. Glad to hear you're doing well and doing lots of work. I'll head over and listen to your 'madness' when I get through here. Everyone, the very multi-talented artist and d.l. Mark has made a 'post-Halloween bit of Satanic back-masking madness that I hope to use as the soundtrack to a movie I shot on flesh suspension', and I'll bet you a million dollars that it's awesome, so go give it a listen right here. ** James, Hi, James. No, I haven't gotten the book yet, but that's not unusual given the slow French mail system. I'll check downstairs to see if it has been stored away in the Recollets office 'cos that happens sometimes. Markson's well worth reading, yeah. Writing is intense at the moment as I'm chasing the finish line, but I think it's going okay. I don't know how I've juggled the novel and the blog either. It hasn't been easy, I'll tell you that. Yeah, I think my next LA trip will be in February. I'd like to get home earlier, but I'm not sure if I can. Take care. ** Amccartney, Hi, Alistair! Focused is definitely what I am. Can't wait for it to be over, frankly, but it's a weird rush. Oh, yeah, Bradford's amazing. Totally. I hope I get to do that official talk with him. I'm very glad to hear your novel is going well. Any details you can share? Mm, I don't think it's weird that you're listening to Springsteen, no. That 'Darkness' album has my all-time favorite song by him: 'Candy's Room'. Love that song. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Hey. Yeah, I don't count what you ate as nachos. I can get those here easily anyway. They're fairly standard movie snack-stand fare. My policy is that as long as you kind of disguise real people in your work, they belong to you as much as do the people whom your imagination makes up. Like, no one is ever totally real since your perception them is always a distortion of them. That was a sweet and complicated and sad story about the eyebrows guy and the Elf guy. Amy Bloom: I know that name, but I haven't read her. Yeah, I hope your stalker got her fix and has moved on. Maybe a little unlikely, but not impossible, for sure. My day: Worked on novel. I'm into the second to last chapter. Uh, at the moment the narrator is retelling the story of when his friends (Francois, Didier, Olivier) and he accidentally found his late stash of cocaine when they thought a jar of white stuff in his loft was powdered sugar and poured it on their breakfast cereal and then got really, really hyper, and he's about to learn and recount the 'real' story behind the mysterious building in Calais. I took a writing break and had a coffee with Kiddiepunk and Oscar. That was nice, of course. Then they went to see a gallery show by Sally Mann and I worked some more. Then I met up with Gisele, and we talked about the maze piece for a while, and then we went to the concert at Foundation Cartier. The concert line-up was Xiu Xiu, Zola Jesus, and Former Ghosts. Former Ghosts: kind of charming, musically like a cross between Xiu Xiu and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, histrionic and earnest and kind of weak vocals. Zola Jesus: girl with long, messy dyed blond hair singing in a very irritating, generic, belting rock chick voice over a pre-recorded backing track of songs, all of which sounded like slight variations on 'Ceremony' by New Order. I didn't like it at all. Xiu Xiu: really incredible and great, mostly songs off the last two albums, riveting, just great! I got home late, at least for me, and went straight to bed. That was it. Oh, well. What happened on Friday where you live? ** White Java Sparrow, Hey! Welcome back! It's great to see you! Oh, that's cool timing on the Markson post and your finding a copy of 'Wittgenstein's Mistress'. I imagine you know Thomas Bernard's novel 'Wittgenstein's Nephew'. I was in Buffalo once for a few days for a conference on New Narrative at the university that was called 'Prose Acts'. Here's something about it. I didn't get to see too much of the city, mostly just the area around the university. I liked it, though. You're involved with the university, aren't you? Your comment wasn't too long at all. It was pleasure. Hope to see you again soon. ** Scunnard, I did catch your comment due to a last minute blog refresh. Yeah, do let me know what the Bataille thing leads to. That tublr thing is really a nice find. Thank you again. ** Tender Prey, Hey. Former Ghosts were okay. I wasn't wild about it. When Xiu Xiu played, it kind of washed everything before them away because they were so fantastic. Middle of next week would probably be better because I go to Munich for a couple of days towards the end of the week to do a reading. The short Munich trip is the only time I can't talk, basically. So, yeah. That all sounds great, and I really look forward to talking just in general. ** Back to work for me yet again. Oh, today's post is one of those things I seem find interesting and useful to build once in a while. Never sure what good they are outside of my own head and field of vision. Still, voila. See you tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment