reading will either lead to my poverty or will make me into a shining god with wings and a little halo

all i care about this summer is reading books and hopefully not going broke and living on the streets.

i traded in a bunch of books i've had since i was in high school a couple of day ago. books i'll never read again like stephen stephen king and THE ODYSSEY and got a bunch of cool new books:

empire of the nun J.G. BALLARD (i'm not sure if this is going to be good)
where you'll find me ANN BEATTIE
rock springs RICHARD FORD
self-portrait in a convex mirror JOHN ASHBERRY



I went up to the college today and picked up alice notley's book ALMA, or THE DEAD WOMAN (granary books). the book is huge. i'm excited. big ass books of poetry normally scare me (all the books by HOMER).

then i rode my bike downtown. i got dirty looks twice from people in cars. they forget that a person on a bike is a super pedestrian and i don't have to take their shit.

it was nice to go feel the wind in my face today though.

i just finished reading CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER by anne beattie, last night. it was fantastic. it was sad and real and funny. it reminded me of what CATCHER IN THE RYE: THE LATER YEARS would be like(but in a good way). not in a shitty sequel way like Cinderella 2 or Guess Who's Talking 2. not so over-dramatic.

i also finished reading BED by tao lin. a great book of short stories where the characters thoughts are so funny, sad, and real that it almost hurts. i plan on maybe doing an actual review soon. stay tuned.

i still need a job.

anyone in Ashland know a place that's hiring or owns a place that wants a young, handsome, intelligent, hard-working, employee?

any suggestions for books i should read?


tip of the day: do not eat a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and then take a sweaty bike ride.

a boring story about shit that no one cares about anymore

i thought of this while i was going to the bathroom today.

Story

my daughter and son come into the living room. they are both holding cups of water in their hands. they sit down on the couch across from me, brown and suede-y. my daughter's hair is still wet. my son drinks all his water. then he sets it down and looks at his watch. he is wearing a NOFX shirt. my daughter is dressed like MTV and Target.

i tell them i have cancer. it is in the bones, i say. the clock moves silently. my heart is pounding in my chest. it doesn't look very good, i say. they have looks on their faces of great seriousness. cancer is very serious, i think. my daughter starts to cry into her hands. my son holds the empty glass of water to his mouth and stares out the window. he is looking at cars and clouds. he bends his neck to see them go by. my daughter keeps asking how? how? how? how?

i was just kidding, i say. no cancer.

my sons starts laughing and shaking his head, rolling his eyes. that's fucked, he says. my daughter wipes her eyes and walks out of the room. a door slams somewhere. their father is gone. he hasn't been home in four years. i don't like to think about it. it was spring when he left. it didn't feel like the right time. everything was too sunny and blooming.

the living room is very quiet. they are both gone. i can hear the clock slamming down each second and the tick of the water boiling on the stove. they are both gone.

i still have cancer.

please don't panic anymore please

i wrote this yesterday. i was sad that no one was talking to me or near me. i can be very needy in the summer.

SUMMER CAN BE AN ASSHOLE

It was still decemeber when the house grew springs and bounced out onto the freeway. Everyone was scared. Everyone panicked. Panic! At The Disco bought everyone mochas and told them, "Hey, it will be okay. Let's all just watch the end of the world and drink our hot-cocoa, or whatever this shit is."

Tomorrow came, and it made the band very angry. Jarvis Cocker's big head told the world how to mate in a low hum, like the radio turned real low, or when you think someone is in your house, so you look around for a while, and no one's there, but you're still a little scared.

HIKIKOMORI

please read tao lin and ellen kennedy's Hikikomori.

it is very nice and not very hard to read.

it's like real letters only better. and free. like a free book. or a free movie without pictures.

thanks bear parade.

This is a visual essay.

This is a visual essay.

Please watch this.

Please do not stop watching half-way through.

We suggest you watch it in full-screen, in order to get the most out of the poetics.




Thank you for watching.

If you want to make a video response, that would be nice.

If not, have a nice summer.

HOLY SHIT!!!

HOLY SHIT! Is Bollywood also Crazytown?

Good luck on your chapbooks.

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