hellkitten

2012-01-10T23:02:00.000-05:00

Everything in This Country Must by Colum McCann

A quick read, beautifully written. 2 short stories and a novella all gracefully, powerfully written showing the violence done to (and by) 'regular' people and the impossible decisions that State violence forces them to make. McCann is a master, as always.

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2011-12-25T21:30:00.002-05:00

The Star Factory by Ciarán Carson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Beautifully written, this memoir (fiction/prose-poem?) of a city and one of the greatest writers that city has ever produced, is both a study in the obsessive cataloguing of facts, images, memories and a powerful exploration of the ways in which we write and are written by our environment. Carson writes Belfast just as Belfast writes Carson. A wonderful, stunning, powerful read.

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2011-12-25T21:24:00.002-05:00

Shamrock Tea by Ciarán Carson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Perhaps one of the best, most interesting books I've read in a really long while. The language is, of course, perfect as one would expect from a poet of his caliber. The story is both whimsical and deeply though-provoking. I began re-reading it as soon as I finished it. This is a book I want to own and re-read many, many times.

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12.25.11

2011-12-25T20:55:00.002-05:00

today I finished reading Ciaran Carson's stunning novel, "Shamrock Tea" and immediately began reading it again. while looking for something else on Carson, I stumbled across this small piece on him in Guardian about his "writing room" - it's an amazing looking room and one I would love to have to write in myself. Of course, I don't live in Belfast, I'll probably never own (or even rent) a house and will most decidedly never be a writer/poet/scholar of Carson's caliber but all the same, it's a wonderful room...

2011-10-03T11:59:00.002-04:00

Blueprints for Building Better Girls: Stories by Elissa Schappell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This collection of short stories, all centered on female characters, displays not only Schappell's sharp prose and sensitive wit, but provides a respite from the deluge of male-centric fiction so currently prevalent. A must read for anyone - male or female - who likes well-crafted, well told fiction.

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2011-09-08T21:37:00.002-04:00

Oh Pure and Radiant Heart by Lydia Millet

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Beautifully written. Oddly compelling. It sort of lost me toward the middle for a bit but overall, a really good read.

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2011-08-29T16:05:00.001-04:00

Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories by Kevin Wilson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Though some are stronger than others, overall the stories in this collection are well-crafted, "quirky" without being annoyingly so and some are even harrowing, or beautifully moving. While he's not "George Saunders" (as per the comparison on the back cover), Wilson is a solid writer whose characters are compelling, story lines veer away from the mundane, and whose skill with language makes for a quick and worthwhile read.

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2011-08-28T20:12:00.001-04:00

From A to X: Some Letters Recuperated by John Berger by John Berger

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I struggled a bit with this one as, at times, it feels very heavy-handed in its message(s) but ultimately, I found it deeply moving. It's another quick read partly due to the structure (all in letters as the title states) and partly due to the language. I did find myself skimming over one or two of the longer "letters" mainly because the links between science and love didn't work for me at all. I would recommend this to anyone. It's about life, war, oppression, love, the nature of humanity, all the big stuff. Character and voice is strong here as is a sense of place. Overall, while it's a bit cloying at times, this one definitely works for me. To quote from one of the letters, "In a city without prisons - has there ever been one? - who would ever guess one can put so much into letters?" Indeed.

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2011-08-28T20:00:00.001-04:00

Wolves of the Crescent Moon by Yousef Al-Mohaimeed

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Yet another overrated read. I do get so tired of American readers continual obsession with "different" cultures creating hype around poorly written fiction. The jumps in narrative, p.o.v., place/time, don't read as experimental but merely sloppy. There isn't a single compelling character here and the continual jumps between p.o.v. - sometimes in mid-paragraph, make it difficult to keep the various characters apart. While I did finish it (at under 200 pages it's a short read) I can't recommend it to anyone. There are a very few (as in two) passages that transcend the dreck and reach something like literary language but they're soon lost in the surrounding mess that is this novel. So disappointing.

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2011-08-17T23:08:00.001-04:00

Don't Try This at Home by Dave Navarro

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I remember when Neil Strauss wrote for Rolling Stone (does he still?) and, along with a very few others, was the closest thing to a reporter I'd met in the music industry. Mostly for fans of Navarro this book is a scrapbook of photo booth photos (all unidentified - some obviously recognizable), limited & somewhat stilted prose by Strauss (some of the cliches are REALLY painful) and Navarro, supposed transcripts of conversations, even a diary entry from one of Navarro's "girlfriends." It makes for a quick and somewhat compelling read, albeit a sad portrait of drug addiction, self-obsession, and really, selfishness. Also a good reminder to me why I quit working with musicians.

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2011-08-17T22:53:00.001-04:00

The Golden Age by Michal Ajvaz

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Another lesson in not letting myself be misled by hype. This book came VERY highly lauded and yet I found the language - even the basic sentence structure - is so stilted as to make it an incredibly dull read. I'm all for experimental. I'm all for odd. But this was just dull and with nothing new to offer. Next...

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2011-08-03T22:50:00.002-04:00

2011-07-21T23:43:00.002-04:00

The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
It's seldom that a book just comes up and quietly swallows me whole like this. Aside from the prose (which is stunning in its Winterson-esque grace), the narrative is SO compelling I literally could not put it down. So many unanswered questions once it's done but really, that's a large part of the genius of this novel - we don't get to know WHY or HOW, things just are. Hard to believe this is a first novel. Graceful, beautiful, and truly a stunning read.

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2011-07-18T21:11:00.002-04:00

Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

There are points in this book where I was so frustrated with the clunky attempts at post-post-modern structure games that I had to put it down. Reading through all the positive reviews of this work, I almost feel I must've read a different book. This is not a "rock'n'roll" novel but instead a mish-mash of prose about two sad people living pathetic lives. There's little here that's compelling although the character "Nik" has his moments. The forced connections between the narrator Denise's obsession with various current events (which, sadly all read as very dated at this point) and her inability to connect to the mess that is her life, left me frustrated not so much with the character (as was the obvious goal) but with the writer. The 2 main characters here are supposedly 47 and 50 but read more like they're in their late 50's. Of course, since the bulk of the narrative is told in first person removed - Denise's story told via a series of writings she creates on the event of her brother's disappearance - we cannot know what is simply Denise's skewed POV and what is actually happening in the narrative. The shifts from third back into stilted first person served only to break the narrative flow and did nothing toward creating a more compelling narrative. Overall, there is much that shows potential here and Nik's character (albeit a cliche of the failed rock musician/narcissist) reads as somewhat interesting. What this book needs is a good editorial spanking. Or at least an editor who would make this obviously talented writer work harder to tell a compelling, cohesive narrative. That this novel has received such rave reviews I find, to be honest, depressing. I'd give it a B minus at best.

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quote of the day

2011-07-15T21:56:00.002-04:00

"One day I woke on a beach with sand in my hair and thought: I'll never be who I was then.

One day I found myself sitting alone at a table of strangers and I thought: I can't go back into the past and start over. I have to just muddle on from where I am." - Deb Olin Unferth, REVOLUTION.

2011-07-15T21:53:00.000-04:00

Revolution: The Year I Fell in Love and Went to Join the War by Deb Olin Unferth

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wonderfully written, as is everything I've read by this writer. One of the few recent memoirs that is thoughtful, funny, sad and does a great job of skewering Westerners intent on joining other countries' revolutions. Told on an intimate level, it's both a coming of age and a love story. There's so much good writing here I finished the last 100+ pages in one sitting.

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2011-07-14T15:27:00.002-04:00

Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was really looking forward to reading this one but ultimately, couldn't get through it. Lots of meandering through unimportant info, a definitely skewed view of the settlement of the West, and often there are no transitions from one chunk of information to the next. While the actual "story" here is interesting, Wickenden makes it an uninteresting, clunky read. Overall, really disappointed.

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2011-06-07T19:46:00.000-04:00

2011-06-07T19:45:00.000-04:00

home

2011-06-07T19:43:00.000-04:00

it's there if you look for it

2011-06-07T19:40:00.001-04:00

2011-06-07T19:39:00.000-04:00

pretty soon there'll be nothing left

2011-06-07T19:38:00.000-04:00

another one bites the dust

2011-06-07T19:37:00.000-04:00

2011-06-07T19:36:00.000-04:00

2011-06-07T19:33:00.000-04:00

of herzog, fetid air, and King Lear

2011-06-07T19:14:00.003-04:00

I have been badly neglecting my blog in favor of "real life" the past few months. Now that it's hotter than it should be for the beg. of June, I've opted to stay inside away from all those nekked people and that air that has already become the definition of fetid. In the meantime, I've read some good books, finished the edits on the second novel (having, for now, given up on the first) and am now sending it out into the world. This summer will, hopefully, be spent getting my knee back in enough shape to climb more stuff (so far this year I've only done Delaware Water Gap, Storm King, and the walk around the Falls near Trumansburg, NY). It's hot enough though I'd rather be at the beach pretending to be a fish. The word "flounder" comes to mind. Did see Sir Derek Jacobi in King Lear. Which was great. Although having my life threatened by a crazy man on the subway ride home was not great. Ah, Brooklyn, how much I do not miss you. And then there's the matter of two operas so far this year. Actually, 3, if I'm counting "Carmen in 3D from the Royal Opera House." Finally, due to a stroke of luck (and a good friend), I saw some WAGNER live: Die Walkure - the Met's new production. It was stunning. And all those other over-used adjectives. Really nothing like Wagner. And the next night, went to see "Cave of Forgotten Dreams," Herzog's new film. In 3D. Liked it so much, I saw it again. So much more but that's all this Tuesday night's giving me. I did a reading - just a poem from the forthcoming chapbook & a super-short story (I HATE that term "flash fiction"). It was part of NYWC's upcoming Write-a-thon at which I'll be leading a workshop. And after which, I'll be attempting to afford a beverage at the Algonquin with my co-chapbook writer, MES. And now off to do some more writing and watching of my TV. Thank god for air conditioning.

2011-04-11T12:45:00.001-04:00

men in kilts and other signs of spring...

2011-04-11T12:38:00.005-04:00

another April, another Tartan Day parade. This one was smaller than usual though with the amazing weather the crowd was fairly large. Mostly just pipe & drum bands & lots of men in kilts (which, really, is the reason to go). I'll post photos later. Meantime, reading Deb Olen Unferth's Vacation. Which, of course, is wonderful so far. Finally giving up on "Monsters of Templeton" - nice cover art but beyond that, not much positive to say about it. Managed to miss the Black Angels (oops) but went to the Met's Tosca instead. Great seats and even better singing. Wish I could afford tickets to the new Ring productions. Hiking season soon which means lots more photos of paths near rivers, up hills, over mountains, and such like. Can't come soon enough.

2011-03-14T16:31:00.004-04:00

finished up shane jones' light boxes. hmm. yes I liked it but it has some issues. just picked up 'monsters of templeton' which, after a promising start, is becoming very much bogged down in dullsville. *yawn* to another memoir-masquerading-as-fiction. I mean, seriously, who cares? get back to the monster already. nice cover art though. and winter, which seemed to be over, is back again with a biting wind off the water and through the tunnels between towers that they call streets here. not to mention this losing an hour to the Gods of Time nonsense. hate it. spent most of yesterday walking across town (horrified at how bland Chelsea's become) and then struggling through boxes in my much-neglected storage room. discovered that many boxes labeled "clothes" or "vinyl" actually contain...books. enough to open a library. I'll be shedding a lot of those soon. although I will NOT be getting rid of my box full of Breyer model horses nor will I be giving up my pristine copies of "King of the Wind," "Seastar...," or "Misty of Chincoteague" (sp?). I have to draw the line somewhere. Found some great clothes & assuming I don't find any more moth-driven damage, will be wearing many outfits from 198? since, apparently, they're in fashion again. had tea at podunk in the EV again. love that place though I do wish the chairs were more comfortable. all that wood isn't all that conducive to extended conversations and tea drinking. skipped the blasters/robert gordon show on saturday night. too many shows in brooklyn & the trains suck on weekends.

2011-03-11T12:38:00.004-05:00

rock

2011-03-11T12:38:00.003-05:00

2011-03-11T12:35:00.001-05:00

terrance hayes.

2011-03-11T12:23:00.003-05:00

every little thing in my life slides away as insignificant as I think about my dad in his hospital bed oh so far away. and I watch the live feed of the tsunami along the pacific rim. nothing like watching the ocean sweep along my favorite place on earth. thankfully, it looks like Oregon/Washington Coasts have been spared. can't even watch the footage of Japan. new yorkers are mostly so insular that they're busy talking about sports & the weather & shoes. oh well...*went to the NBCC event on Wednesday & saw some GREAT readers: Terrance Hayes, Ann Carson, Patti Smith. Franzen gave a lame reading - big surprise. In fact, the fiction category was the least interesting. I miss the young adult/graphic novel categories - all that reading could use some visuals. unless they all learn to be as expressive as Hayes. didn't go to the awards ceremony last night & instead went home, did some work, read more of light boxes (shane johnson) and waited for Con Ed (who never showed). walking to work today, I saw the remains of several umbrellas - so glad I missed the brunt of it though the windows/outside walls shook with the force of that wind. someday I want to live in a little stone house that does not feel the wind. on higher ground, of course. safe from waves. and Republicans.

2011-03-08T22:09:00.003-05:00

mardi gras eve 2011. and I'm not in new orleans but in nyc. nyc which was particularly dirty and cold and full of rude people today. and after plowing through a stack of bad manuscripts (eek) and a couple of semi-good ones I'm watching bad crime shows. where they generally solve the crimes & catch the bad guys. unlike real life. oh & no parties or beads today (though my boss put beads on all our computers & left work early - of course we weren't allowed to leave early but then we're not the boss)...haven't posted in a while cause I've been busy with "real life" including catching up with some friends I haven't seen in decades. Went to "punk rock movie night" at Otto's & saw "Smithereens" (the movie. not the band. although there IS a band in the movie by that name). It mostly holds up as far as pop culture films go & Richard Hell looks amazing. as does nyc - all rubble and paint everywhere and fires in garbage cans. While I could get all nostalgic (like others in the audience did), one thing this movie reminded me of is that my choices weren't as bad as they could've been & it is nice to have my own safe place to live - albeit a tiny, crumbling one... Winter's still hanging on though most of the snow remnants are gone & I saw some tiny white crocuses today on my afternoon walk. which gives me a tiny sliver of hope that spring will come. eventually. reading "light boxes" right now. gave up on solar - just loathed the main character way too much. tomorrow going to the Nat'l Book Critics Circle Awards Reading (they need a shorter title). should be good though those things always last way too long. I'm sure there's more but I need to watch the end of this show to see who the bad guy is.

2011-01-18T18:09:00.003-05:00

Day 1 of Jury Duty

started out with a trek through sleet & frozen rain (whee!) downtown to Centre Street (which by the way, could use some more STREET SIGNS). Got there in plenty of time to get a decent seat and wait. and wait. And then we got to watch a film all about our Justice System and how awful it was before the English invented juries (I thought it was the Welsh - silly me!). They even had a re-enactment of "trial by ordeal" which at first I thought was going to be about the Salem Witch Trials but then it turned out to be about those bad Medieval Europeans and their bad justice system. Oh & it was narrated by Diane Sawyer. And her hair. Which is magical and does not move. ever. Anyway, after the film was over, the clerk (who seemed to think she was appearing on television) gave us yet more information and then, since no one was paying attention except for maybe 5 of us, she had to repeat them often to lots of people. And then we sat and sat some more. They called a bunch of names and since mine wasn't among them, I went back to reading "Solar" which is Ian what's-its latest thinly veiled middle-aged white guy fantasy novel wherein all the women are teeny tiny and blonde and (mostly) naked and never speak or are just invisible. Oh & it's also about global warming. Perhaps an answer to that idiot who wrote all those dinosaur books bestseller that apparently refutes global warming but which I have read and likely never will because, well really, who wants to read a book written by an idiot? Anyway, did some work, did some reading and then they called the rest of us into a side room (no windows, no heat, no air) where we listened to two lawyers speak at LENGTH about a case and although it became apparent that they would only need 6 of the 21 people in the room after about say 30 minutes, they kept this up ALL day...oh - they did give us the required lunch break which I spent wading across the street to try to find some decent food. $10 later I had a tiny salad and some seriously over-priced water. Day 2 will start in the same airless, heatless, windowless room although hopefully, they'll be done with us soon.

And now, I'm going to go read some Winterson to get that sad old white man's fantasies out of my head. ick.

2011-01-04T13:38:00.003-05:00

I used to make vast lists of New Year's resolutions but though I often kept at least some of them, as I grew older, I gave up on this folly. Sort of. This year, I have a few and they are: travel more (tough to do while this broke but I'll figure something out), read more (I slacked off on the reading some this year - to my brain's detriment), send out more writing (I'd put "write more" but I'm already writing plenty), teach more (even though teaching = staying broke since in this wonderful country we pay teachers less than people who work at Starbucks), stop putting up with the dead weight (and I don't mean the fat versus lean muscle ratio - though I'm continuing to work on that). Dead weight = all those many people in my life who ask and ask and ask for favors and suck up my time and never ever ever give back. I mean, sure, giving isn't about receiving but really? it is. And that's a lesson I learned, yet again, in 2010. Oh & more shoes. I only bought 3 (?) new pair of shoes in 2010 and that's just plain wrong. I don't care how broke I am. A girl needs shoes.

I am here. and you are not. Happy Holidays.

2010-12-21T14:28:00.001-05:00

2010-12-17T16:29:00.003-05:00

a little less than 2 wks and 2010 will go out with a whimper. if I get around to it, I'll be posting top 10's of pretty much everything. if I can come up with 10 books/records/movies/etc. that came out this year that I actually paid attention to. the problem with being so immersed in grad school from '06 - '09 is that I spent a lot of this year trying to get my life back. as in, having a social life again (one that didn't revolve around classmates/readings/etc.). I also spent a lot of the year avoiding even mildly challenging reading. watched a whole lot of TV though. and some decent enough movies. and spent a lot of time outside walking/swimming/climbing things. now that it's 8 degrees outside (and I can't find anyone to learn how to snowshoe with me) I guess I have time to catch up on my reading. and listening. I did write a novel. so that's something. In one month (Nat'l novel writing month). And I did write a poem a day since April. Those will come out in a little chapbook shared with my friend MES - probably by April of '11. And I think I did a whole lot of other stuff in there too but that will just have to wait for the list portion of things. maybe this weekend. while it snows. meanwhile, there's this.

2010-12-03T15:41:00.003-05:00

52 books in 52 weeks

I'm woefully behind on my reading this year. apparently. still. and this means I'm either forgetting some (a lot?) of books I read this year, or I have 12 books to read between now and 12/31. Which, really, is do-able.

1. drift/victoria patterson

2. once the shore/paul yoon (sp? gave it away so can't look it up)

3. sense & sensibility & sea monsters

4. point omega/delillo

5. face/sherman alexie (poems

6. war dances/sherman alexie

7. Inspector Alleyn Calls (3 novels)/Ngaio Marsh

8. Nevermore (a graphic adaptation of Poe's short stories)

9. off the reservation/paula gunn allen

10. neither here nor there/marcel jolley

11. the passion/j. winterson (2nd/3rd? read)

12. tapping the source/kem nunn

13. the dogs of winter/kem nunn

14. breathe/tim winton

15. dirt music/tim winton

16. the particular sadness of lemon cake/aimee bender

17. solar/ian m.

18. hell/robert olen butler

19. rat girl/kristin hersh

20. nights at the circus/angela carter

21. invisible cities/calvino

23. tinkers/paul harding

24. diary of a bad year/coetzee

25. the boy detective fails/joe meno

26. brooklyn/colm toibin

27. on the nat. history of dest./sebald

28. let the great world spin/colum mccann

29. zoli/colum mccann

30. unquiet mind/kay jamison

31. by night in chile/bolano

32. inherent vice/pynchon

33. the third elevator/aimee bender

34. the signal/ron carlson

35. essential/kathy acker (re-read)
36. new orleans noir (akashic anthology)
37. french quarter fiction: the newest stories of America's oldest bohemia
38. haunted/chuck p.
39. Emma & the vampires

2010-12-03T11:37:00.005-05:00

2010-12-03T11:36:00.003-05:00

2010-12-03T11:36:00.001-05:00

2010-12-03T11:35:00.003-05:00

2010-12-03T11:35:00.002-05:00

2010-12-03T11:33:00.004-05:00

2010-12-03T11:31:00.004-05:00

2010-12-03T11:31:00.003-05:00

2010-12-03T11:31:00.001-05:00

2010-12-03T11:30:00.002-05:00

2010-12-03T11:29:00.000-05:00

2010-12-03T11:13:00.001-05:00

2010-12-03T11:05:00.004-05:00

really should post on here more often but I'm just too busy well...living. even my addiction to tumblr has waned somewhat. that said, November was spent writing a novel for "Nat'l Novel Writing Month" - though most of it was written on a plan to/from Phoenix, Arizona which may color the content somewhat. I managed to get to 50, 400 some words by 11pm on Nov. 30th. And a lot of those final 20K words were written Sun/Mon/Tuesday night. Left me pretty brain dead but at least those characters' voices have quieted down for a while. I tried writing a "normal" plot-driven novel & mostly that's what it is but it ended up being in alternating sections, all in first-person, telling about the same central event(s) from 6 (7?) characters' POV's. It was pretty ridiculous though I think if I re-read it, I'll find at least some usable work in there. I really like one of the characters a whole bunch and may re-use him in something else. Or maybe try to salvage this thing and send it out? can't hurt. ***Had Thanksgiving Dinner at the Grand Canyon, thanks to my ultra-generous parents. We stayed at the semi-crappy "Grand Hotel" in Tusayan (just outside the park) and had dinner at El Tovar. They even had a vegan entree which was more than just roast veggies. I even had pie. The day before, we (my mom & I that is), hiked along the South Rim in the snow. It was amazing though I was pretty happy to have a warm car/hotel room to go back to after that. Can't imagine hiking down into the Canyon and having to camp out in that weather. Still, I do want to do the North-South Rim hike one of these days. Soon. That's about it. Think I'm canceling my planned trip to New Orleans for New Year's - just can't afford it this year. But may have a friend interested in Mardi Gras. Which could be fun. I hate that I don't have a place down there anymore. Being there as a tourist just feels really weird & wrong. Oh well.

veteran's day. 2010. I still miss you.

2010-11-11T11:44:00.001-05:00

november so far...

Lance Cpl. Dakota R. Huse, 19, of Greenwood, La., died Nov. 9 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

2nd Lt. Robert M. Kelly, 29, of Tallahassee, Fla., died Nov. 9 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Spc. Andrew L. Hutchins, 20, of New Portland, Maine, died Nov. 8 at Khost province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire. He was assigned to the 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

Spc. Anthony Vargas, 27, of Reading, Pa., died Nov. 8 in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to 1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

Sgt. Jason J. McCluskey, 26, of McAlester, Okla., died Nov. 4 at Zarghun Shahr, Mohammad Agha district, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire. He was assigned to the 27th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C.

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Nov. 7 in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with small arms fire. Killed were: Sgt. Aaron B. Cruttenden, 25, of Mesa, Ariz. Spc. Dale J. Kridlo, 33, Hughestown, Pa. They were assigned to the 27th Engineer Battalion, 20th Engineer Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Lance Cpl. Randy R. Braggs, 21, of Sierra Vista, Ariz., died Nov. 6 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Staff Sgt. Jordan B. Emrick, 26, of Hoyleton, Ill., died Nov. 5 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 1st Explosive Ordnance Disposal Company, 7th Engineer Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Pfc. Shane M. Reifert, 23, of Cottrellville, Mich., died Nov. 6 in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

The following Marines died Nov. 4 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan: Lance Cpl. Brandon W. Pearson, 21, of Arvada, Colo. Lance Cpl. Matthew J. Broehm, 22, of Flagstaff, Ariz. Both Marines were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Sgt. Michael F. Paranzino, 22, of Middletown, R.I., died Nov. 5 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 71st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

Spc. Blake D. Whipple, 21, of Williamsville, N.Y., died Nov. 5 in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 7th Engineering Battalion, 10th Sustainment Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

Spc. James C. Young, 25, of Rochester, Ill., died Nov. 3 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 863rd Engineer Battalion, Darien, Ill.

Sgt. 1st Class Todd M. Harris, 37, of Tucson, Ariz., died Nov. 3 in Badghis province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire. He was assigned to the 87th Infantry Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.

1st Lt. James R. Zimmerman, 25, of Aroostook, Maine, died Nov. 2 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Nov. 1 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky. Killed were: Spc. Jonathan M. Curtis, 24, of Belmont, Mass., and Pfc. Andrew N. Meari, 21, of Plainfield, Ill.

Spc. Brett W. Land, 24, of Wasco, Calif., died Oct. 30 in the Zhari district, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

2010-11-08T17:10:00.001-05:00

2010-11-08T17:09:00.004-05:00

2010-11-08T17:09:00.003-05:00

2010-11-08T17:09:00.001-05:00

2010-11-08T17:08:00.002-05:00

2010-11-08T17:08:00.001-05:00

do you know what it means

2010-11-08T12:15:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXFFI9budNI

2010-11-08T12:04:00.001-05:00

2010-11-08T12:03:00.000-05:00

2010-11-02T13:30:00.001-04:00

from the poem-a-day project I'm still doing with MES.

I have always hated the day after Halloween
it feels like the Circus has left town
leaving nothing but dirt on the ground
and those long months of winter ahead.
All the trees are suddenly bare of their
many-colored leaves, turned to mulch and slop
pushed off into gutters along with all the
empty candy wrappers and broken masks and
there's nothing now but memories of summer and
the bitter after-taste of all that sweet anticipation
once again, come to naught.

2010-10-30T22:02:00.002-04:00

something sort of "seasonal" from today's workshop. prompt was: use the following 3 words: pumpkin, chant, bell.

It's cold - not really winter cold but so cold after all those long days of summer. It's cold and my tan has faded and the blonde gone from my hair - the beach, the ocean, just a memory. I'm standing leaning against his car, watching him choose a pumpkin. Not me - I love them, sure but what would I do with all those seeds, all that pulp and then the silly thing rotting away on what - my fire escape? I don't have a porch. He finds one he likes and waves me over. I stand, hands in coat pockets and watch as he does a city boy's job of cutting the stem. I won't help him or correct him (even though he's doing it wrong) because that would only upset him and I want him to have fun even though I'm cold and want it to be summer again.

Tonight there's a huge party - a street celebration with fire-eaters and jugglers and drunken half-naked people running around in bizarre masks. Me - I'll stay home and watch a movie, something old, classic - full of drifting shadows and eerie music or maybe I'll go to a friends' and watch them celebrate the old way, ring in the new year with charcoal and drifting incense...with the slow drone of a chant older than the bible hymns, older than the cross or maybe just sit in the old church, the bells tolling in the midnight and then the long walk home through rising cold and rising dark at the cusp of the year when the door swings wide and all the old stories come true and I'll take them home with me, invite them in, listen and learn and try not to be afraid. But for now, I'll just watch him and wait while he stomps around in the leaves, while he pretends he's a country boy and I pretend this is where I want to be and who I want to be with. (c) 2010

2010-10-27T23:01:00.002-04:00

already Wednesday and I'm still in the middle of Sunday somewhere. This week has brought: massive holes in my bathroom wall & no idea when the contractor who's "renovating" next door will fix this latest in a series of apt. nightmares. If I could move, I would though I'd rather take my landlord's skinny Long Island a** to court. Other than that, this hot/humid non-October weather (68 degrees at 11 at night??) has me cranky as f**k which has lead to some writing getting done. And apparently, I've finally succumbed to joining a "book club" - at least this one's online & doesn't pretend to be social and it's run by the always cool Del Cheetah (who I met when he was in Man Scouts of America). We're currently reading Palahniuk's "Haunted" which is the usual Palahniuk little-boy grossness but featuring some interesting narrative shifts. Still, he's not the writer everyone hypes him to be. At least in my estimation. Continuing to read through stacks of fiction mss for Black Lawrence - only come across a couple decent reads in the last few months which is depressing. Tonight I went out to dinner at GoBo on 6th Avenue. Really overpriced and the food was just average but it was nice to have a menu that's mostly vegan AND to see a vegan place completely full of non-DirtyHippies. I still prefer Life on B but as far as west side places go, it's definitely healthier than Red Bamboo (albeit not as GOOD and much more expensive). Service was light years beyond Red Bamboo's lame hipster waitstaff too - which was nice. Finally finished up "New Orleans Noir." Can't say I was overwhelmed - most of the stories were in dire need of rewrites or at least some decent editing. There were a couple of good ones but overall, I was actually shocked that out of all the good writers in New Orleans, these are the stories that made the cut (?). Ah well. I'm discovering it really is truly awful to live without all my books. When I'm reading a bad book (or even a mediocre book) I don't have the options any more to move on to another book without waiting till the next day...hopefully, I'll have time/energy to get some more books out of storage this weekend. And now, it's time to get back to writing. Think I'll do that "novel-in-a-month" thing in November to get away from all these short stories I've been writing lately. Time to send some of them out into the world and see how they fare.

2010-10-23T21:29:00.002-04:00

another one from workshop. prompt was, "the building was abandoned - weird and damp."

An old hospital maybe, we weren't sure. The fence was down, "no trespassing" signs on the ground, rusted, covered with leaves - almost like they weren't there. We went in - of course. I was taking pictures of stairways lately, some half-fallen, some ornate, some standing likely through the end of the world. This place had wide, fat stairs and narrow, winding stairs - all seemed in good condition. One room was flooded, others mostly dry with leaves, nothing much else. One room had files - one of us stayed, took photos, someone else pulled cards from a drawer, began reading names - the syllables echoing in the empty October air. I opened a metal door onto darkness a floor fallen through all the way down to basements, sub-basements soft, skittering sounds rose up from the inky black - rats, leaves, rust from the door. I took photos of the darkness my flash illuminating water pooled, movement. I closed the door and moved on - best to leave that alone. Shrieks and laughter echoed - someone playing tag - shouting at the ghosts, the danger. I moved on - pushing at doors, taking photos of shadows. A portion of the roof was gone, trees had grown in, ivy, sun came down in shafts pushing at the dirt, the rot and making patterns of light in the broken glass. A metal chair stood next to a broken window - looking out. All the windows had metal bars. I thought about the people kept here - sick, crazy, maybe children - and my friends' laughter felt wrong. I took more photos, felt the building shift. followed stairs back down and outside, out into the air, into the day. took photos of the building its empty windows its doors like mouths its silence as it stood watching. waiting. (c) 2010

2010-10-23T21:14:00.002-04:00

another one from workshop & sort of the same guy showing up again - unplanned - although this time a little younger I think...

I'm too old to be surprised again - something he thought some random four a.m., some late night/early morning when rising from an empty bed into the quiet, the dark - nothing around but the slow ticking of the clock going through its paces - that quiet reminder of time passing. The days were gray, sometimes bright and sunny, but mostly gray and he didn't mind this so much. more it was the forgetting, the not knowing if it was Monday or Thursday, the pointlessness of Friday afternoons watching the world ready themselves for the weekend for that next slice of excitement of fun right around the corner. And now with fall in the air - that's what everyone kept saying - that fall was in the air and all the Halloween decorations the remembered joys of parades and candy of favorite costumes and the hum, the buzz of the night rising and lasting forever it seemed only to rapidly descend into all those family holidays the ones that stood up and pointed at him and said - where is your family and if no family than no holidays for you. He thought of the time he'd gone alone to a diner and had their Thanksgiving Special - how terrible that was - not so much the food which tasted like glue and water with liberal doses of salt - but also the simply fact of being there, alone, among all those sad old men mouthing, gumming at their mashed potatoes, like it was some diner in Hell, not just Sixth Avenue. And now sitting here, four a.m., telling himself "I'm too old to be surprised again," when really he was not so old - barely fifty and what was that anyway - just a number. The simply fact was - he preferred his own company and when he thought of the girls in the park, the late autumn sun reflecting off their hair or that woman at dinner last night, her long pale fingers blurred in motion or the way her rings flashed and her laughter, like a bell really all these things, event he slow blur of traffic at this hour at four a.m., it was all beautiful, it was all life and really every moment every heartbeat every breath ever word was a surprise. (c) 2010

2010-10-23T21:06:00.002-04:00

another one from workshop last week. prompt was "moving"

It's like this: everything goes into boxes. suitcases. trunks. and then there's too much stuff so you divide it in half. get ride of that half. don't think about the forty Hefty bags full of stuff you've already tossed. or all the books. or the shoes and clothes and dishes that went to Goodwill. the Salvation Army. fifteen boxes of vinyl. all those precious records to some collector/dealer from upstate. gave half, a third of what they're worth. and all those vintage clothes. hundreds you could have made on eBay but there's no time. like the signs always say, "everything must go" and with it...it's like all the memories attached to every little thing, like they're being ripped out - all the tangled roots yanking at your heart and your bones just ache. There's something freeing about it they all tell you. like they'd know. like any of them would understand. stuff becomes family, replaces those gone or missing. you touch a rock, a toy, and old shirt and you remember the moment, the person, the past. nostalgia's a sickness and when you watch the shows about hoarders on TV, you know you've come so close and you think of the 3,000 books and how many hundreds are still left. how they all should go now, really and to move? everything? you would rather have the moments back, the people, the music, all those days and years, instead of the stuff. you would rather go back to a time when all you had fit in a suitcase, a milk crate for your records, and a sleeping bag. but when viewed individually each item becomes precious. they see it as junk. And you sometimes picture other people going through your things and know they would not want any of it and so now, moving, it's time. time to empty the boxes and suitcases. to sell it off and recycle and give it all away until there is nothing left but you and the memories because really, that's what's important, right?

2010-10-23T20:55:00.002-04:00

wrote this in workshop last week - not sure where this guy came from but he keeps showing up in my writing lately.

There was one chance I didn't take and I think about it late at night when all the world is quiet and no one's around - it's just me and the dark. All those small noises the house makes and the way I can't get comfortable. I'll get out of bed and shuffle my old man body to the kitchen, stand in front of the open fridge let that cold light wash over me - as if the half-empty shelves hold something I need as if somehow something in there could change things and after a while the cat will come up and rub against my legs and I'll close the fridge - maybe go over to the TV and watch part of some movie with the sound off or those ladies on the Home Shopping Network in all their hideous beauty trying to convince me that the junk they're selling will help me sleep through the night. Sometimes, I'll just stand by the window facing the street, the curtain lifted by one of my tired hands and I'll just watch the empty streets - maybe some trash blowing around or a stray dog sniffing and biting at fleas. Sometimes, there's a drunk, trying to find his car or trying to find his way home and sometimes there's nothing but the street and its varying shades of gray and black, maybe an old streetlight or two. And when it rains and the sidewalks grow dark with wet and the gutters rain like rivers and all the soot and trash pushes past and down into storm drains into sewers, I think about her skin - how pale it was, luminous - and those eyes and maybe the way she laughed and I wonder sometimes where she is and if she ever thinks of me. (c) 2010

2010-10-23T20:54:00.001-04:00

2010-10-16T23:52:00.002-04:00

2010-10-16T23:52:00.001-04:00

2010-10-16T23:51:00.000-04:00

2010-10-16T23:35:00.002-04:00

today I trekked out to bklyn as I do nearly every saturday morning and lead a writing workshop at the Vet Center. love seeing how much their writing's progressed over the last couple of years. and, selfishly, it's also 2 hrs when I get to write too. after that, headed back home through this REALLY beautiful fall day and then across town to try to get some semblance of winter clothes and blankets out of storage. found some useful stuff & some cool (but not useful) stuff & then discovered that ALL of my wool winter coats smell like my dead neighbor. lovely. so I'm going to have to take my pennies and go to the dry cleaner's - such excitement. In better news, I found all my sherman alexie books so I can finally finish that paper proposal I've been putting off & I found some CDs that somehow didn't make it into my iTunes - mostly classical stuff & one firewater CD that I thought was gone for good. Next step: catalog those books & records & start unloading them. tragic but it must be done. my apartment actually has "stuff" in it now which looks really weird. I don't think I like it. guess I'll have to get rid of some of it. in other news - finishing up "new orleans noir" which so far has been REALLY disappointing. I love the concept but the realization is seriously lacking. I mean, N.O.'s a city with REALLY good writers and yet, this anthology is full of poorly written stories. so disappointing. next up - Chuck P.'s "the haunting" - I tried it before but this time it's for my "book club"...yes, I've finally joined a book club - this one's special though, hosted by Del Cheetah (one-time member of Man Scouts of America) and on facebook. It'll be interesting to see how it works. tomorrow I'm off to Fort Tryon Park & the Cloisters - hope the wind's died down a bit by then. And now...back to the Nash Bridges marathon & some more manuscript submissions.

2010-10-11T20:59:00.002-04:00

haven't posted in a while because I've become addicted to tumblr. oh & busy living life and all that...somewhere in there I: went to the Medieval Fair(e?) at Fort Tryon Park (Bronx) and saw men jousting on horseback. for real. which really appeals to my inner 8 year old (or is it 18 yr old?) and did some hiking - Mt. Taurus (a/k/a Bull Hill) and this past weekend - the Camp Smith Trail (with it's INCREDIBLY POORLY MARKED trailhead) over Manitou and then up & over Anthony's Nose & back again - a gorgeous hike though the trek all the way back was a bit tiring. Also went to the Met to see some art - visited El Greco's 'View of Toledo' (perhaps my favorite painting of all time) & the very small & not very impressive Levinstein show, "Hipster, Hustlers (etc.)"...the (relatively) new American Wing looks great - all full of light and air - really brings out the sculpture and the Tiffany pieces. "Between Here and There" was a cool little exhibit of postcards - although not as stunning as say, the Rodin around the corner. Other than that, just been trying to get outside as much as possible before the winter comes. and spending too much time reading bad manuscripts, semi-decent books (Robert Olen Butler's "Hell," currently reading "Tinkers") and not doing enough writing. Sent something out to the Nashville Review and got a quick rejection. Not that anyone reads the NR anyway but still...and started 2 more stories I like sort of halfway but not sure where either one's going. And yes, well, tumblr. feeding my obsession with abandoned houses and buildings and photos of sharks and tigers and things.

today in history

2010-10-05T16:41:00.001-04:00

Chief Joseph surrenders 10/5/1877 ending Nez Perce War

2010-10-05T16:31:00.002-04:00

This weekend is Open House NY & as usual, I totally forgot about it till the last minute BUT...I may try to catch some of the still open tours of various spaces. One of these years though, I want to do the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel. Even if it does mean going to Brooklyn (ack). Aside from that, I'll probably hit the Levinstein @ the Met before it's gone (closes 10/17), maybe the Neil Gaiman reading at B&N Union Square (though I loathe the way they pack the crowds in there) and likely Haveli not once but twice this week (Chana Shaag here I come). Since it's supposed to be nice on Sunday, I'm going to try the Camp Smith Trail to Anthony's Nose & maybe incorporate part of Breakneck into that - not sure the full plan since my hiking books are still ensconced in Jersey City. In any case, I'll likely take lots of photos and post some here. Hopefully the trail's more clearly marked than it was last time we tried that one. At least it'll be outside of these 4 walls (and no windows) and some decent exercise.

rock.

2010-10-02T22:03:00.000-04:00

2010-10-02T21:58:00.002-04:00

stairmaster - east river style

2010-10-02T21:54:00.003-04:00

I ran up & down this for a while today. so much better than 30 mins on the stairmaster.

2010-09-30T20:00:00.000-04:00

2010-09-30T19:58:00.000-04:00

2010-09-30T19:55:00.001-04:00

2010-09-30T19:30:00.003-04:00

just watched a doc. on Ed "Big Daddy" Roth that I'd seen ages ago. This time it reminded me of that time in my life when I loved cars. REALLY loved them. I still have more photos of cars than I do of people. And I remember the cars better than the men who drove them. Which probably says more about me than about the men in question. That said, while I long ago sold off/gave away my Rat Fink/Ed Roth/Rbt. Williams collection, I do, still have photos of some of those beautiful cars. Which I will try to find and post here. Another thing I missed out on living in NYC all these years - I've never owned a car. Doesn't stop me from wanting one. Though at this point, it's likely I'll never have one & if I do? it'll be something practical like a hybrid. or a Jeep. or a Volvo. And not a '54 Chevy. with flames. and pinstriping.

Mt. Taurus

2010-09-27T21:15:00.000-04:00

bridge #1 and bridge #2 - or what's left of them.

Mt. Taurus - abandoned house

2010-09-27T21:00:00.001-04:00

Mt. Taurus

2010-09-27T20:56:00.000-04:00

2010-09-27T20:42:00.002-04:00

Friday I went to Otto's Shrunken Head to see Empire Vista - interesting & Otto's is always a fun time. Saturday I met up with a friend and we hiked Mt. Taurus (near Cold Spring). We got a LATE start due to massive traffic all the way on 9 but even starting at 3:15, we still made it back down to the trailhead before sunset. The trail itself (white blaze up, white then blue blaze down) is in better shape & better marked on the way up, and in lousy shape (2 bridges out, lots of damage to the trail itself) on the way down. It wasn't overly crowded (probably due to the heat - 87 degrees?) and the views were amazing. I'm hoping to get back up there once the leaves have turned for even more glorious views. Sunday was the 7th annual Walt Whitman "Song of Myself" marathon reading. I read sections 4, 22, and the final section, #52. It was a good mix of people again although the organization itself was lacking - having us first go to the barque Peking and then back to the Museum and then back again and...you get the idea. It was pretty frustrating but once we got started, aside from a few people who really shouldn't read aloud in public ever, it was really great. Overall, made for a well-rounded weekend though I would love to have been one of the 2 people we saw heading out for a long backpacking trek on Saturday. Maybe just stay out there until it starts to snow? no?

Mt. Taurus end of the trail

2010-09-27T20:33:00.000-04:00

winner every race

2010-09-24T13:41:00.000-04:00

2010-09-24T13:36:00.000-04:00

no. I didn't go on the Ferris wheel. but I sure wanted to...

2010-09-24T13:35:00.001-04:00

2010-09-23T16:44:00.002-04:00

buffalo, ny

2010-09-23T16:41:00.000-04:00

2010-09-23T16:38:00.000-04:00

north bro. island, ny

2010-09-23T16:34:00.000-04:00

from modern ruins

2010-09-23T11:43:00.000-04:00

2010-09-23T11:42:00.002-04:00

home?

2010-09-23T11:37:00.002-04:00