February 2012
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Hi.
So how’s everyone doing?
Found this list on a torn piece of paper outside...
aedison:
Things I don’t like:
Dogs.
Winter.
Peanut butter.
Policies that discriminate against people who make one single mistake.
Law school.
Research.
Essay writing services whose confidentiality policies aren’t nearly as great as they pretend.
Getting kicked out of law school.
Moving back in with mom and dad.
Bagging groceries.
Cats.
What policies could this person be talking...
January 2012
“My battles as a writer are battles with that part of myself that thinks I’m...”
– Mary Karr (via thebronzemedal)
This is good: remember who you are.
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Preview of Unsaid Six: Craft Talk without Craft,...
I am thinking tonight, as I address this unenviable task, of Flannery O’Connor, because she would advise against it, my addressing this unenviable task. I revere her in a way that she would also advise against, in fact would probably repudiate outright, hard: as something of the godhead, or goddesshead, of letters. I like touching the goddesshead. I do it whenever I can. I’ll touch the godhead...
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Watchvia Patton Oswalt
Survey Finds Rising Perception of Class Tension →
About two-thirds of Americans now believe there are “strong conflicts” between rich and poor in the United States, a survey by the Pew Research Center found, a sign that the message of income inequality brandished by the Occupy Wall Street movement and pressed by Democrats may be seeping into the national consciousness.
Good.
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merlin:
[mp3]
Roderick on the Line - “Ep. 17:...
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Watch“Skips Strikes”
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Calling for a Convention →
To keep money from corrupting our democratic politics, we need constitutional change. No doubt lots can be done by statute alone—meaningful transparency rules, such as the Disclose Act, and small-dollar public funding, such as the Fair Elections Now Act. The Supreme Court, however, has all but guaranteed that these won’t be enough. Transparency by itself won’t build trust; public funding can...
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Glenn O'Brien is smarter than all of us
I’m chest-deep in Glenn O’Brien’s How to be a Man: A Guide to Style and Behavior for the Modern Gentleman, and I’d say it’s anything but what you might expect. Rather than concise, bulleted lists of tie and belt do’s and don’ts, O’Brien gives us an arch, snarky, intelligent guide to taking no shit. The book is filled with references to classical...
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Some brief notes I scribbled by way of resolutions...
Read 52 books
Start getting some exercise
3 days a week
Skate on a weekend day
Walk/run two other days (bike?)
Make sure to stretch every day
Program reminders for feed the bird, stretch, read to Aiden, bath time. (DONE!)
Celebrate small victories. (ongoing)
Finish editing that fucking book
I’m giving myself through summer for this one. Right now I’m working on three...
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You want to be a writer?
Don’t. It is thankless and brutal work. If you want to live like a writer, which I understand is some of the allure of this whole being a writer, become a mid-level accountant instead. It will give you salary enough for cigarettes and booze and be rote enough you can stay out late smoking and drinking and getting your art talk on and still be able to do your work and get paid, which will...
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Two brief ideas for the publishing industry
1. If I buy a full-price hard-cover book, give me the e-book for free. I don’t mean some super-snazzy, illustration-rich multimedia experience. I just want the book in electronic format. The system works well on me when I’m buying records. I bought 1000 Hertz on vinyl because it came with a cd. I bought High Violet on vinyl because it came with a free .MP3 download I could...
December 2011
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Had to be done:
“Piano Man” as...
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You know what would be awesome?
An “Invitation to the Blues”-era version of “Piano Man.” I’ve been wandering the house doing my best Tom Waits, and yes, it would be totally awesome.
It’s nine-o’clock on a Saturday Regular crowd shuffles in There’s a wise old man sittin’ next to me makin’ love to his tonic and gin.
(Liberties taken with the lyrics and line breaks)
Who...
Maybe a different singer?
What if Tom Waits sung “Piano Man?” Would John Roderick like it then?
Might be time to fire up an Index Card.
It’s certainly time for you (yes, you) to fire up the latest episode of Roderick on the Line (unless you’re Kathleen Hannah).
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The Jesus Lizard plays the Hardback Cafe April,...
I’ve been thinking a lot about the past. Not fondly, necessarily, or with any kind of sepia-toned nostalgia. I’ve just been thinking about it, and some of the things I’ve done and seen.
David Yow isn’t dead. By all rights, he probably should be. The front man for Qui and Scratch Acid and The Jesus Lizard used to drink himself to oblivion and fling himself into...
“Texas” by Big Black
The Novelist Versus the Pirates →
barretta:
Thank God that the creative professions are striking a blow against intellectual property theft (and it’s not just Metallica this time).
We should all be so lucky. When Spain’s unemployment rate hovers near 20% and books cost upwards of 20€, it’s no wonder people choose to pirate them. Better that than obscurity. But guess what? An agent and publisher are now looking to...
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“The fact that there was any debate over whether to call in experts on such a...”
– Joshua Kopstein, Dear Congress, It’s No Longer OK To Not Know How The Internet Works (via drinkyourjuice) This friends, is the most important article you’ll read today. (via shortformblog)
It was never funny. That nerds used to think so is why this bill’s going to pass. But hey, thanks for...
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An email I received
Hi,
It was a pleasure to go through your site since it has been done up so well, keeping the needs of the reader in mind.
i am now interested in getting a back link from your site
Do get back to me with a positive reply :-)
I mean prices:)
Thanks
alexan
I’m going to be so fucking rich, y’all, it’s going to be hard to remember the little people.
I Work For The Internet →
staff:
We work for the Internet. And we’re guessing many of you do too. Whether it’s researching, selling, coding, supporting, designing — so many of our careers depend on the Internet.
One argument that’s been made to Congress is that the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is needed to protect American jobs. In truth, the new liabilities this bill would impose on startups could stop American...
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I have two questions
And they’re nearly legitimate:
1) If corporations are people, and a group of people (or just one person) can raise enough money to buy one, why can’t we still buy people?
2) If a CEO allows a corporation to flounder and it ends up being dissolved, or ceasing to exist, why aren’t they charged with manslaughter? Negligence? Willful neglect?
“To love someone is not first of all to do things for them, but to reveal to them...”
– Jean Vanier (via azspot)
