THIS IS NOT POETRY

MOROCCO

2011-11-27T00:36:00.000-06:00

hey! my friends matthew and kendra wrote a book called morocco and it's out now. i read it and liked it very much. their two voices together are lovely.

also apparently personism is when people write poems instead of using the telephone. sometimes i like to write chapbooks instead of using facebook.

TRAILER VIDEOS:

Morocco Trailer (I Don't Want Us to Care...) from Dark Sky Books on Vimeo.

friday

2011-08-28T14:23:00.001-05:00

wednesday

2011-08-06T00:06:00.001-05:00

monday

2011-08-05T23:40:00.000-05:00

2011-08-05T18:11:00.001-05:00

funny

friday

2011-08-03T22:47:00.001-05:00

thursday

2011-08-01T12:43:00.000-05:00

i saw a pre-screening of miranda july's new movie at sfmoma and i really loved it. it is hilarious and devastating. "she somehow figured out how i feel and made a movie about it" is what you'll probably say if you see this movie. she was there for the screening and there was a q&a afterwards and she talked about wanting to find out what's underneath boredom and what's underneath longing and that's something i think about for like 90 percent of my day everyday, so it was exciting to hear her say that. here's a blurry picture of her:

tuesday

2011-07-28T16:21:00.001-05:00

monday

2011-07-27T16:55:00.001-05:00

saturday

2011-07-25T15:28:00.001-05:00

EVERYONE IS A WIZARD EXCEPT YOU

2011-05-08T23:21:00.002-05:00

by now it makes sense to assume
that you've been stood up again
at shooters on a wednesday night
the BEER sign lighting your tragedies

it makes sense to assume that no one else
has ever been stood up at shooters on a wednesday
and also that every one else is at home
acting out loving wizard role play in their bedrooms

and you are the loneliest. there is evidence.
look at all the wizard couples in olive garden, for example
it makes sense to assume that everything you've imagined
is an empty balloon

with no note tied to it, no messages from another world
and no phone ringing when you get home
and you are out of cigarettes and the couple next door
is casting love spells on each other and playing with the cat

you are gently spinning on one thread
taped to the moon and holding you just above the ground
by now it makes sense to assume that no one will notice your graceful arc
and that the moon is shining but no one is looking

2011-04-28T23:45:00.004-05:00

maybe something will happen like
a ceiling fan
will fall from the ceiling!
and you'll turn to the guy next to you
and say something like
whoa
and he'll say yeah, i know.
and you'll feel like a cat that has run into a fire hydrant
on accident

something else could happen too like
there could be a fire in your building!
and while you're huddled with your neighbors outside
watching your building burn to the ground
you could turn to your neighbor and say
wow that was a close one
and he'll take off his sunglasses
and look you in the eyes
for the first time ever

but the worse thing that could happen is
you could be stuck behind a couple making out
on an airplane.
and you'll feel like a load of laundry
that gets washed but still smells weird
and you'll feel like the moon shining bright
but no one is looking
and you'll feel like an incredibly beautiful woman
at the bottom of the ocean

my favorite thing that i saw on the internet today

2011-03-28T00:04:00.000-05:00

i think my friend darah might be my favorite photographer. this is her daughter guthrie, who is my favorite guthrie.

my favorite thing that i saw on the internet today

2011-03-02T20:48:00.000-06:00

depressive resident alien

"delirious"--new animation by greg lytle, poem by ryan manning

2011-02-08T10:31:00.001-06:00

Delirious from Greg Lytle on Vimeo.

name this artist

2011-01-26T16:12:00.001-06:00

this is a hilarious installation i saw at the MCA yesterday. does anyone know who the artist is? i ran out of the gallery because i couldn't stop laughing and felt dumb.

also, she was saying "i know what you're thinking, i know what you're thinking," in a menacing tone. it is so funny. for some reason though, the other people in the gallery weren't laughing at this awesome joke.

and in other news, the "new chicago comics" exhibit was really good. i'm excited for anders nilsen's full compilation of "Big Questions"--coming out from Drawn and Quarterly this spring.

poetic review of 'keeping up with the kardashians' season 5

2011-01-18T17:40:00.002-06:00

This show is so good. its keeps me entertained and always up to date with the stuff they were and do. if i were to have a life like that i were to do everything they were doing i loved it and if any upcoming episodes or seasons i will watch and rate and in this season i can honestly say that this is one of the best shows i have ever seen in my whole life and and i am just saying that i think you guys will love it to it is very cool styelish and optamistic all of you guys should watch it

12 out of 16 netflix members found this review helpful.

potential light catastrophe

2011-01-12T11:38:00.002-06:00

uhhh accidentally left my lightbox on for an hour and a half. what do you think will happen to me?

a. glowing orb of light for a head
b. give birth to the sun's baby
c. nothing, because lightboxes don't do anything

today is 1.11.11

2011-01-11T12:19:00.001-06:00

whoa.

"hey mom...guess who's going to JAIL"

2011-01-10T11:38:00.000-06:00

feeling hateful / tired / all i want to do is watch keeping up with the kardashians on netflix instant play. i'm on season 3 now. i just saw the episode where khloe goes to jail but then doesn't go to jail.

snowy

2010-12-13T01:36:00.001-06:00

here's some snow from today. i was doing dishes in the background. i don't know what that song is. i was listening to the internet.

the secret

2010-11-30T10:07:00.002-06:00

sexiest ghost alive

2010-11-17T22:06:00.002-06:00

i just watched an hour long special about people magazine's sexiest man alive because i'm tired and none of the other channels are getting reception. it was so boring. guess what wouldn't be boring? a show about sexiest ghosts or sexiest trees or sexiest walls. they could interview someone with objectum sexuality, like the woman that fell in love with the berlin wall, and then ask her to rate her top 25 sexiest walls, and then show pictures and have her explain what she likes about each wall. then i would be fascinated and entertained instead of bored.

ladies, am i right?

i am a cinematographer

2010-10-31T22:12:00.000-05:00

i made this video with my co-workers last week when we went on a retreat to mendocino, california. my boss owns an inn there and we stayed in beautiful cabins and made a video. and i got to record some of the scenes, fulfilling my approximately 3-month long dream of being a camera man. the video is about a dying software that you probably haven't heard of, but the themes of love and loss are universal. it's totally kafka-esque. you can also see me briefly acting ridiculous near the end. i want to make another video immediately.

another'n

2010-10-29T23:08:00.000-05:00

matthew IV

matthew, do you like the song about the little girl
who disobeyed her mother so her mother
hit her with a shovel and buried her but
the little girl's little arm came out
from under the earth
and she shook her little fist
and the mother hit the little arm with a shovel
but the little girl's little arm came out
from under the earth
and she shook her little fist
and the mother hit the little arm
hit the little arm with a shovel
and the little girl's little arm didn't rise a third time
and the little girl obeyed and was dead.
is that what you were singing this morning
when you woke up and there was sun
when you woke up without me and there was sun
and i was waking up to the sun too

some matthew poems

2010-10-28T22:53:00.003-05:00

matthew

you have a fly in your hair
you have many flies in your hair
i feel weird!
i know a group of three birds that travel together everywhere with their beaks open
the third one looked at me once
what is the lifespan of a sparrow and who are its predators
i feel sure you know this
a man on a bicycle just rode by
i don’t know any groups of three bicyclists that travel everywhere together
but i was once bitten by a horsefly for hours

matthew II

it is good that your computer makes sounds like the ocean
do you think we could start the big rip?
we have never met and you
are on a different continent but still

there is a bicycle hanging in the air
are you gone?
i have a porch kind of. well really
it’s stairs that lead to a door
but when you sit on the stairs
it’s a porch

whatever you say you are
is what you are

matthew III

is 800 euros a lot
if it is a lot you should put it in your shoe
put it in your shoe anyway, actually
are you gone

my friend matthew has good hair, poems

2010-09-20T15:33:00.000-05:00

mother nature is the new art from matthew savoca on Vimeo.

bus stop conversation

2010-09-01T22:21:00.004-05:00

i have had lots of conversations at bus stops lately with men who are probably nice and mean well (maybe?) but make me feel uncomfortable regardless. here is the one from tonight.

--(man) is this the bus? have you been waiting long?
--(me) yeah i have, actually. it should be here soon.
--good, i need to get home.
--yeah.
--what were you listening to?
--oh...(embarrassed)...beyonce.
--oh yeah, she's my sexy singer.
--......yeah.
--that's like that single ladies song, right?
--yeah, that's right.
--do you know that song, she's like a wolf?
--no, i don't think so.
--it's by s. she's like a wolf.
--oh, she wolf? shakira.
--yeah, i love the way she dance! i like to see her body. i'm surprised my girlfriend lets me watch her videos. when i see her dance, i think of my girlfriend's body, dancing like her. i think of my girlfriend's body and her voice.
--......ha......yeah.
--my girlfriend and i are getting married next year. we've been together ten years. we're going to have an anniversary.
--congratulations, that's great.
--she got me this (pulls out an mp3 player). i love it. you ever seen one of these?
--yeah, that's a nice one.
--my girlfriend put it in the computer, and there the songs are. i was impressed. she put 44 songs on it. all kinds of music.
--that's very cool.
--you need to get smaller headphones like these (points to ear buds, then my giant headphones)
--oh, i don't really like ear buds.
--see how it looks? (shows me mp3 player screen, with song titles) you know the song all shook up?
--yeah.
--you know the song always?
--no, i don't think so.
--here, listen to it. (inches closer and gives me his earbuds)
--no, that's ok.
--oh i meant, you can plug your own headphones in it and listen to it. i don't bite.
--oh......do you really want me to?
--yeah, i want you to know what song it is.
--ok. (plug in my headphones. recognize it immediately as a song from the '80s. take headphones off.) oh yeah, i know that song. it's from the '80's.
--you know that song?
--yeah.
--what do you think of when you hear that song?
--umm...the '80s, i guess.
--do you think of romance? because i have to find a good romantic song for my girlfriend's anniversary, so we can dance across the floor in a smooth way.
--yeah, that would be a good one. (inches closer and i back up into the bus stop sign)
--what's your name?
--kathryn. (we shake hands).
--i'm robert. you're so nice and young and beautiful.
--......thanks.
--halloween's coming up!
--yeah.
--it's going to be scary! you know that exorcist movie coming out? that's scary. you know freddy?
--yeah, i don't like horror movies. i never watch them.
--no freddy?
--no.
--jason?
--no.
--christine?
--no, i've never heard of that.
--you never heard of christine? it's about a car that drives around with no one in it. and it kills people.
--haha, no i don't know that one.
--well then, you'll like this one. the car.
--is that a movie?
--yeah, it's called the car.
--is it about a car that kills people?
--yeah. monday is labor day. are you going to be free?
--oh, i'm going to indiana to visit my family.
--all the way to indiana? michael jackson is from there, you know.
--yeah.

THE BUS COMES, THE END.

look at these dark pictures

2010-08-30T23:05:00.000-05:00

the daddy's release party tonight at the hideout was off the tank (that's an expression i made up, don't worry, you are not not cool for not knowing it). everyone that read was really great. i am being earnest. every single person. off the tank.

the reading starred: zach dodson (non-mustached host), john jodzio, jac jemc, mary hamilton, aaron burch, amelia gray, blake butler, lindsay hunter's dad, and lindsay hunter. amelia gray shouted an amy tan manifesto. jac jemc made word lace. blake was brilliant as always. lindsay hunter...she's so great. i am super pumped about her sweet tank book.

sometimes, it feels exciting to live in chicago.

and now here are some dark pictures that i took with my camera phone even though i had a real camera, because i just prefer bad photographs. you will learn to like it.

works of genius by d.j. HeckRight

2010-08-23T00:31:00.000-05:00

featuring: megan martin, me, andrea rexilius. those are our voices (and poems). the rest is john heckman wright's madness.

pretty funny

2010-08-20T09:51:00.002-05:00

improvements

2010-08-13T00:48:00.002-05:00

after a few years of "borrowing" extremely unreliable internet, i have now purchased some of it. i think it's working! it is so exciting. i am going to watch 20 episodes of the daily show online and never go to sleep. i wonder if i will ever pay for one of those smart phones, or cable. seems waaaaay too superfluous. i have only had a cell phone for 3 years.

also, i have health insurance now! i have already scheduled 3 appointments. there are a lot of doctors in the world.

the janice katie show was marvelous. look for it soon on wunderkammer. and go there now to see a bunch of fake outs.

i hung out with justin sirois last weekend. he is cool and so is the understanding campaign. i'm excited to read mlkng sckls.

in other book news, i bought the book a wolf at the table at an airport for $2 because i thought augusten burroughs had written a book about his father, william s. burroughs. but that's not his dad. augusten burroughs is not even his real name. am i dumb? i guess i just saw the tagline "a memoir about my father," and saw his last name, and my extremely advanced systems of categorization created a Truth. and now i have this stupid book. who wants it?

come gently stalk janice-katie with us

2010-08-02T19:07:00.000-05:00

i'm curating rec room this wednesday--you should come to it! everything you need to know can be found on this handsomely decorated flyer. and also here.

haiku with harpy by bianca stone

2010-07-23T07:59:00.001-05:00

isreads7 contributor bianca stone posted this haiku and drawing on her blog a few weeks ago. this was actually my favorite haiku that she submitted. i'm glad she made a harpy!

A car alarm at dawn.
O dark head
surrounded by yellow birds.

7 unsuccessful haikus by chris killen

2010-07-21T19:55:00.000-05:00

look at isReads for the 8th haiku

an all haiku isreads

2010-07-18T14:30:00.001-05:00

isReads 7, the haiku issue, is now live! starring stephanie barber, colin bassett, dan brady, jimmy chen, sarah eaton, fred ecenrode, molly gaudry, jamie iredell, chris killen, tao lin, megan martin, sam pink, audri sousa, bianca stone and della watson.

this issue was posted around baltimore, chicago, indianapolis, minneapolis, pittsburgh, and providence. thanks to christopher newgent, stephen pemberton, adam atkinson and shannon eddy, our fantastic contributing editors!

weird chicago #3

2010-07-16T09:46:00.000-05:00

since when does the south loop have a giant eyeball in the middle of it? totally weird. i love this city.

i went to san francisco, i took 6 pictures

2010-07-05T13:52:00.001-05:00

i got a new job with a company that does online fundraising and advocacy for nonprofits. it's a great job. i went to san francisco for a week to train. i took 6 pictures.

this is a book sculpture hanging light situation outside of city light books. those are lighted books. behind it is a mural of people playing jazz music i think.

i was impressed by the height and execution of this graffiti.

the beautiful and coquettish wunderkammer girl, della watson

they had a pizza on the menu named after my last name

i walked to the water one day at lunch.

my hotel room was good. the concierge was the finest in the world. every time i came through the lobby, i heard him speaking a different language to a guest. and then at wine and cheese hour, i walked in to find him jammin' on a keyboard. he always had a friendly smile for me when i came home from work. i miss the hotel carlton.

THIS IS THE END OF MY PHOTO ESSAY. SAN FRANCISCO IS FREAKIN' AWESOME.

my new co-workers

2010-07-04T16:27:00.001-05:00

this is them. not all of them, but some of them.

another beautiful sentence

2010-06-29T19:15:00.002-05:00

i'm in san francisco! it is so great. i can't post pictures because i forgot my camera cord thing, so here is a picture of a beautiful sentence.

i like christopher newgent

2010-06-16T11:34:00.001-05:00

in addition to being cool, and a great writer, and a bike advocate, and cool, christopher newgent posted poems for isreads #7 in his city (and my hometown), indianapolis.

adam robinson interviewed him over at isreads.com. it's a good one.

isreads #7 will be an all haiku issue, soon to come at you!

i like samuel barber

2010-06-15T11:43:00.002-05:00

i like jorin bossen

2010-06-11T14:37:00.001-05:00

press for the moby awards and the Injury

2010-05-26T15:26:00.003-05:00

megan over at melville house has done a great job at getting press for the moby awards. check out these mentions:

the new york times
the wall street journal
poets & writers

whoa. thanks again to matthew simmons for nominating us.

meanwhile, i done hurt myself. i was putting in my air conditioner and failed to 'lift with my legs.' i am now basically a giant worm. the other night i tried to do that 'legs up the wall' yoga pose, but i couldn't really get close to the wall and then i also couldn't get off of the floor. it was awesome/awful. mostly just really funny.

my friend della watson's wedding is this saturday in kentucky. we are going to have a poetry reading in a cave friday night. caves are pretty much my favorite place to read poetry. remember the cave in dead poet's society? they get it.

oh also--is blake butler really having a baby? someone tell me.

great times weekend

2010-05-25T20:11:00.003-05:00

i had a great time this weekend in ann arbor at the great lakes great times reading series.

i stayed at the beautiful and brilliant elizabeth ellen's house. she has an awesome house and an awesomer cat. her daughter is adorable. they are basically the gilmore girls. andrea kneeland was there too. she is equally beautiful and brilliant and wears pretty scarves. she and elizabeth got matching tattoos.

robert lopez was there too. he is magical, but with an Edge. after hearing him read, i am very excited for his new book of short stories coming out in november from dzanc.

matt bell, peter markus, ander monson and dan wickett were there too. matt bell is so friendly and seemingly knows everything about writing. peter markus is calm and nice and Cool. ander monson might be the smartest person that exists. i love his hair. dan wickett spent most of the night in observation, as did i, which makes him my kind of people. at one point elizabeth said something like, "dan, why are you sitting alone? join our circle." and dan said, "you know i don't do that." he is awesome.

the highlight for me though, was winning at the poker table. i still don't know how it happened. it was miraculous. i'm considering a new career as a rounder.

MobyLives chapbook trailer nomination

2010-05-21T09:14:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: WE WON!

greg went to the ceremony last night and won a tiny whale. he deserves a whale of any size. a whale as big as your house.

GO HERE to see all of the winners. some of the categories are pretty funny, like "most annoying performance by an author," and, "trailer least likely to sell the book." the trailer for going west by maurice gee is awesome though. people in new zealand made it. that's why.

hurray!!! thank you melville house.

-------------------------------------------------

hey, google alerts just told me that the trailer for my chapbook i am in the air right now has been nominated for a Moby Award in the category of best low budget/indie book trailer! if you haven't seen the video yet, there it is over to your right.>>> look to the right.>>>

it's animated by the brilliant greg lytle. i hope he attends the awards ceremony thursday night in a tuxedo.

I WANT TO WIN.

great lakes great times reading this saturday

2010-05-19T14:45:00.001-05:00

i'm excited to be a part of the great lakes great times reading series this weekend, founded by the lovely elizabeth ellen. i'm reading with robert lopez, ander monson, matt bell and andrea kneeland. i will probably faint. oh also, i am taking the megabus there, to ann arbor. i will probably throw up. it's going to be great!

here are the details, you should come:

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010, 7pm
826 michigan
115 East Liberty Street
Ann Arbor MI 48104

i have been reading emily dickinson's master letters, here are some of my favorite parts

2010-05-17T00:51:00.007-05:00

God made me—(sir)—↑ Master ↓ I didn’t
be—myself—(He) I don’t know how
it was done—He built the
heart in me—By and by
it outgrew me—
----

I cannot (talk) ↑ stay ↓ any (more) ↑ longer ↓
tonight ↑ (now) ↓ for this pain
----

I’ve got a cough as
big as a thimble—but
I don’t care for that—
I’ve got a Tomahawk
in my side but that
don’t hurt me much,
(If you) Her Master—
stabs her more—

---
never minding (whatever)
so long wandering , ↑ if (out) ↓
to him at last—
Oh how the sailor strains,
when his boat is
filling—Oh how the
dying tug, till the angel
comes

weird chicago #2

2010-05-14T11:43:00.000-05:00

this morning i saw a man walking down the street holding onto his wheelchair
walking kind of sideways like a crab
wearing pants that were a map of the world
and on the side of the wheelchair he had written in white letters
I HAVE TROUBLE TALKING

it's hard to explain the appreciation i feel for this man

scott mcclanahan is a southern, let him tell you something.

2010-04-26T10:54:00.004-05:00

i saw scott mcclanahan last weekend at the whistler. he drove here from west virginia with a can of soup and a murder ballad. if scott read every night i would probably go see him every night. he is so great.

i think all people really want is a southern, telling them not to get their skinny jeans in a bunch.

he has two books: stories and stories II. i started reading stories II and i love it. if you buy the books directly from scott he might also send you some magical dirt.

here he is reading in atlanta, and some links.

MORE SCOTT MCCLANAHAN:

orange alert podcast

apostrophecast

review of stories II from outside writers collective and press

the myth of scott mcclanahan

orange alert interview

isReads 6 is now up!

2010-04-23T16:22:00.004-05:00

the full issue of isReads 6 is now up, featuring photographs from baltimore, chicago, nashville, los angeles, louisville and stillwater, oklahoma. thanks to donnell bell, torie combest and jordon shiine, our newest contributing editors!

the issue features work by jason bredle, heather christle, peter davis, a. minetta gould, edward mullaney, a.e. reiff, matthew savoca and mike young. lookit.

weird chicago #1

2010-04-16T10:33:00.009-05:00

if i ever move away from chicago, the thing that i might miss the most is all the weirdos. unless if i moved to new york. i bet they have even better weirdos.

in an effort to pay homage to this city's weirdos, i've decided to start taking pictures of them and posting them on this blog.

here is installment #1: a man with a grocery bag on his head sitting in front of the city hall building. it seems like he's protesting something, but what could it be? who knows! i love you, weirdo.

i'm reading this book again

2010-04-14T14:20:00.000-05:00

one of the reasons i'm always behind on my reading list is that i read the same 3 books over and over again. this is one of them. when he talks about his fear of time i feel like he's in my brain. andrew solomon, you get me.

you can read a chapter here if you want.

i didn't go to awp

2010-04-13T18:12:00.000-05:00

but whoa, check out all of the fake awp activity at venom literati. those are good videos.

i have been in a mental fog. it feels like forever. i don't know where my arms are.

awesome lady in a cowboy shirt talks about being autistic

2010-03-18T15:00:00.000-05:00

omg, gut brain theory

2010-03-17T10:21:00.004-05:00

"The gut has a mind of its own, the "enteric nervous system". Just like the larger brain in the head, researchers say, this system sends and receives impulses, records experiences and respond to emotions. Its nerve cells are bathed and influenced by the same neurotransmitters. The gut can upset the brain just as the brain can upset the gut.

The gut's brain or the "enteric nervous system" is located in the sheaths of tissue lining the esophagus, stomach, small intestine and colon. Considered a single entity, it is a network of neurons, neurotransmitters and proteins that zap messages between neurons, support cells like those found in the brain proper and a complex circuitry that enables it to act independently, learn, remember and, as the saying goes, produce gut feelings.

The gut contains 100 million neurons - more than the spinal cord. Major neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, glutamate, norephinephrine and nitric oxide are in the gut. Also two dozen small brain proteins, called neuropeptides are there along with the major cells of the immune system. Enkephalins (a member of the endorphins family) are also in the gut. The gut also is a rich source of benzodiazepines - the family of psychoactive chemicals that includes such ever popular drugs as valium and xanax."

i like albert schweitzer

2010-03-16T10:09:00.002-05:00

"The human spirit is not dead. It lives on in secret...It has come to believe that compassion, in which all ethics must take root, can only attain its full breadth and depth if it embraces all living creatures and does not limit itself to human beings."

--excerpt from Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in 1953

i am a vegetarian now and other things

2010-03-11T00:19:00.003-06:00

i made a bad decision today regarding a giant diet coke and had to go home sick with a stomach ache. does anyone know what's in diet coke? my guess is plastic, hydrogen bombs and cigarette ash. the hydrogen bombs are why it tastes so good.

last weekend i went to dallas with my mom to visit my brother and his family. everyone was really nice about feeding me vegetables even though they live in texas, and my brother made the best grilled asparagus that has ever happened. my niece was an all-star at her soccer game and my nephew is a piano virtuoso. my other nephew says awesome things, like how his brother isn't real and how he wants what he wants.

the weekend before that i went to cincinnati. that's a good town. very hilly. old. the blue bridge looks good.

the weekend before that my laptop got stolen while i was typing on it in a bakery cafe. a kid grabbed it and ran. i was gchatting matthew savoca at the time. do you think the kid read my gchats? do you think the kid read my diary?

PLUS ALSO

speaking of matthew savoca, scrambler books just announced that they're publishing his poetry book, "long love poem with descriptive title" in september. stop drinking smoothies matthew savoca! your book is flying around in the world! matthew has 20 other manuscripts that are equally as brilliant, although his novel "arthur" is my favorite.

today i read "the stem of it," which is a collaboration between matthew and olivier bherer-vidal, and it was great. olivier did illustrations and matthew "translated" from the french, although he doesn't speak french, so...you see. i also read 49 days of Finland and also liked it. the drawings are really great.

PLUS ALSO TOO

sarah eaton's book tough skin was recently released by blaze vox. i love this book. i have a lot to say about it, so it will get its own post in the future.

IN CONCLUSION

i am a vegetarian now. i want to be vegan soon. i have to stop drinking diet coke. people are always trying to get me to drink smoothies but i won't do it.

i'm reading for orange alert at the whistler on march 21st. if you're in town, come over!

i'm pretty sure i won't be able to go to awp this year. it's sad. my laptop was stolen.

email auto-fill mishap

2010-03-01T18:22:00.002-06:00

just realized i accidentally sent an email that said "mmm...bacon jam" to the wrong person.

unsolicited blurb

2010-02-28T22:11:00.000-06:00

matthew mahaney wrote a blurb for 'i am in the air right now,' of his own volition. thank you matthew.

if a 'second edition' of 'i am in the air right now' were to come out, i would use this blurb. i think this is the first blurb anyone has ever blurbed me. it's pretty smart to write a blurb without being asked. if i started blurbing everyone i think i could be a famous poet despite my poems. but like everything, this requires effort and i am so sleepy.

i went to cincinnati this weekend. that's a good town. i just got off the bus from being on it for six hours. it has affected me adversely. things are blurry. here's the blurb:

"If this collection of poems were a person it would be the kind of attractive and intriguing person you might notice browsing in your local bookstore, or while standing in line to order a skim latte at your favorite coffee shop. Seeing them would make you wonder why you’ve never seen this person before, and you’d debate talking to them in case you never see them again. In the end, you would post a Missed Connection for them on Craigslist, and if you were very lucky, you would receive a reply that was, like Regina’s poems, filled with the strange meditations of a dedicated hot air balloonist, including musings on bears, Native Americans, boys named Pedro, puppets, and pollution."

i like laura plansker and her tiny dioramas

2010-02-25T12:07:00.003-06:00

laura plansker

orange alert interview

2010-01-28T12:22:00.006-06:00

i have a short interview up at what to wear during an orange alert and am very excited to be reading for them at the whistler in april. thanks jason!

their readings are always great. the next one is in collaboration with monkeybicycle on february 20th, starring tim jones-yelvington, brandon will, amanda marbais, charlie nadler and michael czyzniejewski. it'll be a good'n.

zoran rosko vacuum player and ander monson

2010-01-25T14:19:00.003-06:00

i like zoran rosko's blog. from what i can tell it's almost all blurbs and excerpts of books that he likes. he picks good books. it's basically like browsing at a bookstore but zoran is your personal shopper.

also, ander monson has a cool website. you probably already knew that. i showed the diagram website to our designers at work to try to convince them that black and red fonts on a website can actually look good. i don't think they were impressed.

great lakes great times reading series

2010-01-17T15:07:00.002-06:00

i'm excited to be part of this new series created by elizabeth ellen. it's in ann arbor, but the lineup for the year is so good that it's worth traveling!

January 23rd, 2010 | 7pm

Brian Evenson, Joanna Howard & Blake Butler

February 27th, 2010 | 7pm

Blake Nelson, Kevin Sampsell & Chelsea Martin

March 20th, 2010 | 7pm

Dan Chaon, Laura van den Berg & Robert Lopez

April 24th, 2010 | 7pm

Deb Olin Unferth, Jeff Parker & Kendra Grant Malone

May 22nd, 2010 | 7pm

Ander Monson, Kathryn Regina & Matt Bell

September 2010 | 7pm

Tao Lin, Mike Young & Rachel B. Glaser

October 2010 | 7pm

Donald Ray Pollock, Kim Chinquee, Barry Graham & Scott McClanahan

2010-01-04T15:02:00.005-06:00

there is no one like adam robinson, there is nothing like this book

2009-12-16T11:23:00.006-06:00

awesome poem

awesome video

pre-order here

2009-12-11T12:16:00.000-06:00

i like

2009-12-07T23:37:00.001-06:00

jason

bredle

i can't breathe without my helmet

2009-12-01T21:34:00.004-06:00

i don’t understand space
in terms of, where things are located,
in relation to each other, i am so alone,

there is space around me, unending.

the moon has me in orbit. i haven’t seen a man,
or an animal, i have seen space,
i haven’t seen a baby, i have looked down,

and seen myself, i know i am here for now.

i wish that if i turned around i would see a person.
that person would know me and we would go
through space together.

i don’t understand gravity
how the moon pulls me, around itself,
how i am alone, being pulled forward,

my arms out in front of me, a wall of darkness in front of me.

i don’t get letters in space. in this way, i can’t know for sure
if i am really alone, i am alone right now,
but that’s not what i mean.

i've got a good grandma

2009-12-01T11:29:00.002-06:00

i had a really good thanksgiving, mostly because i have a grandma who is awesome. also, my mom is pretty great. and friends, i have friends! i love you indiana.

also--aunts, uncles, cousins. really good.

the fight

2009-11-24T00:14:00.003-06:00

today at the bus stop a man threatened the sidewalk. he lunged forward and threw his arms in front of him and said "what, punk?" i walked to the other side of the bus shelter and he followed me, continuing to threaten the sidewalk. he shouted names of high schools at the sidewalk like this: "kelvyn park, jefferson, mckinley" (etc.). i got on the bus and so did he. he shouted names of highschools from the back of the bus, along with his favorite foods, and swear words. when the bus driver told him to be quiet he smiled and made threatening gestures at his own reflection in the window.

the secret

2009-11-17T23:32:00.004-06:00

when should i tell him that i’m only slightly human?
i tried sending him a photograph but he mistook me for a shed.

i walk around, feeling human.

maybe more miserable than most--cars are always trying to hit me.
is there a human under that pile? certainly not!

but look, i have arms. i am like a human that has arms.
i am like a human that has arms but with a face torn off by a dog

and buried under a pile of dirty laundry and litter.
but look, my heart beats outside my chest, it beats like a heart.

i have tried taking out my eyes to examine them and failed.
i have been a quiet ball of hair and teeth since before birth, i was born.

has there been a human born with no bones, or with a shovel for a face?

i am this human.

like a human i have memory and blankness.

when there is enough light in my eye i sleep and in my sleep
i am only slightly human and i give up.

postcards from new life

2009-11-16T12:15:00.002-06:00

bestie megan martin has writings and speakings up at word riot. look at it, she's cool.

here's my favorite postcard:

After Many Seasons at the Asylum, She Climbed Into the Arms of The Universe

This is the last you will hear of my adventures in this new world, dear. As I write I am climbing into the blossomy tree in the courtyard, against the Good Doctor’s instructions. The Good Doctor is calling:come down this instant but I am climbing higher, leaping branch to branch, breaking more teeth than I have. I dangle! I perch! I feed myself bloated on the plumpest leaves, blackest berries, most delicate petals, paperskin stained with fruitblood. I scrape back bark from limb, branch, twig, with barehanded grace. Sunbleached words dry and curl, flake underpen like snow as seasons change around me (did I mention it is the tallest tree known to woman?), but I shall continue until I’ve whittled myself back to earth. Once my nails have unbloodied and resurrected themselves, once these sentences have turned to soil, I will finally understand: I am here.

matthew savoca does not know who arrested development is, what?

2009-11-02T14:35:00.002-06:00

what are people being for halloween?

2009-10-30T10:20:00.004-05:00

please don't say balloon boy. i'm going to go as blogger. i would really like it if you would tell me what you are going to be in the comments section of this post. omg, also, send me pictures at kcregina@gmail.com and i'll do a halloween post on monday!

if you're not dressing up, just make things up and send me stolen images that you find in the street.

it would be cool if people went as their moms. maybe i'll go as my mom.

okay. happy halloween!

more important stacey levine news

2009-10-20T19:08:00.005-05:00

a bootleg of stacey's new book the girl with brown fur is out now from publication studio. they're making it available at stacey's request until the publisher is able to print and fulfill orders. i've started reading this book and it's amazing. it's totally worth the 20 dollars. also, bootlegs are cool.

missed review, foiled by google

2009-10-16T16:08:00.005-05:00

ryan manning wrote an excellent review of "i am in the air right now" back in august and i missed it somehow. google alerts, you have failed me.

my favorite part is the part about meeting my book as a female human at the post office and thinking about the impossibility of achieving domestic status with it/her. i think about the impossibility of achieving domestic status ALL THE TIME.

thank you ryan. you are great at writing reviews.

i got things to say

2009-10-13T10:44:00.006-05:00

1. wunderkammer is taking over the internet. so far chris killen, megan martin, della watson, matthew savoca, gene morgan and sarah eaton have captured the hearts of the world. today's writers are going to be real, real good. check it out.

2. i had lots of fun at blake butler's book release party last night for scorch atlas. blake is sweet and nice and has the most original dance techniques that exist. sam pink was really funny. he is great at reading. he kind of sounds like jay from jay and silent bob, only a smarter, funnier, less dirty version. i mean this as a good thing. zach dodson of featherproof is very nice and has a good mustache. and amelia gray was great as well. i met a lot of nice people whose full names i don't know so it would be stupid to list them, but thank you nice people for being so nice.

3. i'm reading tonight at the hideout at 6pm for the release of requited. if you're around, come over

4. blake, amelia, zach and others are reading again tonight at quickies. if you don't go to the hideout, go to quickies. i met the ladies that run that reading series last night, and they are cool. you probably want to meet them.

*update* the requited reading was fun, lots of great readers. the submission deadline for the winter issue of requited is november 15th.

wunderkammer kid week

2009-10-09T12:14:00.006-05:00

i curated a two-week theme for wunderkammer featuring childhood photos and responses from 28 writers! we're starting out today with chris killen and megan martin. there will be two posts a day for the next two weeks.

upcoming writers include adam robinson, kendra grant malone, matthew savoca, j.a. tyler, justin rands, olivia cronk, sasha fletcher, melissa walker, amanda marbais, h.v. crammond, della watson, evelyn hampton, erin teegarden, catherine maskell, martin wall, gene morgan, sean lovelace, sarah eaton, john wright, jamie gaughran-perez, christopher higgs, andrea rexilius, bianca stone, paula gilovich and sam pink. check it out.

scorch atlas book release

2009-10-09T10:54:00.003-05:00

hey, i'm reading at blake butler's book release party this monday with blake, amelia gray and sam pink. the reading is at no coast collective in chicago. all of the information can be found on this expertly designed flyer. come see us!

guess who's a bad azz

2009-10-05T16:52:00.000-05:00

my friend, eliot reed

micro-sculptures by willard wegan

2009-09-28T12:24:00.005-05:00

i'm going to see this show sometime this week. willard weegan makes sculptures so tiny they can only be viewed under a microscope. his sculptures fit inside the eye of a needle or on the head of a pin. in order to make them he has to slow down his heartbeat in a meditative state and sculpt in-between pulses.

what in the world.

my grandpa

2009-09-13T16:13:00.015-05:00

my grandpa, edward estes, was born on sept 6, 1923 in kentucky. he died this morning. he was married to my grandma for 62 years. he was my favorite storyteller and photographer. here are some of his pictures. he will be very missed.

gustaf 3

2009-09-09T09:13:00.003-05:00

i just ordered a copy of gustaf 3. gustaf is a journal that should never die. if you had it in your hands right now you would know how cool it is. you can get issue 3 by paypaling 12 dollars to gustafmag@gmail.com. it costs 10 dollars to ship the magazine from norway, so audun is only "charging" two dollars. that is crazy. gustaf!

sometimes when on fire II

2009-09-01T11:25:00.001-05:00

sometimes when on fire i think

“i have water, i am water, what is water”

sometimes when asleep i think

“i have been here before, where.”

i know i am living life in triplicate.

there are burglars and tornadoes and other

recurring characters. there is a man playing terror.

when a fire sweeps the house i think

“he will save us, he is dead, this is why he can.”

i reach for a hand towel but instead use my own wedding gown

to douse the flames. someone is standing in the doorway, on fire,

i think “what house is this.”

omg another book

2009-08-26T13:53:00.003-05:00

i just pre-ordered heather christle's upcoming book the difficult farm. heather is probably my favorite "emerging" writer right now. what is happening in book heaven, all of its angels are coming to earth. i don't know, i've had a lot of coffee.

have you already read this?

2009-08-26T13:24:00.000-05:00

it is funny. most of the people i know on the internet.

important stacey levine news, listen

2009-08-24T10:58:00.005-05:00

a tiny number of copies of the girl with brown fur are now available at powells. the publish date on this book has been pushed back so many times, and now only like 30 copies are available for some reason, but i ordered mine and it's actually coming!

also, robert lopez's new book kamby bolongo mean river is due out september 15th!

a happier time for books may never come again

i like

2009-08-18T22:24:00.002-05:00

sasha
fletcher

2009-08-09T22:23:00.001-05:00

obama art week at wunderkammer

2009-07-26T21:47:00.004-05:00

copies of i am in the air right now are now at quimby's bookstore. if you live in chicago you can go there and read it and then look at comics because they have a lot. today i bought black hole by charles burns. if you have chapbooks or zines or comics and want to sell them on consignment to quimby's, you can do it here.

also, i have an interview at gustaf. a lot of those interviews are funny.

do non-chicago people know about the printer's ball? it's next friday. i think it's going to be pretty good. you should come over if you can.

i went to the wicker park fest today. i mainly go to street festivals to see all the dogs and children. there were a lot of dogs out today, it was great.

a poem for megan martin

2009-07-25T22:51:00.001-05:00

A Supermarket In California - Allen Ginsberg

what i've been doing

2009-07-15T09:56:00.013-05:00

1. trying to think of a theme to curate a week on della watson's wunderkammer. right now i am thinking about asking writers for pictures of them as children in little league or dance/gymnastics. doesn't almost everyone have a picture like this? don't you wish there were pictures of an 8 year old allen ginsberg in his softball uniform? i am thinking of the next generation. writers: would you send me a picture like this?

2. learning "swagcab" (that means slang) from my students. so far i've learned, "put him on blast," "fake decent," "tagged" and "pop." email me for definitions and to see these words used in a sentence.

3. reading poems on the poetry foundation's 'poetry tool'

4. thinking about how awesome heather christle is. look look look look

5. watching season one of the boondocks on dvd

6. growing out my hair. looking for bobby pins. no matter how many i buy, i can never find one. it is the same with chapstick and batteries.

7. listening to the letting go by bonnie billy

8. traveling around the midwest to places like indiana and iowa

9. writing down stories that my grandpa tells me. they are all pretty great. email me if you want to hear the one about the little ant, the big ant and the cracker crumb.

10. sitting outside in the warm and feeling ok

**update**

i've received the first childhood little league/dance/gymnastics photo from andrea rexilius, a tiny ballerina. andrea is the author of the chapbook to be human is to be a conversation and editor of parcel. you can see her work here here and here.

writers, send me your pictures! here, i will start:

2009-07-13T22:29:00.002-05:00

strange things have been happening to me because of B complex vitamins. i feel uncharacteristically positive. i feel so positive that i twitch at night, smiling instead of sleeping. i am looking for apartments and i feel certain that i will find the perfect place for the perfect price and my future will be wonderful. what is happening.

2009-06-29T12:50:00.002-05:00

2009-06-26T11:30:00.000-05:00

ryan manning made a video with my weird embarrassing voice. thank you ryan.

books i read this week and i liked them

2009-06-26T10:28:00.019-05:00

stacey levine

2009-06-15T19:13:00.000-05:00

has a blog now! the internet is so happy about it...

bonnie billy i will see you

2009-06-10T16:20:00.008-05:00

i'm going to see will oldham on friday in columbus, ohio, hurray.

the arrival

2009-06-06T22:26:00.012-05:00

i went to the printer's row book fair today with megan and got the arrival by shaun tan. art spiegelman blurbed it, saying that it's a "wordless story that uses the language of silent cinema and the picture-story traditions that predate comic books," and that this "masterfully rendered tale about the immigrant experience is a documentary magically told by way of Surrealism." i really love this book. i like that tan created "anonymous" cultures and that a lot of the images in the story don't necessarily "stand" for something, but instead give the emotion of something. tan says this:

"I am rarely interested in symbolic meanings, where one thing ‘stands for’ something else, because this dissolves the power of fiction to be reinterpreted. I’m more attracted to a kind of intuitive resonance or poetry we can enjoy when looking at pictures, and ‘understanding’ what we see without necessarily being able to articulate it. One key character in my story is a creature that looks something like a walking tadpole, as big as a cat and intent on forming an uninvited friendship with the main protagonist. I have my own impressions as to what this is about, again something to do with learning about acceptance and belonging, but I would have a lot of trouble trying to express this fully in words. It seems to make much more sense as a series of silent pencil drawings."

you can see more pictures here.

THIS IS NOT POETRY

MOROCCO

friday

wednesday

monday

friday

thursday

tuesday

monday

saturday

EVERYONE IS A WIZARD EXCEPT YOU

my favorite thing that i saw on the internet today

my favorite thing that i saw on the internet today

"delirious"--new animation by greg lytle, poem by ryan manning

name this artist

poetic review of 'keeping up with the kardashians' season 5

potential light catastrophe

today is 1.11.11

"hey mom...guess who's going to JAIL"

snowy

the secret

sexiest ghost alive

i am a cinematographer

another'n

some matthew poems

my friend matthew has good hair, poems

bus stop conversation

look at these dark pictures

works of genius by d.j. HeckRight

pretty funny

improvements

come gently stalk janice-katie with us

haiku with harpy by bianca stone

7 unsuccessful haikus by chris killen

an all haiku isreads

weird chicago #3

i went to san francisco, i took 6 pictures

my new co-workers

another beautiful sentence

i like christopher newgent

i like samuel barber

i like jorin bossen

press for the moby awards and the Injury

great times weekend

MobyLives chapbook trailer nomination

great lakes great times reading this saturday

i have been reading emily dickinson's master letters, here are some of my favorite parts

weird chicago #2

scott mcclanahan is a southern, let him tell you something.

isReads 6 is now up!

weird chicago #1

i'm reading this book again

i didn't go to awp

awesome lady in a cowboy shirt talks about being autistic

omg, gut brain theory

i like albert schweitzer

i am a vegetarian now and other things

email auto-fill mishap

unsolicited blurb

i like laura plansker and her tiny dioramas

orange alert interview

zoran rosko vacuum player and ander monson

great lakes great times reading series

advertisement

there is no one like adam robinson, there is nothing like this book

i like

i can't breathe without my helmet

i've got a good grandma

the fight

the secret

postcards from new life

matthew savoca does not know who arrested development is, what?

what are people being for halloween?

more important stacey levine news

missed review, foiled by google

i got things to say

wunderkammer kid week

scorch atlas book release

guess who's a bad azz

micro-sculptures by willard wegan