Monthly Archive for June, 2011

VISITORS

Published on June 28, 2011 in Mary Hamilton, road trip soundtrack and Zach Dodson. 3 Comments

Friends Mary and Zach came to town for a few days of fun. Mary is moving to LA and needed a place to put her cats up. We ate breakfast tacos and scones and Mary held my hand and repaired my glasses. I made them each a smoothie with bananas and guava and crushed nilla wafers for their trip out of town.

patron saint of burritos

I’ve been feeling a bit down lately. Today I ran on a treadmill while watching a television show featuring a bear in a cage. I watched the bear walking back and forth in its cage and thought to myself, Does that bear shit in the woods? (By “lately” I mean “for the past seventeen years.”) Oh, but then I found a nice blog and it cheered me. I’m gonna turn slacks into shorts in her honor.

Soon, I’ll take a trip to Albuquerque with my girl Lesley. She just texted to say that the DQ has mini-size now so we can do cool treats on the hour. Things are looking up.

HOT CITY

Published on June 23, 2011 in carson daly's beautiful blue eyes and Museum of the Weird. 4 Comments

My house is quiet but for the farts of a cat.

Good readings happened in Portland and Seattle, including a good new find in the poetry of Portland poet James Gendron. You used to could buy his book at Poor Claudia but it’s sold out. Maybe it will come back sometime. In Seattle, Matthew Simmons and I had a tweet-off and everybody lost.

Thanks to Matty and Carrie at Smalldoggies and the folks at SPLAB in Seattle for the hospitality.

Supposedly there’s a Studio 360 piece floating around out there about the idea of narrative medicine, where aspiring doctors read fiction in order to achieve some aim, maybe empathy, and apparently some class is teaching my story “Babies” to this end. I am tickled by this and would love more information if anyone out there has some.

There’s a very kind review of Museum of the Weird up at BookPeople’s blog. The review aims not only to look closely at the book but to contextualize it with other pieces of experimental fiction and to define the genre itself. If you were looking for a reason to support local bookstores, perhaps their care and attention to the books could suffice. I’m reading at BookPeople on Friday at 7pm with Dan Boehl.

Texas tip: have you ever had frito chili pie? Check it out.

PORTLAND/SEATTLE

Published on June 17, 2011 in Angeline Gragasin and Readings. 5 Comments

Real quick: I’m reading in Seattle on Monday (June 20) with Matthew Simmons. More info here.

I’m in Portland now, enjoying the community feeling. I saw a screening of My Heart is an Idiot at the Crow Arts Manor, complete with workshops, readings, gallery space and a library. It looks like a great spot to book readings and screenings.

Check out my friend Angeline’s kickstarter, funding what looks like a gorgeous project.

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