Grandma’s Boy

Thanks to Carla who sent me this and creeped me the fuck out.

Haruki in Hyde Park After Turning One (7 in Dog Years)

Happy Birthday, Haruki

The Death of What?

Read this. Ted Genoways, editor of the VQR, one of the only journals I check out with regularity (making me guilty of much of what he describes in the essay), writes on the death of journals more than literature itself, despite the title of this piece. Though I find fault with some of this, the ending is tough to argue against:

"At the same time, young writers will have to swear off navel-gazing in favor of an outward glance onto a wrecked and lovely world worthy and in need of the attention of intelligent, sensitive writers. I'm not calling for more pundits—God knows we've got plenty. I'm saying that writers need to venture out from under the protective wing of academia, to put themselves and their work on the line. Stop being so damned dainty and polite. Treat writing like your lifeblood instead of your livelihood. And for Christ's sake, write something we might want to read."

Ciaran Carson

I read Breaking News on the train this morning. and was stunned. This is what you want during national poetry month.

Here, read this write up on the man himself.

“We’ve gone too far…”

Chad Post has had enough.

The Best News of the Day

http://www.webofmimicry.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=88

Continuing my tradition of being photographed in foreign bookshops (really, Cassandra’s tradition of photographing me), here are some shots of me in literary spots of upper Tunisia, baby! Oh, and one of me with a cow’s head. (R.I.P. Azrak.)

Old Man Speaks

I grow old, I grow old… I know nothing about the indie rock.

But:

I will admit that this song stays in my head pretty much all day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro95Ns58qSE

Better than Lady Gaga being in there, which, sadly, is all too often the case.

Metal: the Equalizer

Noah Berlatsky, usually my least favorite writer for The Reader, penned a good article published this week about the true cultural force of equality for women: the Metal. Read all about it here.

So all you Riot Grrrls and Lilith Fair folkies: shed your Birkenstocks and lose the long dead punk jive and go black metal, baby!