I issued a challenge earlier in the week for writers to write a poem or short story about or set in the summertime, without using a list of certain words. That was kind of a big risk because I have almost no readership and having no responses would make me look sillier than I already … Your Writing Is Terrible: Summer Poetry Finished
With the summer months upon the northern hemisphere, some fiction writers and bloggers will attend to the most favored of all seasons (except if you’re already somewhere hot…then it’s just annoying). Unfortunately, because of the common vocabulary bank tied to the summer experience, after a few dozen stories the flow and bounce of words will … Your Writing Is Terrible: Summer Poetry
I got a new bike over Memorial Day weekend: a steel frame Trek 520. It’s actually very old, but it’s new to me — and it’s my first road bike. I was using a mountain bike heft to my bus stop, which was certainly workable but not ideal in suburban/urban terrain. It was also a … Memorial Day 2010 Bike Ride
I was pretty excited to read this as it comes recommended by a lot of proponents of the Austrian school of economics. Despite knowing about Henry Hazlitt’s Economics In One Lesson, I didn’t know much of the content. I believe the title is misleading, because the lesson is actually just one sentence long. Hazlitt humorously … Book Review: Economics In One Lesson
One of my favorite philosophical paradoxes is the Ship of Theseus. If I have a ship and I gradually replace the parts of the ship as they break or suffer from wear and tear, it’s possible that eventually I will have a ship with none of the original parts. The real ship of Theseus — … Paradox in Character Development
I hadn’t heard of O’Connors Wise Blood until it mysteriously materialized in my to-read list. This might not be remarkable except for the fact that the mid-century book is highly rated both critically and general readership-wise. Maybe my cultural connection to the literary world and its history is still in question. The story follows Hazel … Book Review: Wise Blood
You can buy a print of Eve’s Geometry, signed by me, on the store page. If I’m feeling adventurous while I pack it you might even get something extra with it — though I promise it won’t be a pig’s heart with a nail through it. Those are expensive to procure and that kind of … Throw Your Dirty Money At the Internet’s Face
I recently won a drawing for a handmade cross by writer Mike Duran at deCOMPOSE, and it came in the mail a few days ago. It’s called “Moon”, and I’m kind of glad that there’s two different moons on there. Look carefully, one of them is implied — so implied that I don’t think Mike … Something Something Clever Cross/Mail Pun
Most people know of Nabokov from Lolita, a book bearing a title now synonymous with guileless jailbaiting teenage girls. Pale Fire was published after Lolita and hasn’t enjoyed its household word status, probably because it’s significantly more difficult to read and far less prurient. If you can successfully wade through his complicated narrative and strange … Book Review: Pale Fire
Saturday and Sunday were pretty busy for me, as it was Art All Night in Pittsburgh. I checked my “art” in (I goofed the process up a few times. Apparently I can’t follow simple written directions…) with Marcia and her husband Travis, came back to my place for some food, then hit up the actual … Art All Night All Done
I registered to be a part of Art All Night in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh. I won’t go into details about what it is, but basically anyone can submit a piece of art for it. I don’t qualify as a real artist but I am passable at graphic design — I’ll be submitting a … Art All Night, Falling Out My Pants
Her Fearful Symmetry is the followup to unfortunately-surnamed Niffennegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife (which, I have been told, is slightly more enjoyable and popular). The story revolves around twin sisters, Julia and Valentina, who inherit a flat in London, from a recently-deceased aunt’s. It’s located directly adjacent to the large, historic Highgate Cemetery, where their … Book Review: Her Fearful Symmetry
The Devil Wears Prada recently released the video for ‘Assistant to the Regional Manager’. I covered the video shoot for Noisecreep, so it was nice to see the finished product emerge. I only witnessed a fraction of the gruntwork, organization, and creativity that went into it, but I know that the entire videographic process is … The Devil’s Assistant
Tiffany Cooper, a good friend of mine and one half of the Hot Metal Studio duo, recently let loose with a blog post containing photos of the interview I did with Iwrestledabearonce and their set at Diesel in Pittsburgh’s South Side. I’m not super into photos of myself but she did a great job. One … Iinterviewedabearonce
I have a recent post over at Noisecreep on a video of a death metal version of Louis Armstrong’s “What A Wonderful World”. It’s probably one of the only pop standards I really like, especially the elegance of the lyrics (“elegance” in the sense but “brief but meaningful”). My favorite line is the “dark, sacred … Louis Armstrong Goes Death Metal
Come and see the place where he lay. -Matthew 28:6 I thought about writing another scripture-based story, like how I did with A Native’s Story, but the idea came to me about ten minutes ago and it’s already Easter. Maybe next year, if someone cares enough to remind me. EDIT on 4/5: My conscience/muse has … He Is Not Here
I’m interviewing Iwrestledabearonce tonight. Their new album is called It’s All Happening, and their vocalist may become a focus of furries if they get big enough. Do they know the convention is in Pittsburgh? Time is in front of my face and burning up quick. The ashes are getting in my eyes.
Dr. Alaniz’ Beyond Future Shock is a triple combo romance-sci-fi-war novel that takes place over the span of a few millennia, though most of it is in the 20th and 21st centuries. The amount of quality reading material is cut about 50-50 with some drek that required an editor’s literary filtering to make a less … Book Review: Beyond Future Shock
Head on over to Noisecreep to read the second post from my interview with Cory Brandan from Norma Jean, about his graphic design work. We met in a venue’s smoky side room with an unused bar. There was a flossing pick on the couch on which we sat. Not sure if it was also unused; … Norma Jean Interview, Part 2
It’s a boy. It was born with a switchblade in one hand, and in the other hand a slip of paper with your name and address on it.