Because I am a soulless self-promoting egomaniac: some poems at mustachioedandMipoesias. Both with pictures of monsters.

Back from the excellent Simonds/Olin reading to hear that Kari Edwards died this weekend. Terrible news; sleep well, Kari.

LOOK AT THE DOG WITH THE BEAN! He is happy!

Courtesy of LOOK AT THE FRIED EGGS! thisismycomputerblog.blogspot.com.

I always wondered why conventional astrology did not address the goose on my head.

Geb Engaging personality, sensitive, modest, occasionally narcissistic, but can rise above vanity. Colors: male: violet, female: rose Compatible Signs:Set, Horus Dates: Feb 12 - Feb 29, Aug 20 - Aug 31 Role: God of the earth Appearance: Green-skinned man, with leaves all over his body and a goose on his head. Sometimes he was shown laying on his side under his wife, the sky goddess Nut. Sacred animals: goose What is Your Egyptian Zodiac Sign? Designed by CyberWarlock of Warlock's Quizzles and Quandaries

Hey folks,

If you are around Brooklyn on November 17th, please come to the Burning Chair Reading Series in Brooklyn to hear me read from my new chapbook Traceland from Transmission Press; also come hear Julia Cohen and Africa Wayne.

BURNING CHAIR READING SERIES:

Julia Cohen, Mark Lamoureux, & Africa Wayne

The Fall Cafe
307 Smith Street
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Friday November 17, 7:30 PM
FREE

The subject came up again years later, this time in the context of another poet's response to my poems. She wanted to know why they couldn't be considered to be arbitrary arrangements of unrelated lines. This time I used a scientific analogy in my defense. I stated that like a chaotic system that appears random but that in reality is deterministic, obeying known or knowable laws, a poem might appear to be put together randomly and yet be--let's say--the (verbal) residue of a process that obeys laws, whether or not those laws are known to the poet.

Some Thoughts

Some things that my poetry isn't that nobody would say it is:

Minimalist
Funny
Quotidian
"Accessible"
Pastoral
Vernacular

Some things that my poetry isn't that people have said that it is:

Postmodern
Pretentious
L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poetry
Gibberish
Flarf

Some things that my poetry is that nobody would say it is:

Basically modernist
Devotional
The result of possession by daemons
Sincere
Simple

Some things that my poetry is that people have said that it is:

Neo-classical
Sometimes influenced by Robert Duncan
Sometimes metaphysical
Sometimes concerned exclusively with surface
Rhetorical
The distress signal of a diseased mind
Angry
Political
Polemic
Synesthetic
Prone to frequent misspellings

So I came up with the idea that Rachel and I were going to be Modernism and Postmodernism for Halloween. Postmodernism is easy, but nobody seems to agree on what Modernism's costume would be (I said an army hat, a stethescope, a copy of Freud's Interpretation of Dreams would do it, but Rachel disagrees.) So how would *you* dress up as Modernism for Halloween?

Also, went to see The Grudge 2 yesterday, which was a thoroughly forgettable horror film; except for one line that I found to be *hillarious*:

"I have a friend who's really into Folklore, maybe he can help us."

Not sure why I find that so funny, also funny was the fact that said friend was this dishevelled chain-smoking guy with lots of books (the source of the humor probably being that I am into folklore and was once a chain-smoking guy with lots of books, e.g. I quit smoking but I still have lots of books...)

More importantly, in the previews before the film was the preview for the Ghost Rider film starring Nicholas Cage. Over the summer my friend Jon from grammar school told me they were making a Ghost Rider film starring Nicholas Cage and I said "No way, that has to be some kind of urban myth." But I stand corrected and I CAN'T WAIT!

Rachel is away at an archivists' conference, and obviously I miss her. That said, I used the opportunity this evening to indulge in foods that I wouldn't ordinarily make for the two of us because one of us (e.g. Rachel) would not be interested in it. I made Lapsang Souchong Chicken Breast, Brussels Sprouts with Peppers and Sesame Seeds and Black Rice with Roasted Shallots and Walnuts and 7-UP Poundcake for desert. I guess the theme of the dinner is "stuff that tastes funny that you either love or hate, except for the poundacke which is an apalling brick of cholesterol and, well, soda. Everything was delicious except for the Yellowtail Rielsing (bad call on my part, but the liquor store around the corner didn't have Pacific Rim) which was eerily similar to the 7-UP I made the poundcake with... I would have taken a picture of it, but I couldn't find my camera!