tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52177852011-04-28T23:03:53.276-05:00HorsmanistanNot on the map, not in the atlas.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.comBlogger961100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1122083147537470812005-07-22T20:44:00.000-05:002005-07-22T20:45:47.543-05:00Dear Aldred, It smells like all of your blood in here. Love, MercuryRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1121138159031828642005-07-11T22:01:00.000-05:002005-07-11T22:15:59.036-05:00And on that day was heard the holy silence of not god.(Aldred pounds a rail spike into the floor of the warehouse.)And everyone was amazed.(Aldred ties one end of an enormous spool of heavy green twine around the protruding head of the spike.)The silence was the most unquestionably sacred thing they had ever encountered.(Aldred sticks the length of broom handle through the spool and grasps an Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1120705143688889622005-07-06T21:59:00.000-05:002005-07-06T21:59:03.693-05:00Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1115134839624514252005-05-03T10:04:00.000-05:002005-05-03T10:41:57.113-05:00Another FragmentAldred is standing stock still, facing straight forward, his eyes locked on the horizon, his arms loose at his sides. Slowly he turns his right arm at the elbow. His right palm begins to gradually face out, sliver by sliver, like stop motion film of a month's worth of moons.When the palm is fully turned out, Aldred swivels his eyes down and away from the horizon, while his head Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1114706030639005212005-04-28T11:31:00.000-05:002005-04-28T11:33:50.643-05:00These are my ABCs A is for a.wholelottanothing.org - I am Matt Haughey's bitch, apparently.B is for basichip.com - Digital oddio: currently featuring MP3s of old kids' records!C is for chase.com/ - Almost debt free. Sort of. Kind of. For some values of "free" and "debt".D is for defamer.com - Only because it's Bunsen, I swear.E is for e19.email.excite.com/ - Excite webmail. I just know some Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1113928569650148652005-04-19T11:33:00.000-05:002005-04-19T12:53:53.736-05:00I just got an e-mail from someone claiming to be Saul Rosenbaum of Rosenbaum and Sons- "Official Haberdasher to the Vatican"- wanting to know what size mitre I take. What's going on?Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1113846837862079972005-04-18T12:53:00.000-05:002005-04-18T12:53:57.863-05:00Also, Primal Purge is back after a 6+ month hiatus.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1113845948574358252005-04-18T12:29:00.000-05:002005-04-18T12:39:58.946-05:00We added blackout panels to our bedroom curtains this weekend. Good heavens, what a difference! Of course the really interesting part is that in slightly over 24 hours I went from living with quite a lot of light pouring in from the parking lot outside our window, to being strongly irked by the tiny bit of light still coming in around the edges.("Irked" may be derived from the old Norse word Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1113589597954137882005-04-15T13:16:00.000-05:002005-04-15T13:26:37.956-05:00I just picked up a copy of George Saunders' Pastoralia, which has a cover quote from the reclusive Thomas Pynchon. Curious, I did a quick google search and turned up this bibliography of Pynchon that ends with a list of books he has provided blurbs for (scroll down to Endorsements). His is a recommendation that I'd take pretty seriously and there's a number of books and authors here that I've Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1113489691159244482005-04-14T09:26:00.000-05:002005-04-14T09:41:31.160-05:00I'm working my way through two good books: A Random Walk Down Wall Street, which is a very interesting book for a financial illiterate like myself; and John Crowley's Little, Big. The Crowley novel is just beautiful, and the weird thing is that even though it was originally published in 1981 it's only in the last year or so that I've become concious of all these glowing recommendations for it. Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1113404355672394082005-04-13T09:50:00.000-05:002005-04-13T11:17:27.026-05:00Oral GratificationI'll give you something to drink about; I'll give you a topic.A subject to build a grand addiction around,A frame to slap the bottles against, a viscous puddle to catch the shards,And thou beside me, dancing in the booze infused air.I'll give you something to smoke about; I'll give you a statement.You build a thesis up above like strips of papier mache:Pop the balloon, the Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1112986213080251432005-04-08T13:42:00.000-05:002005-04-08T13:50:13.080-05:00There's this weird thing happening with my voice, where I sound kind of adenoidal and stuffed up even though I'm breathing just fine.It's probably cancer.Shit.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1112798259746437302005-04-06T09:33:00.000-05:002005-04-06T09:38:59.626-05:00It's pledge time on NPR this week, so driving into work I had the radio completely turned off. I decided to play a game to see how long I could go without talking to myself in the silence. I also played another little game, wherein I only used the left lane for passing if at all possible.It's a pretty good trick, being able to bore yourself.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1112730591220115142005-04-05T14:45:00.000-05:002005-04-06T12:53:41.470-05:00I just cleaned out my work keyboard by dragging a straight pin in between the keys. Now, I understand the sandwich and chip crumbs and various bits of funky nastiness -hell, one of my first acts when I got this keyboard was to baptize it with a big glob of yellow split pea soup-, but I was staggered at the amount of cat hair. My home keyboard I can understand, but do I really have a steady Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1112622636374461562005-04-04T08:47:00.000-05:002005-04-04T08:50:36.376-05:00I still hate you, Daylight Savings Time, especially this year when everybody seems to be pointing out that, actually, the proper name is Daylight Saving Time. So besides having my sleep schedule thrown off, I was constantly mispronouncing the name of my enemy, like when the first George Bush kept going on about someone named "SAD-am".Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1112037618438059412005-03-28T14:18:00.000-05:002005-03-28T14:20:18.440-05:00I wrote a sestina. Unfortunately, I fucked up the end word order in the second stanza (beyond any other failings of the poem).What's a sestina?Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1111773545860147402005-03-25T11:38:00.000-05:002005-03-25T17:44:17.600-05:00Notes for "TIL THE WHEEL COMES OFF...", my latest mix for the MetaFilter swap:"Here is an apology..." This is from Alexei Sayle's Stuff, an oldish sketch show starring Mr. Balovski from The Young Ones. Always begin with an apology, it sets the proper tone.Piano Rag Music Igor Stravinsky: Stravinksy wrote this piece after someone explained to him what ragtime music was, but without having heard Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1109691167548874222005-03-01T10:27:00.000-05:002005-03-02T12:22:46.086-05:00I was sick yesterday, one of those intangible "something's not right, and only a down comforter and lots of One Piece can fix it"-type bugs. Around ten at night I was feeling much better, but then Erica said "Your eyes look really sunken, and you've got dark circles under them. Did you drink plenty of fluids? Are you dehydrated?"Well, this merited closer investigation. So I went to the bathroom Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1109398522204857642005-02-26T01:12:00.000-05:002005-02-26T01:15:22.206-05:00I've recently become quite a big fan of the Goon Show. Consequently this play about Spike Milligan looks quite interesting. Pity odds are I'll never get to see it.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1109341560536200292005-02-25T09:23:00.000-05:002005-02-25T09:26:00.536-05:00I wish it was possible to get and/or stay mad at a kitten. But it's just not.Four and a half hours of sleep. Yarg.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1109281140438299352005-02-24T16:33:00.000-05:002005-02-24T16:43:07.780-05:00Reading this BBC article on the Pope's new book, I was struck by one thought:Cardinal Ratzingerlooks a bit like Sir Les Patterson,doesn't he?Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1109260223131464612005-02-24T10:29:00.000-05:002005-02-24T11:26:52.736-05:00I'm giving up on Korzybski. The basic linguistic ideas behind General Semantics are very interesting, and I think there's a lot to the idea that our view of reality determines the foundations of how we talk about it, and that our view changes at a faster rate than the structure of the language (especially in the last 150 years or so). I also agree that this disparity can lead to some forms of Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1109192868735371042005-02-23T16:04:00.000-05:002005-02-23T16:59:08.266-05:00John Scalzi gets my creative juices flowing again today with this "let's mock Scalzi" contest. Here's my entry (OMW means Old Man's War, a novel that he somehow got published)...I'm going to pretend that many Whatever readers have written in, asking me how we decided on the page numbering system for OMW. I know many of you think that when you get to be a bigshot fancypants Published Novelist thatRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1109173142117114762005-02-23T10:28:00.000-05:002005-02-23T10:45:13.410-05:00"That all debunkers must add new boshes of their own to supply the vacua created by the annihilation of the old, is probably a law of nature." E. T. Bell The Principle of General RelativityKorzybski uses this as one of the many epigrams found at the beginning of each book of Science and Sanity. I'm not absolutely sure he took this very wise bit of advice to heart: the book continues to be Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1109085428092379442005-02-22T10:07:00.000-05:002005-02-22T10:17:39.416-05:00Reading Count Korzybski's Science and Sanity. Interesting so far, though there are some grandiose claims being made (General Semantics allows the comprehension of complex science in the careful student; a proper study of General Semantics will alter the reader not just mentally, but neurologically, etc.) that are lightly tapping my kook alarm.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1108910692957511062005-02-20T09:32:00.000-05:002005-02-20T09:44:52.960-05:00Just heard the tail end of a lovely piece callled Pange Lingua by a composer named Naji Hakim on one of my Live365 channels. Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1108650228857040942005-02-17T09:20:00.000-05:002005-02-17T09:25:07.213-05:00Getting out of bed this morning was an epic process full of questions that reverberate through the ages:Should I just call in sick?Do I need to clean the litterbox?Can I get way with not cleaning the litterbox despite that smell?Is any of that lovely gingerbread I made this weekend left? Will it make life worth living?Briefly: Almost, but no. Yes. No. Yes. Just barely.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1108133667746761792005-02-11T09:45:00.000-05:002005-02-11T09:54:27.746-05:00A full reading of Darwin's Black Box did not add anything to the various summaries of Intelligent Design theory I've read in the past. One thing that particularly rubbed me the wrong way was that Behe was fine with raising doubts against the various natural designers (aliens, time travelers) that could have created the "irreducibly complex" cell mechanisms that are the core of his argument, but Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1107966213580287402005-02-09T11:16:00.000-05:002005-02-09T11:23:33.580-05:00Jonathan Sefran Foer? More like Jonathan Sefran NO-SIR!
I was not a big fan of Everything is Illuminated. I don't think I'm going to be a big fan of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Unfortunately, there's a better than average chance that I'll be required to read a bit more than this excerpt for business reasons. Perhaps I should take Neal Pollack's example and not say anything at all.
Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1107882015550022412005-02-08T11:59:00.000-05:002005-02-08T12:00:15.550-05:00Also, I removed the "Political Blather" section of links because I don't wanna be part o' the problem no more.
Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1107878999804212912005-02-08T10:54:00.000-05:002005-02-08T11:09:59.806-05:00Finished Operators and Things a few days ago. This is a fascinating personal account of paranoid schizophrenia, and what really hit my spot was how the author handled the period of time when she was deep in a hallucinatory reality. Rather than framing her experiences as delusional, she captures them as reality for the bulk of the book, because as far as she was concerned at the time, they were Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1106109472930931332005-01-18T23:35:00.000-05:002005-01-18T23:37:52.930-05:00Insulting Names for People Who Like Scrabble
wordfuckers
centerstars
triplescorehomos
tilecunts
educated
Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1105795713139578992005-01-15T08:02:00.000-05:002005-01-15T08:32:45.903-05:00I've previously had no interest in Henry James, but I'm finding Colm Tóibín's novel The Master, a historical based on James' life, very enjoyable. Maybe I'll give James another chance, though as always I've got a huge backlog to work through, so who knows when that will happen.
Speaking of which, is it instructive to read Darwin's Black Box and The Blind Watchmaker one after the other, or shouldRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1105368808860748902005-01-10T09:51:00.000-05:002005-01-10T09:53:28.860-05:00Finally figured out how to change the overall font settings. This is all in Times New Roman now, I think. Lovely.
Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1104945321529264592005-01-05T13:12:00.000-05:002005-01-05T12:15:21.530-05:00I don't get to NYC anymore, because I live in Michigan and I'm very sedentary, but if I was to go there it would be for a new Richard Foreman play. Opens tomorrow.
Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1100383223415496802004-11-13T15:57:00.000-05:002004-11-13T20:22:42.750-05:00Liner notes for Kiss Me Between the Piccadilly Weepers, a mix cd I did as part of a swap among the members of the website MetaFilter:
1-CHRIS MORRIS WANTS TO KNOW...
A brief extract from Why Bother?, a collection of interviews between Chris Morris (one of my favorite living British comedians) and Peter Cook (one of my favorite dead ones). I thought it best to start things off with a probing Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1091469413530754362004-08-02T12:55:00.000-05:002004-08-02T12:56:53.530-05:00I finished Tristram Shandy!
I finished Tristram Shandy!
I finished Tristram Shandy!
I finished Tristram Shandy!
Look out, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, you're next. Bitch.
Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1091238462438572092004-07-30T20:44:00.000-05:002004-07-30T20:52:04.390-05:00Things I Have to Keep Learning Over and Over (#127,389)
I have never been angry and right at the same time.
Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1088523061420038602004-06-29T10:29:00.000-05:002004-06-29T10:31:01.420-05:00Everything is scanned in, but I have not had the guts to read any of it.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1087752727783016902004-06-20T12:27:00.000-05:002004-06-20T12:32:07.783-05:00Yesterday I hooked our rarely used scanner up to my computer and loaded up some OCR software. An OCR (Optical Character Recognition) program turns paper documents into electronic ones, with varying degrees of accuracy. Today I am scanning and converting some of my older writings, specifically some plays I wrote in college. Some time this week, when I work up the courage to read some of them, I Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1087417854659352032004-06-16T15:26:00.000-05:002004-06-16T15:30:54.660-05:00I am now a paid professional writer. I say this because I wrote a haiku about cheese for John Scalzi and he gave me a Gmail invite. Which is just like money. So I'm totally a professional writer now.
You say that doesn't count? I say stick it. And cram it. You're just jealous of my paid published writer status. It's rather sad of you, really.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1086366197812242152004-06-04T11:22:00.000-05:002004-06-04T11:24:24.240-05:00Speaking of stalking: Julie, if you come back, what's the status of this? Did a book materialize?
Why am I asking other people questions about their projects on my blog?Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1086362843981384312004-06-04T10:16:00.000-05:002004-06-04T10:43:11.253-05:00Actually getting a comment on this blog (from an old friend no less), reminded me of 1996, the other worst year ever of my life. Oh not really in either case: 2004 has been good, mostly, and the trials of 1996 are trivial with distance. 1996 was the year I graduated from college and learned that I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life, but that whatever it was probably had Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1086295597171543622004-06-03T15:44:00.000-05:002004-06-03T15:46:37.170-05:00The last three weeks were basically all about my dying and now dead cat. I have no wish to say anything more about them.
Except this:
I still don't believe in God or a human afterlife, but I believe in cat heaven.
And I will miss Rexella every day for the rest of my life.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1084197087870661992004-05-10T08:50:00.000-05:002004-05-10T08:51:33.853-05:00Apparently there's commenting available now? Yes? Anybody?
I don't understand why no one reads my irregularly updated blog that barely links to anybody else...Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1083342242136145132004-04-30T11:24:00.000-05:002004-04-30T11:28:38.793-05:00It is a beautiful lovely day outside, and I am stuck in my little cube. Meanwhile, at the Scalzi residence, kites are being flown.
Big dumb kite-flying jerks.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1081092622655155162004-04-04T10:30:00.000-05:002004-04-04T10:33:59.763-05:00I feel okay about daylight savings time this year, which is odd because I'm usually this guy:
"They are STEALING an hour from me-"
"-throwing off the cicadian -Arcadian - basmatian... the daily rhythm!"
"I always forget and then I'm an hour behind for like, A MONTH."
"-and by the time we get the hour back, I don't even want it anymore!"
"Swear to god, I'm moving to Indiana..."Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1081013519536867202004-04-03T12:31:00.000-05:002004-04-03T12:36:04.560-05:00Also: new template, and I've started actually adding links and stuff (much more to come). Yes, it looks like ass. Utility first; design at some (much) later date.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1081012126610733612004-04-03T12:08:00.000-05:002004-04-03T12:38:22.750-05:00Silly thing I poted elsewhere that I thought I'd throw up here as well. Imaginary movie review:
Gravity's Rainbow
Dir: Ron Howard
Script: Kevin J. Anderson
Cast: Tyrone Slothrop-Matt Damon, Roger Mexico-Ben Affleck, Pirate Prentice-Jim Carrey, Blicero-Donald Sutherland, Jessica Swanlake-Tara Reid, Pointsman-William Hurt, Katje Borgesius-Angelina Jolie, Teddy Bloat-Ricky Gervais, Tantivy Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1079817489302182462004-03-20T16:18:00.000-05:002004-03-20T16:21:27.140-05:00Spring arrived on schedule. It's almost uncanny actually: yesterday it was snowing. Today the weather is downright balmy. I feel peaceful in a way that would probably disappoint my younger self. The consistency and dependability: I love it, and have grown to hate chaos.
I'm 80 odd pages into Vivyane Loh's Breaking the Tongue. So far: beautifully written and engaging. I'm especially impressed byRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1078846610264904902004-03-09T10:36:00.000-05:002004-03-09T10:42:17.000-05:00Well, they found Spalding Gray's body in the East River. I was dreading the first warm weekend of the year, because according to the NYPD "that's when the bodies start showing up." And so I have to give up my fantasy of Spalding Gray turning up at a monastery or as a short order cook or anything other than a waterlogged suicide.
Years ago, I saw him walking down Nassau Street in Princeton, Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1078165997330280362004-03-01T13:33:00.000-05:002004-03-01T13:36:25.373-05:00My mood is so good today, it's a little eerie.
STAY OFF TH' MOOOOOOORRRRRRRS! DINNA GOWAN TH' MOOOOORRRRRRS!
But whistling a jaunty tune.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1077591167237722202004-02-23T21:52:00.000-05:002004-03-09T10:31:54.076-05:00David Denby's review of The Passion is quite interesting, placing the film in the context of other film adaptations of the life of christ. But while he remembers to invoke the stark beauty of Pasolini's Gospel of Matthew and the humanism of Scorsese's Last Temptation of Christ, I'm afraid I have to deduct points for neglecting the active and involved spirituality of Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter.
Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1075740940781771822004-02-02T11:55:00.000-05:002004-02-02T11:58:55.233-05:00Backwards. The word "backwards" keeps bubbling up into my mind, demanding to be put into sentences:
You are driving me backwards (yes, yes, like the Brian Eno song).
I'm falling backwards.
Sooo backward.
Back- and forwards, over and done: things fall apart, don't they?
And so on. It's quite annoying really. This is what happens when one refuses to write.
Backwards, backwards, backwards.
Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1075478735139664702004-01-30T11:05:00.000-05:002004-01-30T11:07:46.623-05:00Just now, I was walking down the hall behind a guy carrying an armload of gold lame and a boombox. The urge to follow him was nearly overpowering, but I'm a good worker, so I went back to my cube.
Where I will blog about it. Hmmmm.
(I may or may not be back.)Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1066138702274717222003-10-14T08:38:00.000-05:002003-10-14T08:40:20.343-05:00"Gee, that guy seems way too young to have a bald spot."
It could just be the heartbreak of trichtillomania. Actually, 90% of known sufferers are female, though it is admittedly easier for men to disguise.
You learn something new everyday.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1066077158262170772003-10-13T15:32:00.000-05:002003-10-13T15:35:27.583-05:00Gregg Easterbrook is nuttier than the waste receptacles in a eunuch factory:
"Disney's CEO, Michael Eisner, is Jewish; the chief of Miramax, Harvey Weinstein, is Jewish. Yes, there are plenty of Christian and other Hollywood executives who worship money above all else, promoting for profit the adulation of violence. Does that make it right for Jewish executives to worship money above all else, Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1065711809409215952003-10-09T10:03:00.000-05:002003-10-09T10:03:29.550-05:00Sinning and lying. Lying and sinning. Lying to stop people from sinning, but with a lie that might cause innocent people to die. Once again, I don't get Catholicism.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1065646428168494242003-10-08T15:53:00.000-05:002003-10-08T15:53:47.580-05:00City Folk
I've decided to hate city folk of all races and creeds. I think they're no good. I think they're up to something. I think they're after our women (expecially the women). I think they're lazy and smoke too much reefer. I think they should go back to where they came from.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1065451390790883912003-10-06T09:43:00.000-05:002003-10-06T09:43:10.376-05:00The recipients of the 2003 MacArthur Fellows (the so-called "Genius Grants") have been announced. This is my favorite prize that a person can receive, because it's basically $500,000 with no strings attached that you receive for doing something that one of the apparently hundreds of anonymous nominators found interesting. No applications are sought or accepted. Sculptors, blacksmiths, academics, Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1063979239220178822003-09-19T08:47:00.000-05:002003-09-19T08:47:18.760-05:00Yeah, I was over on Kazaa and I got a bunch of new albums. Then I swung by alt.binaries.totallystolen and downloaded a screen capture of Intolerable Cruelty. Later I'm gonna swing by Chinatown and see if I can't score some of those cheap anime DVDs from Hong Kong.
That's right, folks: it's international Talk Like a Pirate Day.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1063372740813034462003-09-12T08:19:00.000-05:002003-09-12T08:25:20.503-05:00Johnny and John
Johnny Cash and John Ritter died today. There was a little extra sadness when I saw this on a news site earlier. Because most news sources have been expecting Johnny Cash to die they had photos and obits and everything all ready to go. John Ritter: not so much. So I saw a few front pages like this:
JOHNNY CASH DEAD AT 71
Oh, hey John Ritter too!
It's swinging back to equal timeRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1063302047426325632003-09-11T12:40:00.000-05:002003-09-11T12:41:50.506-05:00Your search - "the japanese Edith Piaf" - did not match any documents.
Your search - "the German Edith Piaf" - did not match any documents.
Your search - "the Czech Edith Piaf" - did not match any documents.
Your search - "the Spanish Edith Piaf" - did not match any documents.
Your search - "the Portuguese Edith Piaf" - did not match any documents.
Your search - "the Swedish Edith Piaf" - didRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1063203997169414852003-09-10T09:26:00.000-05:002003-09-10T09:26:37.100-05:00He was da bomb. Edward Teller has died at age 95. Yes, the main reason I posted this was for the joke (which I'm sure someone else has already beaten me to).
Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1063044194823302012003-09-08T13:03:00.000-05:002003-09-08T13:04:24.403-05:00Worrying about odd things again. My nose was running just now and I didn't have any tissues. So I went to the bathroom and blew my nose on a bit of paper towel. Finished, I left, sporting a bright red nose and still sniffing a little. I mention to a co-worker that anybody who noticed probably thinks I'm a coke head. Of course, on my salary this would be absurd. My co-worker agrees, and suggests Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1061305063036515882003-08-19T09:57:00.000-05:002003-08-19T10:05:59.693-05:00Fragment 1
Aldred faces north, starts counting down from 1000 by twos.
Mercury is walking down Centre Avenue in search of hot soft pretzels.
Aldred sit down on the sidewalk, starts saying the alphabet backwards, gets Q and R reversed, starts over.
Mercury, successful in her quest, wipes mustard from the corner of her mouth, raises her arms for a big stretch and yawn, expertly dropping the used Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1060796401433545252003-08-13T12:40:00.000-05:002003-08-13T12:44:47.670-05:00So sue me.
A brief title change, at the suggestion of Mr. Neal Pollack.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1060632434055386862003-08-11T15:07:00.000-05:002003-08-11T15:08:14.066-05:00Air Displays
There's a small airport and an air museum near my neighborhood. This past weekend the latter hosted its annual air display. Unfamiliar silhouettes abounded in the sky, and if you couldn't see a particular plane you could definitely hear it. At one point I happened to look at another part of the sky, in the opposite direction from the airfield. There I saw four hawks wheeling in Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1060363408391536812003-08-08T12:23:00.000-05:002003-08-08T12:23:50.043-05:00I have been officially (if inadvertantly) dubbed "Richard (who has no linkability)". I really should do something about that, but it's kinda of nice to have my own little quiet corner that people are not only not visiting but are in fact completely unaware of.
Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1060266663642826742003-08-07T09:31:00.000-05:002003-08-07T09:31:03.623-05:00Paul Ford's Ftrain is the best blog that isn't really a blog. Recently returned from a month or so long hiatus. Robot Exclusion Protocol was my introduction to the site (and it's still one of my favorites). Selections from My Name is Blanket is quite good too.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1060176473839481792003-08-06T08:27:00.000-05:002003-08-06T08:27:54.890-05:00Her![Girl vs. Pig] is back. Bobbin is on hiatus. Sluggy Freelance continues its eight months and counting journey through the land known as "Unreadableopia" (what the hell happened?).
Thus ends a brief report on what actual creative people are doing.
Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1059745751839871682003-08-01T08:49:00.000-05:002003-08-01T08:50:08.263-05:00I may actually be getting on top of sleep. Watch out leisure, attitude, and getting my shit together: you're next on the hit list and I will kill you dead. Suckers.
Hmmm. Apparently the dementia has nothing to do with lack of sleep after all.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1059584093374681352003-07-30T11:54:00.000-05:002003-07-30T11:56:06.090-05:00I saw The Bubble last night. As a movie it's not much (terrible 3-D effects, wooden performances, rotten dialogue), though it does have a few genuinely weird moments (and some very wacky set design). But what really struck me about the movie is that it was just like one that a post mordern novelist like DeLillo or David Foster Wallace would make up to say certain things in a book. I don't know ifRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1059490606064096212003-07-29T09:56:00.000-05:002003-07-29T10:00:40.766-05:00Sleep. I can't get on top of sleep. Work. I can't get on top of work. Leisure. I can't get on top of leisure. Attitude. I can't get on top of attitude. Getting my shit together. I can't get on top of getting my shit together.
Cutting my caffeine intake by roughly two thirds. No more penguin mints, no more coffee after 10 am or so. Surprisingly not hard (the 8 cup supercharge that starts at 6AM Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1057075314987164512003-07-01T11:01:00.000-05:002003-07-01T11:04:42.410-05:00Also this: I've been reading Gawker on a surprisingly regular basis lately, and have admired their crusade against trucker hats. Living in the midwest you can see these things slowly rolling towards you, and anything that tries to kill them at the source is much appreciated (thanks for keeping Bubble tea in your little coastal ghettos BTW). But the whole thing has got me thinking: this trucker Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-1057060488486524782003-07-01T06:54:00.000-05:002003-07-01T06:54:48.270-05:00So it looks like this blog updates every two weeks. Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-957188132003-06-16T10:24:00.000-05:002003-06-16T10:26:32.000-05:00Pickles. I like pickles. Pickles are something I can really get behind.Where I am:
-200 pages into Infinite Jest.
-Fairly solid on the base hiragana. Learing how to recognize and pronounce diacriticals and glides. This is Japanese stuff. I am currently laboring under the illusion that I'll actually stick with it and learn to read/write/speak this language.
-I still can't type.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-950333782003-05-29T08:38:00.000-05:002003-05-29T08:38:33.020-05:00I have some time off coming up. Lovely. I'm planning to be productive, but I'm expecting to spend a week in my bathrobe.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-940572152003-05-09T10:44:00.000-05:002003-06-16T10:20:29.000-05:00"Sleep Paralysis"
This phenomenon is simultaneously the coolest and worst thing ever. I had the "postdormital/hypnopompic/on waking" version a few nights ago. I woke up in the middle of the night, couldn't move, couldn't speak. I felt a prescence in the room. Tried desperately to call for help, might have moved my lips a little. I was utterly terrified at this point. Felt the presence shift to Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-934635502003-04-29T08:27:00.000-05:002003-04-29T08:28:17.000-05:00Feel that? Smell that? I think it's some kind of energy. Delicious energy, the kind that floats and crackles like cereal. Cereal made from energy.Today is tilted in such a direction that, given a wee push, it could go quite well indeed.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-934428452003-04-28T22:39:00.000-05:002003-04-28T22:39:27.410-05:00I am so terribly horribly badly in need of a thesaurus that it's not even funny or laughable or humorous.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-933982182003-04-28T08:45:00.000-05:002003-04-28T22:37:28.000-05:00Big crowds freak me out. I'm not alone in this, but I like to wear it as a badge of distinction, since it seems to be somewhat rare in my generation. So again, allow me to wave my freak flag high: Big Crowds Freak Me Out. I like small, I like quiet, I like intimate. I really dig on the solitude, too. I bring this up because I stopped by Wizzywig this weekend to check out Fred "Megatokyo" Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-931987082003-04-24T15:49:00.000-05:002003-04-24T15:59:32.000-05:00Th' wife and I rented The Ring this past weekend. During the scene where a horse runs off a ferry I received confirmation of something I pretty much knew already: images of animals getting hurt (fictional/real) greatly upset me.
With that background in mind, this LA Times Story (found on Jim Romenesko's Obscure Store) did a good job of effectively sealing what had been a pretty crappy day. At Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-931258742003-04-23T13:09:00.000-05:002003-04-23T13:10:52.000-05:00Today I really wanted to make an off the cuff reference to Harlan Ellison biting people and I just couldn't get it to work.Sigh. The world will never know what it missed.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-930550022003-04-22T11:42:00.000-05:002003-04-22T11:44:20.000-05:00"Reardon Metal"
In my opinion, this site is a load of Objectivist blah-blah-blah. And I feel somewhat petty today, so here's what's let's do, mmmkay? The next time you feel like calling something a "load of crap", call it a "load of Reardon metal" (the magical super alloy from Atlas Shrugged) instead. It's a small thing to do, tantamount to making snapping clam noises at Scientologists (Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-930064912003-04-21T17:00:00.000-05:002003-04-21T17:00:31.670-05:00Number three turned out to be Nina Simone, and now I kinda feel like a jerk. "My baby Just Cares for Me" is on the short list of songs that can bring a happy tear to my eye.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-929800552003-04-21T08:11:00.000-05:002003-04-21T08:12:03.000-05:00Cool and just a tetch misty this morning. Perfect. Late for work, but perfect. Seemingly infinite soft focus peace and quiet stretched over everything. Even a weaving 18 wheeler on I-94 barely fazed me.Mornings like this remind me of why I must move my ass to Sausalito one of these days. *Sigh* That's a long ways from Michigan and my current career though.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-927892362003-04-17T12:36:00.000-05:002003-04-17T12:38:53.000-05:00It's What They Would Have Wanted
In memory of Robert Atkins and John Paul Getty II, I present this Googlefight. Looks like a carb-free cakewalk for Atkins.
Remember these things come in threes, so watch your back if you're old and famous.Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-926490482003-04-15T08:48:00.000-05:002003-04-15T08:48:57.000-05:00Sometimes I feel like living proof of "It's better to remain silent and be thought an idiot, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt." It's not even 10AM here and I feel like I've been removing all doubt since I woke up.
But your ambassador does not want to descend into the dank hole that is whiney bloggery. The weather is beautiful and my copies of Tribunal, the Miyazaki 3-pack, and the Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-924337452003-04-11T10:50:00.000-05:002003-04-11T11:08:46.000-05:00"What Would Nausicaä Do?"
A problem of having led an essentially feckless life is that when one is called upon to have a moral center, one is often found wanting. At these moments, it is useful to have a model of moral and ethical behavior to draw from. And so, when I am faced with a difficult choice I try to ask myself "What would Miyazaki's Nausicaä do in this situation?" It's a way of asking:Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-923633672003-04-10T10:03:00.000-05:002003-04-10T10:09:52.000-05:00"The Geography of Ignorance"
OFTEN, YOUR AMBASSADOR is asked, "where exactly is Horsmanistan?". On these occasions I hem and haw and make vague upwardly pointing gestures. Then I change the subject.
Now, it's common knowledge that most Americans are terrible when it comes to geography. They can't find Canada on a map, let alone countries on other continents. But they pale in comparisonRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-922948892003-04-09T10:22:00.000-05:002003-04-09T10:24:01.000-05:00"When There's Nothing Left to Burn"
BLAH. Creative work has always been a thorn in my side, has always driven me just plain nuts. In the past I've used emotional problems, existential dread, and some vague need for purity as excuses for not splattering out all the stuff that's inside. But I really love my current one:
"I can't type."
Or more specifically "I can't type without looking at the Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-921516532003-04-07T09:53:00.000-05:002003-04-07T09:53:46.000-05:00"Satisfy y0ur woman, you pindick"
Your ambassador is flabbergasted. Not only is my inbox overrun with spam, said spam is now hurling abuse at me. Is this the future face of guerilla marketing? If so, I have some winning suggestions:
"Buy this product, you sniveling worm"
"Inadequate? Of course you are"
"Buy and your death will be quick and merciful"
"Free rug burn with purchase"
The weather Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-917817122003-04-01T12:15:00.000-05:002003-04-02T07:48:57.000-05:00Painful Honesty Day
No strangers to being contrary, April 1st is when the good people of the 'Stan celebrate "Painful Honesty" day. Rather than hoaxing our friends, loved ones, and co-workers, we instead use today to tell them those little things that we ordinarily hold back:
"I didn't vote in 2000."
"I did, but for Buchanan, but accidentally."
"I did, for Buchanan, on purpose."
(these Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-917071352003-03-31T08:53:00.000-05:002003-03-31T09:00:28.000-05:00The National Dance
1)Put hands on hips, turn face to the right.
2)Shake it a little (not your face, "it").
3)Turn face to the left.
4)Shake it some more (still talking about "it").
5)Blush, remove hands from hips, put in pockets.
6)Look down at feet.
7)Kick an imaginary stone.
8)Mutter something about not being good at this kind of expression, you being mainly a verbal person and all.
9)Twirl.
Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5217785.post-915782582003-03-28T20:23:00.000-05:002003-03-28T20:26:30.000-05:00HELLO AND WELCOME to beautiful Horsmanistan! You will see that we are hosted at Blogspot. Thank you Blogspot! This in turn has some sort of thing to do with Blogger. Thank you Blogger! That in turn has something to do with someone/thing called Pyra. Thank you Pyra! I believe Google is involved somewhere along the way, but the ambassador may have gotten that wrong. Just to be safe: thank you Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15196889484609976692noreply@blogger.com0