http://www.thievesjargon.com/workview.php?work=1319

http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/gallery.php?item=3850

One of my better stories.

This is my list of books I've read this year (because I'm that neurotic). I hope to reach 100.

Groundrules:

--I will count chapbooks, graphic novels, anything else I can think of. That means poetry. Hey, it's a book.
--I'll also count books I've reviewed. Hey, I read it, didn't I?
--I will NOT count books I've already read but am re-reading, so that pretty much eliminates the bulk of the reading I do, which is of books/stories/etc. I'm teaching.

January:

1. Alex Galper, Fish Du Jour. (Poetry) Here's a link to a review. http://ghotimag.com/ReviewGalper.htm (I'll save you the click: it was terrible.)
2. Tom Whalen. An Exchange of Letters. (Short Fiction) Review: http://ghotimag.com/ReviewWhalen.htm (Some strong moments.)
3. Ron Singer, A Voice for My Grandmother. (Nonfiction Collection) Review: http://ghotimag.com/ReviewChapbooks.htm
4. Shad Marsh, The Commentaries. (Poetry) Review: http://ghotimag.com/ReviewChapbooks.htm (I like this one. I'd like to see more from Marsh.)
5. Catherine Sasanov, Tara. (Poetry) Review: http://ghotimag.com/ReviewChapbooks.htm
6. J. A. Tyler, The Girl in the Black Sweater. (Fiction) Review: http://ghotimag.com/ReviewChapbooks.htm(I'll add to this when I get a chance.)

February:
7. Ed Madden, Signals. (Poetry) An Arkansan poet I'm reviewing/interviewing for the Arkansas Review. 8. Dean Young, Embryoyo. (Poetry) I'm reviewing this for Ghoti.
9. John Lee Clark, Suddenly Slow. (Poetry) I'm reviewing this for Ghoti.
10. Thomas D. Reynolds, Ghost Town Almanac. (Poetry) I'm reviewing this for Ghoti.
11. Herman Meliville, Moby Dick. Seriously, this is the first time I've read it. I'd have to say it's rather long-winded. There is practically no forward movement throughout the bulk of the book. It's more of a treatise on the profession of whaling, than a novel. There is much about the book that I admire, but I can't say I'd read it again. This book is the reason I've only read 10 other books so far this year. Curse you Melville!!!!

Currently Reading: The Eye in the Pyramid, by Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson, from the Illuminatus Trilogy. I'm about a quarter through it. Very funny, trippy conspiracy theory satire farce. Yes, I will be counting all three book in the trilogy seperately.

But I least I did my prep. work for next week. Some good news from a journal, earlier. Some possible good news from a press on a poetry manuscript. (Riceland--these are poems about growing up on a farm). Aside from the Riceland manuscript I have 2 chapbooks out awaiting judgement and another almost completed. I've been trying to put together another full-length collection. It has around 50-55 pages right now, which seems short (compared to Dean Young, for example, who usually pulls off around 100 pages). Length isn't everything, I realize, as the father from Happiness explained to his son: it's depth. But he was a child molester, so can we really take that much stock in what he says?

I've also been putting together a collection of 10-minute plays. Why, you ask? Why not.

I'm going to start a list of books I've read this year because I'm that neurotic. I hope to reach 50.

Groundrules:

--I will count chapbooks, graphic novels, anything else I can think of.
--I'll also count books I've reviewed.
--I will NOT count books I've already read, so that pretty much eliminates the bulk of the reading I do, which is of books/stories/etc. I'm teaching.

Let's start by month:

January:

1. Alex Galper, Fish Du Jour. Here's a link to a review. http://ghotimag.com/ReviewGalper.htm (I'll save you the click: it was terrible.)
2. Tom Whalen. An Exchange of Letters. Review: http://ghotimag.com/ReviewWhalen.htm (Some strong moments.)
3. Ron Singer, A Voice for My Grandmother. Review: http://ghotimag.com/ReviewChapbooks.htm
4. Shad Marsh, The Commentaries. Review: http://ghotimag.com/ReviewChapbooks.htm (I like this one. I'd like to see more from Marsh.)
5. Catherine Sasanov, Tara. Review: http://ghotimag.com/ReviewChapbooks.htm
6. J. A. Tyler, The Girl in the Black Sweater. Review: http://ghotimag.com/ReviewChapbooks.htm

(I'll add to this when I get a chance.)

February:

7. Ed Madden, Signals. An Arkansan poet I'm reviewing/interviewing for the Arkansas Review.
8. Dean Young, Embryoyo. I'm reviewing this for Ghoti.
9. John Lee Clark, I'm reviewing this for Ghoti
10. Herman Meliville, Moby Dick. Seriously, this is the first time I've read it. I'd have to say it's rather long-winded. There is practically no forward movement throughout the bulk of the book. It's more of a treatise on the profession of whaling, than a novel. There is much about the book that I admire, but I can't say I'd read it again.

So that's 40 to go. Can I make it? Well, considering that there are at least 5 more books I haven't added, I'm thinking I might make it. Maybe I'll up the ante to 100. Or maybe I won't.

http://silencedpress.com/poetry/gravity/

New poem just published.

Our heat was out this past weekend. It was around 40 degrees out, so it wasn't life-threatening or anything. It's interesting how our heat goes out only on weekends when maintanence isn't on campus. If I was a paranoid type, I'd think the aliens that monitor my brain waves were trying to contact me through the oatmeal I bought at Sam's. Everyone knows that "Sam's" is an allusion to Sam S., one of the founders of the Trilateral Commission. And, of course, the other two founding members were Jesus and a space alien. You didn't know that? Oh, I guess your history books don't tell you everything.

So yeah. Heat's on, now. I had several things (aka "writing") picked up, some of them with payment. A story, a poem, a long poem or short series as a stand-alone mini-chapbook, a flash story, etc. So that was cool. I haven't had a story picked up in a long time. More news on that later.

Jillian and I have been on a tight budget in order to pay off several bills by Spring Break. Unfortunately, we had no food, so we went to Trader Joe's and the aforementioned Communist Plot aka Sam's (that's what they WANT you to think). So we blew an extreme amount of money restocked el pantry (wait, is pantry feminine? Would that be la pantry?). It feels good to have food. Food is good.

Also, I have problems spelling the word "unfortunately." Just thought I'd put that out there.