A Cold Eye: Art’s Debt to the Living, and the Dead

D.B. asked me what I thought about all this stuff I just finished telling you about. I didn’t know what the hell to say. If you want to know the truth, I don’t… Continue reading →

The Codes Are Alright: On “Code-Switching” And Facebook

Let us now turn from the others to the point of view of the individual who presents himself before them…. Regardless of the particular objective which the individual has in mind and of… Continue reading →

On writing essays, in college: An open letter to Rebecca Schuman

You say you mean well You don’t know what you mean You fucking oughta stay the hell Away from things you know nothing about -Elliott Smith I had no idea I’d be writing… Continue reading →

“You Ought To Be Protected”: On Shaming

Dear readers, I’m back. I’ve gone, and returned, before. But I’m really feeling it this time. To put it simply: I need this blog to live. Intellectually speaking, I need it in order… Continue reading →

It’s Fun To Stay At The U-Haul

(U-Haul. Sacramento. The other location near the one on El Camino.) Clerk: Before you came to get boxes here… you went to the El Camino location, right? Me: Yeah. Clerk: People always do… Continue reading →

Someone Up There Likes Me, or, What A Resurrection Really Feels Like

The reason why today’s imagist fiction isn’t the rescue from a passive, addictive TV-psychology that it tries so hard to be is that most imagist writers render their material with the same tone… Continue reading →

paragon: jane mcgonigal’s “reality is broken”

The sheer number of games I invented or modified during my youth is both amazing and typical. Ninja Hide. Best Path. Tennis Baseball. Elder Dragon Wars. Fatal Leap. Cheater. Pothole Racing. I modified… Continue reading →

yeshe chölwa

At theology camp, it was important to seem busy, so we were — the days were just packed. We would have breakfast at seven, woken up by reggae versions of non-reggae songs. Breakfast… Continue reading →

Idiot Wind: Julia Glassman’s Other Life Forms

In “The American Scholar,” Ralph Waldo Emerson said: As no air-pump can by any means make a perfect vacuum, so neither can any artist entirely exclude the conventional, the local, the perishable from… Continue reading →

as a matter of fact it’s all dark: cyberpunk, language, and the two worlds

Emma Becciu, one of the most gifted interpreters I’ve ever known, has begun a language & translation blog. A lot of it is in Italian; if you can’t read that, turn on Chrome’s… Continue reading →