Saturday, March 31, 2007

Next week is my 30th birthday. Mmmmhhmmm I said it. So I got the green light to make some music/book purchases. Here's what I came up with tonight:




























































Last night: Got on a bus headed for a fish fry. Drank my share of beer on the bus. Ate fried fish and french fries at the fish fry. Today: Doing my taxes. Smell like fried fish.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

New from Octopus Books:



This is an example of one of the Book Reports by Jonah Winter hardcovers. There are only a small handful left. Note that we're also selling (currently pre-order) really cool hand-stitched paperback versions of these poems, we just don't quite have an image ready yet for you to see. But soon.







This is an example of The Renaissance Sheet by Lily Brown. If you buy one, there is a chance you could get a green, black, blue, or red spine, and a chance you get white, less white, or even less white, or light blue cover stock. Dry embossed. Japanese stab-binding.










Go check 'em out here. And pick up a set of 8 chapbooks while you're at it, you know, if you haven't already.

Also, there is a new small press shopblog you should know about called Press Press Press. These books are there too.

And Octopus is streching out its mailbox, getting it in shape, etc. It is ready to eat up all your manuscripts. Let's do this!

Monday, March 26, 2007

I drafted my team in my fantasy baseball league yesterday. A league full of poets. What do you think of my chances? I think I got a decent spread--a lot of speed at least. And K's. Enough to beat Jim Goar anyhow.

C Johnny Estrada (Milwaukee)
C Miguel Olivo (Florida)
1B Prince Fielder (Milwaukee)
2B Julio Lugo (Boston)
3B Adrian Beltre (Seattle)
SS Khalil Greene (San Diego)
CI Casey Blake (Cleveland 1B)
MI Ronnie Belliard (Washington 2B)
LF Carl Crawford (Tampa Bay)
CF Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle)
RF Jacque Jones (Cubs)
OF Johnny Damon (NYY)
Util Lasting Milledge (NYM)

SP Dontrelle Willis (Florida)
SP Josh Beckett (Boston)
SP Ervin Santana (Angels)
SP Ted Lilly (Cubs)
SP Tim Wakefield (Boston)
P Carl Pavano (NYY)
P Matt Morris (SF)
Closer Jason Isringhausen (St. Louis)
Closer Ryan Dempster (Cubs)
MRelief Derreck Turnbow (Milwaukee)
MRelief Luis Vizcaino (NYY)

Sunday, March 25, 2007



















If you come to the Clean Part to read your poems, chances are we will take you to Kuhl's and you will order the egg and cheese biscuit. Your glass of tomato juice will be very tiny and you will look like King Kong while you drink it. We will take you to the Russian store and the international licorice store and then to a farm where you will feed hay to cows. There will be a dog there on a 500 mile leash. We will show you a very dead cat in a box. And we will be taking your picture at every turn.

Josh and Allison are equally excellent poets and people. It was an honor to have them here for a good chunk of time. And their reading was too short, as always. Allison, through the voice of a narwhal, a magical and real creature, was able to lull me into this cold world of 6 room motels and grey icy water. Joshua's new stuff is as killer as Ornithologies. And I'm not sure I was breathing while he read some meditations (especially: Fahrenheit Meditation and Meditation for the Dead Swiss). Very nice. I like the Clean Part.

Friday, March 23, 2007







I just now, just one hour ago, made it over to the ParkeHarrison exhibit at the Sheldon. It has been here since January and I am ashamed of myself that I am such a latecomer to this. These photographs are exactly what I've been trying to do with this new manuscript I'm working on. I feel deflated and inflated. Not only the tone and mood and strangeness and post-apocalypticness (some type of primitive distant future) of them, but even their narratives. I should have been there everyday with my little Mead pocket notebook. Alas!

Wednesday, March 21, 2007



I'd like to publicly thank Ryan Murphy (and AH) for bringing Anthony Hawley's new chapbook, Record Breakers (Ori is the New Apple Press 2007), into my little world. I was reading it on the bus yesterday and was so into it, I missed my stop. I had to walk two extra blocks. So, thank you--that was good for my heart.

you and i, we were frenching, almost tipping
over the day camp's only orange canoe

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Monday, March 19, 2007

I'm back at school after spring break. Wrote a few Scary poems. Watched some b-ball. Made some books for Octopus (we'll be announcing two new titles this week, so pay attention). Reading the inaugural issue of Ping Pong, the spring 2007 issue of Fence, The States by Craig Foltz, Flowers of Bad by David Cameron, The Pines Vol. 4. Having lunch with Lucille Clifton tomorrow. I'm not joking. Look at my face, I'm not joking.

Saturday, March 17, 2007















Happy St. Shavemybeardoff day. I gave myself mutton chops for a few funtastic hours. But now this face is smooth, like it just came out the chute. Going for a walk now to get some of that crisp Spring breeze into those startled pores.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Sweeping the floor. Doing the laundry. The cold/delicates. All while listening to recent purchases:







Oops. I just accidently got sucked into Sifl and Olly. How does that keep happening?

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

The Clean Part is washing its dishes and sheets--two more brilliant poets will be in town on Saturday, the 24th, to read for you. Read about them here. I'll show you the poster later.

Monday, March 12, 2007

Back from the mountains and just managed to pry my ski boots off and get my calf cramps rubbed out. A great vacation. C + P are tops. The weather/mountains/snow/card playing/beer/pizza was perfect and it was great to spend some time with them. Unfortunately, this is the second year in a row in which an injury went down (see previous post re: M's pole through the lip episode). This time the injury was to C, and it was/is quite serious. An ankle broken in three places. Erggh. You should re-live this entire vacation with me via super-selective photographic narrative:
























Wednesday, March 07, 2007

I've had enough. I'm packing up the family, A, C, P, and we're headed west for the mountains. Next week is UNebraska's spring break and we're jetting a little early. We're going to ski until the mountains get shorter, more compact. P has a laptop and electricity, so I'll be sure to update you. Last year this happened (remember?)--M ate it:




Tuesday, March 06, 2007


I'm just now getting over the spastic weirdface disease I caught in Atlanta.

Monday, March 05, 2007





















The people I met and learned I like (PC, LB, ABB, JC, RM, CA, EF (my new best friend), JG, KG, EC, EG, CA, JM, EA, GM, KR, PAK, MW, CDW, etc. etc.). The people I really really like that I got to hang with that I had previously met (JS, BW, JD, MB, SF, NB, KR, MH, KH, CT, AT, BP, JT, KK, KM, GCW, JM, AB, SS, LG, DP, PC, LS, CAK, MH, JE, GCW, JAY, CMT, NP, MZ, MY, HBN, etc. etc.). The people that no matter how long I spend with them it would never ever be enough (AC, MS, AL, JP, NEG, JMW, etc. etc.) The bed to myself. Missing nearly every meal. The Pines. The panel discussion. The big crowd it attracted. The people that didn't leave but stayed and nodded their heads just a little while I said something into the microphone. Elevator competition. Song at the restaurant. Conversations with heroes. The bookfair and bookfair table. The selling of more than expected Octopus chapbooks. Buying books from small presses. Chips. Holding my first book and putting my first book in the hands of people I admire. The nice things people said/are saying about it. Reading from that book at the Apache Cafe on Saturday night to a healthy and giving crowd. The nice things people said about my reading. Introducing some of Octopus' finest (JD & LB) to that crowd. The friday night reading at Apache with about 7 poets in a row that just slayed me. MS reading his poems on Friday night, both delighting and hurting (emotionally) the crowd. Writing 5 collaborations on the plane with MS and listening to Envy and Jawbreaker and Jets to Brazil, and Built to Spill and Otis Redding and various Elf Metal jams in his Saturn. Coming back and A.