Further Adventures In The Restless Universe

Check out the above trailer for Dawn Raffel’s story collection out this March from Dzanc Books!

I’m Still Carrying That Balloon For You

“Hope Is The Thing With Feathers” by Emily Dickinson
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chilliest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity
It asked a crumb of me.

The Natural Swagger of Life

A little gem posted on the Sartorialist this morning.  The below quote made me laugh out loud.  Sometimes, I take life with a hair too much seriousness and far too many layers:

Let me tell you a little secret, this film I’m making was originally going to be called “If You Don’t Want To Be Nude Wear A Suit.”  And in fact, this is the first film I’ve made without my dogs or Elizabeth Taylor.  Now they don’t have a problem being nude.  They have what one calls the natural swagger of life. – Bruce Webber

Two of Three Things I (Now) Know & (Often) Enjoy

Photo Credit: from Days With My Father by Philip Toledano

I’ve been shuffling through photo blogs for inspiration these past few months.  Thought I’d post a few of my favorites here.  The above is a shot from a series by Philip Toledano posted on 2 or 3 Things I Know, one of the best design, art, and craft blogs that I’ve come across.  Clean.  Lyrical.  The photos range from snapshot to lifestyle to quirky fashion and design.  The writing is pretty great too.  For me, the blog is structured like a well written joke.  Clean.  Restrained.  Lyrical.  It tows a smart line.

Others links that have been Frequenting my Rotation:

Nobody’s Hippie:  Reminds me of a Vintage Valentine.  Great color.  Incredible texture.  Organizationally it’s not shy to make a mess of things.  But the clutter is what caught my eye and keeps me coming back.

Gravure Magazine: The New American Style Journal:  Features spreads from their print magazine as well as some interesting video pieces that focus primarily on fashion and portraiture.

Contributing Editor: My favorite photographer forwarded me this link the other day.  Curious to return.  Got a chuckle out of this one spread… I do love a bright poppy red.   DREAM ON BOYS!!! I BEG TO DIFFER…

Big Time Sensuality

I’ve been watching the Directors Label DVD’s recently.  The binge was prompted by having seen Jonathan Glazer’s first feature film, Sexy Beast.  (Glazer is more widely recognized perhaps for his work on the video for Jamiroquia’s ”Virtual Insanity.”  Why is this video in every memory of awkward suburban teenagers watching MTV in the 90’s that I have?).  I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of his second film, Birth.

Two nights ago I watched the above music video for Bjork’s “Big Time Sensuality,” shot by director, Stéphane Sednaoui.

“I want this to be played at my funeral someday,” I told my lover.

“You’re always saying exaggerated things like that,” he said.

The video prompted a comparison to Michel Gondry’s take on Bjork’s, “Bachelorette.” (Amazing in a more, “I’m a kid in a f-ed up fairy tale” kind of way, ala Roald Dahl or Angela Carter).

The ultimate find thus far was this clip from the Gondry DVD, the video for the White Stripes’  “Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground.” I woke up the next morning to an incredible dream.   My lover was leaving for work.  It seemed we’d only just fallen asleep.  The hour was ungodly.  When he kissed my cheek, I had the feeling of our bodies slipping by each other in translucent overlap.  My apartment was full of leaves.  In the kitchen, there was a pink formica table from the 50’s lined in silver brads.

“Christmas Card” by Etgar Keret, Presented by Electric Literature

 

 

Details of the Last Supper, c. 1986, (Double Jesus), by Andy Warhol

I received the above image and below ’card’ in an email from Electric Literature yesterday.  The image struck a chord, as I have recently been re-reading sections of a biography of Andy Warhol by Wayne Koestenbaum and working on a personal statement about teaching the short short, a form of which Keret is a champion.  I thought I would repost the opening to Keret’s  ”Christmas Card” below.  To read it in full, check the Electric Literature blog here.

Christmas Card

by Etgar Keret

There was this guy who could walk on water. Not that that’s such a big deal. Lots of people can walk on water. They usually don’t know that because they don’t try. They don’t try because they don’t believe they can do it. In any case, that guy believed, and tried and did it. And that’s when the whole mess began.

* Translated by Sondra Silverston.  Etgar Keret can be found at www.etgarkeret.com.

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like…

cherry lane underpass, west 96th street, new york, ny

snow on the hudson

leaves

two sleds

neighbors

a seat in riverside park

new york snow storm, december 20th, 2009

Claymation from Electric Lit; Aleksander Hemon on Translation & European Fiction

Check out Electric Literature’s latest installment of their single sentence animation project.   Up on the docket?  A sentence from Lydia Davis’s “The Cows” interpreted in claymation by artist Donna K.

In other news, I can’t wait to read Best European Fiction, 2010, Dalkey Archive’s recent dreamchild.  35 writers.  30 countries.  A tribute to the press’s enviable commitment to translation. Check out interviews with editor Aleksander Hemon here and here.

I particularly enjoyed this excerpt from Hemon’s interview in Papercuts on the “exotic:”

“Exotic” describes something so wholly outside of “our” experience as to be interesting if incomprehensible. The writing in our anthology is not exotic — it is fully intelligible to a reader willing to go beyond the comfort zone of blatant banality. A literature that takes itself out of global conversation is bound to be reduced to nationalistic navel gazing. The panic reigning in the American publishing industry notwithstanding, I think that the future of translation in America is bright. On the one hand, I think there has always been curiosity and desire to communicate with the rest of the world, even if both impulses are perceived by the exceptionalists as symptoms of treason.

“Alpha:” Lydia Millet Imagines Evolution

NPR’s Studio 360 featured a short sci-fi story by Lydia Millet today.  Check it out here.  I had the chance to interview Millet for the upcoming issue of Gigantic.  Topics discussed: our technicolor society, the slow moving apolcalypse, and ill-fated pets.  Stay tuned to the Gigantic blog for more info about the issue due out soon.

p.s. If you haven’t yet had a chance – check out Millet’s new collection, Love In Infant Monkeys, recently out from Soft Skull.   As acerbic as it is tender, as per usual Millet delivers a raucous, witty delight.

New Link

If you haven’t happened upon these folks already, check out VOL. I Brooklyn.  Pithy, smart, and refreshingly down to earth, they’re a Brooklyn based arts and culture blog that covers everything from books, to music, to scrapbooking hilarious news clips and quotes.  Though admittedly “literary-minded,” beyond their ability to wisely geek out about great books which you might not have heard of, what keeps me coming back is the simplicity of the format – they like lists and links and lots of ‘em – and their fondness for marginalia.  (Also, Brooklyn Vegan is one of the “People They Like.”  Check plus.)

Some post which made my recent favorites:

- Tobias Carroll’s review of Prose.  Poems.  a novel. by Jamie Iredell

- Dear New York Magazine – Vol I BK’s letter to New York Mag about their top 40 songs that define Brooklyn “sound” right now * Side note – Nice St. Vincent shout-out. “Marry Me,” please, do so.

Representative Post Titles:

Bites: Henry Miller in LA, Bolano was a Reader, Frost Sent Christmas Cards, Art Basel is on, Idiots, and More

Bites: Phone Booth Libraries, The Cows that Killed Jane Austen, Cormac McCarthy to Sell the Remains of His Writing Career, A Remnick Interview, and more

Random Thanksgiving Bites: Punk Photographers, Victorian Veggies, Leftovers, Thanks for Kerouac, and More