Cool Thing: a Gay Fiction Anthology

Short 2

2009-07-23T20:50:00.000-07:00

We just finished my second short, "The Once and Future Me"...it's a little experimental, gay love story. Here's the "Future Me" actress Heather Manley in her second Anthony Paull film. Hope you guys get to check it out on the film fest circuit next year. PS. Yes, the image pays tribute to Belinda Carlisle's Heaven on Earth album. xo

The Green, Green Heart

2009-03-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

My short film "The Green, Green Heart" will be premiering at The 2009 Sarasota Fringe Film Festival. The short is based on the story "Love For Sale" in Cool Thing. Hope you all get a chance to see it. xxoo

one of my new favorite blogs:::::::::::::

2009-02-24T18:42:00.000-08:00

http://www.gaysagainstobama.org/
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Submit for this if you want

2008-11-16T12:43:00.001-08:00

BEST GAY EROTICA 2010

Short stories, novel excerpts, memoirs, narrative artwork, erotic
essays - original or reprint - are now being accepted for Best Gay
Erotica 2010 (the 15th edition), to be published by Cleis Press in
November 2009. Maximum length preferred: 6,000 words; no minimum.
Reprints must have appeared in print or online, or been scheduled to
appear, between July 2008 and July 2009. BGE is not a "theme"
anthology, so anything goes - any fantasy, all flesh, any kink, every
genre - as long as the work is intensely erotic, lusciously literary,
and quite, quite queer. Deadline for submissions is April 1, 2009;
35-40 stories will be selected by series editor Richard Labonte from
among the submissions. Winners will be selected from the finalists by
this year's judge, Blair Mastbaum, author of two novels - the Lambda
Literary Award-winner Clay's Way and Us Ones In Between - and editor
(with Will Fabro) of the writers-under-30 anthology, Cool Thing.
Queries and submissions to: bge2010 at gmail.com, in .doc format.

Got the THING

2008-11-05T19:23:00.000-08:00

Hey Gang:

Got Cool Thing in the mail last night. Enjoying the stories thus far. What a wonderfully weird batch we've hatched! Quite eye-opening, and an awesome glimpse into the future of queer writing. Kudos!

new website

2008-10-16T22:00:00.001-07:00

So I have been sick for awhile and in my sickness I have managed to pull myself together and finally get my site off the ground.

Check it out:

http://minorprogression.com/

ps
lets buy tickets and get out of this country!!

Queer Horror Anthology - Book Trailer

2008-09-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

Unspeakable Horror, which will feature my story "Bluff," has come out with a trailer for the anthology. It's pretty cool:

Geyser!: and the fabulous Kevin Killian

2008-09-13T23:44:00.000-07:00

So the fabulous Kevin Killian recently asked me to perform in his new play, Geyser! The play was co-written with Wayne Smith.

Here is a write up:

Geyser!, a new play by Kevin Killian & Wayne Smith

with
Stephen Boyer
Taylor Brady
David Brazil
Gerald Corbin
Craig Goodman
Glen Helfand
Cliff Hengst
Scott Hewicker
Tanya Hollis
Colter Jacobsen
Kevin Killian
Mac McGinnes
Anne McGuire
Karla Milosevich
Rex Ray
Laurie Reid
Jocelyn Saidenberg
Wayne Smith
Suzanne Stein
Margaret Tedesco

The small town of Geyser, Oregon was once the setting for a television series that attempted to combine elements of family drama and science education. The show was in its second season in 1978 when a tragedy on set caused it to shut down midseason, and now that it’s been released on DVD, Geyser! has found new fans to join the tiny cult audience it’s known since its untimely cancellation—and they’re all flocking to Oregon this summer, as the brave little town welcomes back members of the original cast and the worldwide fan club at a Geyser! festival. But the town has secrets. Mayor Constance Strode, struggling with her own family drama, tries to promote tourism while fending off the attentions of Bobo, leader of a radical clown collective on the outskirts of town. Screen actor Dennis Quaid, who first sprang to national attention as the young hero of Geyser! returns to the scene of the series with the bewildering knowledge that all of his female recent co-stars, from Reese Witherspoon to Ellen Barkin, have been swept away to sea. Rival TV talk show hosts Rick Penny and Kitty Potter return to wring every scrap of drama and nostalgia to the airwaves, while Marjorie Cantrell, the first lady of the American theater and star of the lamented TV show, Geyser!, emerges from a 30 year retirement in grand Sunset Boulevard fashion with her loyal butler, Crimmins. As excited fans gather from round the world, the hot water coursing through the deep underground caverns below them gurgles, groans and steams to the surface. It’s all in a town—and a show—called Geyser!

Kevin Killian is a poet, novelist, critic and playwright whose recent work includes “Kiki: The Proof Is in the Pudding,” a retrospective exhibition at Ratio 3, a book of reviews Selected Amazon Reviews (2006), a collection of poetry, Argento Series (2001), two novels, Shy (1989) and Arctic Summer (1997), a book of memoirs, Bedrooms Have Windows (1989), and two books of stories, Little Men (1996) and I Cry Like a Baby (2001). He has also edited a collection of short stories by the late Sam D’Allesandro, The Wild Creatures (2005). For the San Francisco Poets Theater Killian has written over thirty plays, including Stone Marmalade (1996, with Leslie Scalapino) and Often (2001, with Barbara Guest).

Wayne Smith is a visual and sound artist who lives and works in San Francisco. He collaborated with Berlin-based artist D-L Alvarez on a sound and video installation shown at the Derek Eller Gallery, New York, in April 2007. New work will be shown at 2nd Floor Projects, San Francisco, in November 2008. Recording as Aero Mic’d, he has released four CDS, the latest being “I Think You’re Great.” In August 2008, joined by Cliff Hengst and Scott Hewicker, Aero Mic’d performed at the Schindler House in Los Angeles as part of the “sound.” series, organized by SASSAS (The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound).

And here are some pictures:

Philly Knows Cool

2008-09-08T20:16:00.000-07:00

As far as I can tell, our first review is in.

The Green Green Heart Short Film

2008-08-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

I recently completed shooting the film "The Green Green Heart" which is loosely based on the short story "Love For Sale" which will be published in Cool Thing. These are pics of Mama and Caleb, two of the main characters. I adapted the short story into a screenplay about the hidden abuse in loving relationships. All in all, it took nearly a week (12 hours each day) in order to shoot 15 minutes of film. It was the most draining, awesome, and surreal experience of my life. When you see words on paper breath life, it's humbling and magnificent all in the same moment. We plan to submit the film to several festivals this year, including Sundance and SXSW. The process was amazing, and I hope to begin work on another screenplay, upon finishing my next novel. I hope some of you get a chance to see it!

HEY BABES

2008-08-01T17:04:00.000-07:00

Hey Babes,

Is this blog still alive or is everyone overly busy with summer?? Anyway, hope all is well.... I've been writing for this website as popejohnpaul12:

FANTASTIC WEAPON

and I just got some tickets to go to:

If you're going, let me know and lets party together!! I got to work backstage a bit for the website but the majority of it will hopefully be spent dancing.

Besides that I've been spending a lot of time on nude beaches reading; favorite books of the summer are "The End of the World Book", "Barf Manifest0", "Swann's Way", and "Unwelcomeness".

When does the anthology come out??
xoxo

Cat Got Your Tongue

2008-07-09T11:19:00.001-07:00

I have written a short film that will begin shooting at the end of July. It's based on one of my short stories, which I've twisted enough to form a new tale. This is a picture of one of the props that I found at Goodwill. Their prices have really skyrocketed, by the way. $13 for this cat. Still, it's a cool enough cat. It can find your eyes from anywhere in the room.

what i did today (abridged, estimated)

2008-06-15T00:38:00.000-07:00

7am - woke up
830am - drank water with lemon
11am - got on bus in chinatown, nyc
115pm - got off bus in chinatown, philadelphia
2pm - ate banana
215pm - looked at lydia davis's 'the end of the story;' thought 'i hate this book'
3pm - bought shirt
4pm - ate shawarma
5pm- bought shirt
545pm - swam in the fountain at logan square
830pm - bought chinese medicine
10pm - ate soft-shell crabs
12am - got turned away at night club because i had chinese medicine in my bag
1230am - sold my wristband from said nightclub to someone for $10
1am - began waiting for bus
3am - got on bus
330am - got to travis's house

madder love reading

2008-06-09T22:28:00.001-07:00

Unspeakable Horror

2008-05-28T21:46:00.000-07:00

Another of my short stories will be appearing in the Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet anthology. The contributors to the anthology are being slowly revealed here. We were told to be discrete until our contributions were announced, and then to plaster the info everywhere, so here it is.

for those of you in the nyc area...

2008-05-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

I will be reading at the Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church this Friday (May 30th) at 10pm with Robin Coste Lewis. $8 admission. On the off-chance you have nothing to do, come on down!

More info here.

america

2008-05-23T15:50:00.000-07:00

this is a poem i wrote a few years ago when i was working in the porn industry a lot and forming a relationship with allen ginsberg; this was written before he broke my heart, that happened while reading his college diaries.

America America America
In remembrance of Allen Ginsberg

America I’ve given you all and now I’m nothing.
America your cocks and vaginas, barbed black pubes, musty odors, spewing semen,
flexing clits, dildo’s, my anal stretching, young women! old men! fingers! toes! linger in my mouth! I can’t stand my cock.
America it seems you maintain a constant frig me! Libertine!
Death is certain, regardless.
Why do you ostracize erotic pieces of art?
The priests in the middle Ages had young men fisting young men in the biblical margins.
America I’ve given myself to reverie as you adore my photoshopped, glamorized
nude, pornographic, computerized body, which has been given your identity. Surely I am destined to be a Saint!
America why do you teach us freedom when its laborers you need?
America you keep telling me to work. Work. Work. Work.
Communism is a horrible idea. I’d never consent to that.
America I’m loyal, feed me.
America I am your child.
America I am scared of aging.
Elation, exuberance, ecstasy, pleasure! pleasure! pleasure! pleasure! pleasure! yes
in you, serious
America, I am finding such feelings as I lope and petition for a way out of your nine to
five, ‘cause I want to know myself.
But how can anyone know thyself when slaving to be free.
America I want to go on a talk show. Everyone on talk shows get what they want.
Sometimes I want everything.
America do you really enjoy the magical world of Disneyland or is it just the profits that
you care about? I love Mickey and Minnie Mouse. My blue-collar parents had me singing along to all their songs. My sisters too. We’d stay up as late as we could, playing.
America I want to stick your dicks, vagina’s, tits, and asses, illegal’s, fat stomachs, hair,
scissors, mathematics, spaceships, deer, feet, all in my mouth. Does the LSD floating in your interior cause this? Is it the nuclear waste? The meth? I only tried ten times. Ok, I use everyday. Surely it’s me. I’m gacked and paranoid. You’d never harm your child.
America why do you blame the common man for drugs, when they were developed in
your biggest institutions. Them institutions built by Chinaman money. Filthy Chinamen smoking the opium we brought to them.
America we’re not racists. We let in everybody, ‘specially them mexicants who do our
dishes. We’re not classicists either. Only them primitives who don’t eat meat and meditate for hours at a time
America time is money
trying to reconstruct the universe within themselves would do something crazy like that. I won’t go to India.
Promise!
America why do they look within?
All the oil is outside.
America I walk everywhere, your cracked sidewalks divine.
America I’ve been capitalizing on my only body, when you birthed me I wasn’t given the
luxury of having things to sell… only my the penis and milky semen my wrinkly balls create. The moralists say this is poor form?
I got an A in economics.
America, I feel I’m losing you. Is it my syntax? The white skin?
Lots of white boys need a college scholarship too.
America I know enough to know a large debt to you isn’t going to help my future.
Sex sells. Students in Sweden get beer stipends and free tuition. No one has to sell anything.
America my poems are free for you.
Why don’t you care about poems?
America the crack heads are getting fed. Good drugs too.
I see them as I walk to the head shop and stare into the window.
They’re dancing in the street and calling me a punk ass bitch.
America, drugs ruin a person, unless you’re the President.
America I’ll keep the secret.
You’d get bad press.
America, Denmark has the freest press. What exactly are you yelling about?
Keep your dick hard, face the camera, moan, scream, say fuck me goddammit, smile, eyes, eyes toward us, up, good, say yes. But is my whoring a choice or is it all you offer us, your children - pedopherica – who can’t see why its brood would want to lie awake in bedrooms afternoon upon afternoon studying comic books.
America I’m tired and sore and scared of your judging eyes.
America pay me well, one day you’ll call me immoral.
I get down on my knees and ask you, father death, father Ginsberg, where is my egress? I only wanted to write a poem, like you, I hallucinate the infinite possibilities of the cosmos, impracticality, life itself… and like you I have only my body and words to offer this enormity we, who believe, have been born to see, see. But you, and your long winded rambling verse; and
America, and its gratis supremacy; and the whoring required for time, needed time, to
allow poems breath, have become my poem, my despondency, my me; a weed in this land stretching from sea to shining sea. But this me, without direction, who gets flogged for rent, isn’t the me (i) concocted with youth.
America I took leave from your shores.
I wanted to see what everyone’s running away from.
I ran backwards. It was beautiful.
Imagine! Me, a real beat, so free outside your pearly gates.
Nothing turned out as expected.
I made love to a girl from Kenya in a tiny room five hours north of Beijing.
The next night I kissed a Japanese boy on an airplane.
We were drinking wine over Uzbekistan, flying to Istanbul.
America is this really you that I see on the nightly news, guns drawn, famine and death
lingering beneath your every touch as you cross the world spreading diseases and desires, like a prostitute.
You’re fat, rich and full of discontent.
I feel the same way when I live with you. Minus the fat, rich and full.
America I too am a prostitute. Jesus loves us?
Billy Graham has converted millions.
Nietzsche is digging deeper into his grave.
The Christians aren’t supposed to be empowered.
This is the future?
I’ll never be able to afford heaven.
America you’re going to give me a straight jacket if you don’t change.
I was given a ticket in the park today for smoking. Daniel Steeles sat near me reading a Daniel Steeles novel as it happened. Surely I’m not the source of all evil.
America, know! when I dance naked for money, when the whips leave marks on my
back, when I fake cry, orgasm (which we both adore), dominate the other;
America it is only a cottage by the sea that I want, and to be well dressed, full, smoking my favorite tobacco, working on my masterpiece, discussing with another lustrous soul the importance of what we have been born to endure.
America, you certainly have refrained from responding to humble demands.
Thank you Balzac for your generosity.
Mr. President why can’t you read? If you can, why do you remain silent?
America Sacco and Vanzetti must not die.
I am Balzac and Pocahontas and Sacco and Vanzetti and
America.
America I’ve given you my voice, my working hands.

MIAMI

2008-05-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

I had the chance to cover the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Here's some shots of the fashion show presented by designer Jay McCarroll. Some of the models were like 12, but looked lost in their 20's with make-up. The documentary on Jay's work "Eleven Minutes" is pretty cool if you're into the behind-the-scenes process of creating a line. If you liked "Unzipped", check it out.

Country Time

2008-05-14T05:11:00.000-07:00

So I bought this Louvin Brothers CD the other day kinda on a whim (and to help support a local CD/DVD shop that sells a lot of esoterica, and I honestly don't know how they stay in business... we've had two such stores close in Sydney over the last two years...).

I like it. I don't know much about country other than the usual hipster stuff (Will Oldham, Wilco, Gillian Welch, The Byrds) - all of which I like also. Anyone know any good stuff to recommend? Gram Parsons? I tried to get into Johnny Cash but I just didn't care...

working girls

2008-05-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

So I am in this new surrealist/queer anthology entitled Madder Love.

I will be giving a reading this coming Friday, May 9th during the day at USF and I will read again Friday, May 16th at Small Press Traffic. Both readings are in San Francisco, if you want to come send me a message, there will be many interesting readers at both events!

Shameless Self-Promotion v.3.9

2008-05-03T10:29:00.001-07:00

The fab sci-fi magazine Atomjack just published my short story "Monkey Heaven," narrated by a rebellious helper monkey. Read it! Please.

http://atomjackmagazine.com/10/monkeyheaven.html

Words of the Weekend, v. 2.1

2008-05-03T10:24:00.001-07:00

Following Michael's lead;
some of my favorite words:

Swamp. Thrash. Thrust. Fist. Post. Rip.
Squelch. Stump. Trip. Break. Smash.
Truck. Spunk. Prance. Gargle. Grasp.
Thwart. Prick. Breach. Blood. Black.

WORDS OF THE WEEKEND

2008-05-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

My desk is littered with lists of words that I adore. Here's another...

1. Slunk.

2. Grim.

3. Trample.

4. Cycloning.

5. Bruiser.

6. Clocked.

7. Unsunned.

8. Taxing.

9. Stupefied.

10. Doody.

What's your favorite?

george shit

2008-04-28T21:27:00.000-07:00

Drag-queen extraordinaire Peaches Christ has just announced, via her weekly newsletter, that she is on the Board of Directors of an effort she's calling Operation Freedom Flush. "We are trying hard to gather 10,000 signatures from SF residents interested in re-naming the Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Facility the George W. Bush Sewage Plant," she says.

If you're interested in helping gather signatures for this movement, please stop on by Cafe Flore this Friday, May 2nd from 7pm-10pm. Peaches will be in boy drag helping to distribute signature kits and badges.

Here is this important organization's updated website

Where there's shit, there's George W. Bush.

At long last.

2008-04-24T16:29:00.000-07:00

Finally! Gregg Araki's 1992 hella indie film The Living End is coming out on DVD. Quick synopsis: Thelma and Louise if they were dudes with AIDS. I have been wanting to own this movie since I saw clips of it in The Celluloid Closet. April 29th, I've already pre-ordered it. Here is a link containing the trailer. It looks terribly 80's, but I love it already.

Sam

2008-04-19T16:50:00.000-07:00

This is my friend Sam. He is a musician and is working on a novel that one day hopefully we will get to see. We like to eat food and drink lots of beer.

This is his favorite youtube video:

You can listen to the music he makes by himself in his room here

Cover

2008-04-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

Running Press just sent me their cover design for the anthology. I like it a lot. Let me know your thoughts, everyone. (I know that not everyone in the anthology is American, or lives in the US, but this sub-title was decided a long time ago and I didn't want to turn away our English and Australian contributors, so there.)

The Early Days of a Better Nation

2008-04-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

I apologize for this, but I'm a political animal. I can not help it. And Sam Adams is a great person.

***

Dear Friends,

I don't know if you've heard, but here in Portland, we have a
very good chance of electing America's first openly gay major-
city mayor -- SAM ADAMS. I volunteer for Sam because he is a
progressive city commissioner with a track record of
advocating green, sustainable practices, public and bicycle
transit, and equality in all ways -- fiscal and social. So
far, he is the frontrunner in the mayor's race (the primary
is on May 20th), but another less progressive Democrat - a
travel agency owner named Sho Dozono - is challenging his
candidacy and making up ground fast because he caters more to
big business and motorist interests. Sam needs our help.

Even though most of you don't live in Portland, Sam's
candidacy is of national importance because Portland is on
the forefront of so many livability, environmental, and
community issues that impact all of us.

Sam's first campaign video really says a lot about him, and
it's quite inspiring, too. Watch it here: www.SamForPDX.com

Sam limits contributions to $500. I don't expect people who
don't live in Portland to give him $500, but even $10-$25
would really help. Please look into Sam on his website, get
to know him a bit, and give as much as you feel comfortable
giving. Donate here: www.SamForPDX.com.

Thanks. And please forward this to friends who you feel may
be interested -- spread the word.

Blair

self-admiration or self-love; a tendency to over-estimate one's abilities and importance.

2008-04-13T20:43:00.001-07:00

Look Book

2008-04-10T00:26:00.000-07:00

So I don't really know that much about this band. But last weekend my friend and I were laying on his floor staring at the ceiling listening to her vocals expand on the song "Believe The Hype DEMO" and we decided its a healing song... You know the type, your alarm is going off and you hate everything so you scramble to find the song to fix everything. I hope you enjoy!

They ALMOST make me want to go check out the Minnesota.

I love a man in uniform.

2008-04-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

So I've been slowly making my way through Death Comes Easy: The Gay Times Book of Murder Stories, and so far all the stories have been kind of okay, or kind of not okay. But now I've finally read one that's caught me square in the heart: Hugh Fleetwood's L&I. Peter can't help being in love with a horrible bully-turned-Nazi, and it makes his art better. Indeed.

Is it just me and Peter, or is it hard to look at a strapping Aryan man in one of those tight, black SS uniforms and not melt all over your feet?

Gimme Indie Rock

2008-04-07T18:33:00.000-07:00

I'm a horrible reader, so it's ironic that I'm a writer...

But I just finished this book and it was TOTALLY engrossing. I am not a huge fan of many of these bands, but their ethics, attitude, and lifestyle are really romantic to me.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how growing up with indie rock & skateboarding - and then living through the 90s "alternative" explosion - shaped me. What sort of ideals and attitudes towards underground culture did that produce? When being a "freak" became fashionable? Living in Australia too is strange, as the underground here is totally different...

This book is really well written and fun to read, and shows how the whole scene built up to & birthed Nirvana.

a poem

2008-04-05T05:26:00.002-07:00

I write a poem about once a year. Here's one...

#1

In a
1 A.M.
June outage,
I am
beautiful.

But
you're a looker,
a sight
every
single second.

(For Scott)

ABEL RAISES CAIN

2008-04-05T05:26:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Ms. Jenny Abel has created a fantastic documentary, Abel Raises Cain. It shines a million spotlights on her dad, Alan Abel. He's a famed hoaxer and a genius too. Check this out. It's brilliance. Buy the DVD. Visit http://abelraisescain.com/home.htm

miguel gutierrez

2008-04-03T22:29:00.001-07:00

http://www.miguelgutierrez.org/

To be young is to be sad

2008-04-02T12:29:00.000-07:00

I'm 29 today, so I hope all of you strangers will help me celebrate with your favorite drink. I was trying to think of the best birthday I've ever had, or to post pictures of me as a kid pinning a tail on a donkey, or a picture of the Michael Jackson poster I got from the Mitchell twins for one of my birthdays (he was wearing a canary yellow sleeveless sweater), but it's been a bit gray here in central Texas.

Yesterday was my super amazing sis-in-law's birthday, and she received the news that her application to extend her visa (in order to take a job at a prestigious university and contribute to this society, not to mention simply remaining a family with my brother and their 14-year old daughter) has been denied. Today I just want to be back at Showbiz Pizza playing Skeeball with my niece, spoiling her with tickets for obnoxious stuffed animals and Chinese fingertraps. Today I wonder what the phrase "a nation of immigrants" really means and to whom, exactly, it applies.

On that note, I'm having a big grill out party on Friday, so if you find yourself near Austin, then come over and we'll be not so sad together.

Oh the Cubs lost again. Ryan Dempster is our starting pitcher tomorrow.

p.s. I meant to ask all of you to talk about your best/worst birthdays.

p williams

2008-04-01T12:07:00.000-07:00

My friend P Williams is a great artist. He is obsessed with monsters and mythical stories.

One of my favorite pieces of his is a whale swimming through the sky with a gaping asshole, it's in his Dad's house and hangs above living room couch. His dad is also a great guy full of funny stories. Unfortunately the piece with the whale and the gaping asshole isn't on his website. Another one of his great pieces is of an octopus with condom arms. Enjoy the site!

Scott Heim event in NYC

2008-03-31T12:40:00.001-07:00

Please join Vestal McIntyre, Don Weise, Mitchell Waters, Bob Smith,
Jon Barrett, David McConnell, and Patrick Ryan

in celebrating the publication of Scott Heim's new novel

WE DISAPPEAR

Thursday, April 17

Reception at 6:00, Reading at 7:00

Open bar

LGBT Community Center

208 West 13th Street at 7th Avenue

$10 donation to the Center at the door

A Journey

2008-03-30T20:58:00.001-07:00

I finally saw The Darjeeling Limited this weekend. I'm a Wes Anderson fan, devout since The Royal Tenenbaums, however his latest flick failed to inspire me. I felt the concept was great, and setting was gorgeous, but I felt a disconnect with the characters. For me, I liked the movie more before I saw it, if that makes sense. Still, snaps for Wes taking a chance. Hope he has more commentary on broken people on the horizon.

spring is here, the sky is blue

2008-03-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

...though you wouldn't know it here in New York. Still not breaking into the 50s.

Aside from the weather getting warmer (I am sick to death of wearing coats), spring to me has always meant one thing: BASEBALLBASEBALLBASEBALL.

(Feel free to stop reading now)

Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1980s was a great era for sports fandom, and my family certainly instilled rabid homerism in me. During a birthday party or christening or anniversary or assorted family event, if there was a Laker/Dodger/UCLA basketball game going on, the TV would be blaring and everyone would be on couches or chairs or the floor (especially us kids), eyes glued to the screen.

Because of the success of the Showtime Lakers during this area, Magic Johnson's late-second baby hook in the '87 finals (vs. the Boston Celtics) is my first real sports-watching memory.

But the one that got me for life was Kirk Gibson's historic home run in the '88 World Series. It's when I knew baseball was for me, and when I thought I'd always bleed Dodger blue. Evidence!

And then the Dodgers traded away my first real baseball love, Mike Piazza, who would eventually end up on the Mets. I then gave up the Dodgers for the Mets (I, ahem, blog about the Mets here). Funny how men make you go against your morals. So now I'm all like this:

Anyway, the baseball season starts in earnest tomorrow. What I love aside from the beautiful men and the great uniforms and the sense of competition and the athletic feats are the great narratives that are created throughout the season. This season has more than its fair share.

1) Can the Boston Red Sox repeat and cement their status as the "New Yankees"? (contributor Michael Graves of Leominster, any thoughts?)

2) Can my beloved NY Mets put behind last season's embarrassing late-season collapse and redeem themselves this year?

3) Will contributor Michael Wolfe's beloved Cubs--entering their 100th season without a World Series title!--live up to Ryan Dempster's bold (and some would say foolish) boast that the Cubs would win it all this year?

4) How will the Yankees do without Joe Torre?

5) How will the Dodgers do with Joe Torre?

6) Will anyone else on this blog give a shit?

WORDS

2008-03-29T07:51:00.001-07:00

We're writers and we all love words. I often list my favorites. Here's a sample...

1. Snarl

2. Pesky

3. Snowballing

4. Doofus

5. Slicking

6. Blitz

7. Studded

8. Galore

9. Parade

10. Titter

What's your favorite word???

EVERYONE WANTS A PARTY

2008-03-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

This is my fourth birthday party. I'm beside my sister, Tina. She'll punch your lights out by the way. Look...I got a Snoopy motorcycle figure thing. I wish I still had it. Sad.

2008-03-28T18:37:00.000-07:00

I'm reading WE DIASAPPER by Scott Heim. I'm not sure what to think yet. I'm about half-way through, and I'm not sure where it's going. I like being confused though, and I like when characters say crazy shit. The mother in this book somehow makes crazy seem admirable. Anyhow, it's a cool read, which has been hard for me to come upon lately. I read that young adult vampire novel "Twilight", but I just didn't get it. It was all, "I love you. Oh, I love you too, and I could hurt you, but I can't stay away from you." In my day, vampires cut the shit and took care of business. I want vampires to bite, not love. Well, maybe bite when they're making love...

More Adulation for Kim Deal

2008-03-28T07:04:00.000-07:00

Will's post on the Breeders last night got me thinking of one of my all-time favorite albums, "Pacer," by the Amps. Kim Deal formed the Amps when the Breeders were on hiatus (writer nerds will like the origin of the name: it was originally "Tammy Ampersand and the Amps").

There's a Wikipedia entry for them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amps

"Pacer" is one of those albums that is so perfect, with so many tight amazing really powerful songs, that you listen to it and you think "how is it possible that this album never flickered on the pop/indie/rock radar?" The record label expected a big smash hit, so they made WAY too many copies, which is why it's suprisingly easy to find - all over the place at bargain bins and such - and i am sure it's out there on Pirate Bay or other Torrent sites too, not that I'm encouraging anything illegal.

And thanks to the magic of the internets, here is a YouTube link to the video for "Pacer," which will give a good sense of how lovely and sweet and strong the songwriting is on this album.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cFQJJkuJidw

violent endings

2008-03-28T03:46:00.000-07:00

I saw the Pixies play at Coachella a few years ago. Right before they went on the Cure was playing. After the Cure ended I walked toward the back of the crowd to smoke a joint, unfortunately I walked past a trashcan swarming with bees... I am alergic to bees... I got stung like 20 times... the pixies had started to play when this happened... I screamed and ran to the medical tent, I got shots... After I got the shots I told the doctor I had eaten a buncha mushrooms earlier in the day and I asked if the shots would effect them, he told me the shots would just make me feel HIGH AS FUCK... I walked out kinda laughing... as soon as I got fully out of the medical tent the Pixies started to play WHERE IS MY MIND... the perfect ending to a really WIERD day.......

badmouthing a namesake

2008-03-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

So when Blair proposed the title Cool Thing I thought it was fun and, well, COOL, but I neglected to realize that in my short story "Sixteen," the protagonist talks shit about Sonic Youth's "Kool Thing" when it comes on during a mixtape, but then subsequently praises the next song, "Safari" by the Breeders.

Forgive me, Kim and Thurston. Thurston, however, was kind of rude to me once, but whatever.

Since we had the video for "Kool Thing" on here, here's "Safari" by the Breeders. I dig the kind of 70s Sabbathy visual aesthetic:

And if anyone else is as obsessed with the Deal twins as I am, you will enjoy this Dutch (!) documentary wherein they come across as some kind of rocker version of the Beales:

Finally, their new record Mountain Battles comes out on April 8th, and it's great. Especially since they rescued "Regalame Esta Noche" from Jose Feliciano's clutches on my memories of hearing it coming from backyard fiestas while driving through East L.A.

The view from my window

2008-03-27T13:43:00.000-07:00

i like this view a lot. there's an orange food cart called sweet awesome, a rainbow, and some power lines.

Orange is The New Apple

2008-03-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

I took these shots in my backyard. At night, I find citrus trees creepy and beautiful. I have grapefruit, lemons, oranges and tangelos. This is probably the highlight of Florida living, along with the beach, and the smell of night-blooming jasmine in the fall.

Girls

2008-03-26T23:57:00.000-07:00

So this is Girls. In my opinion, totally worth a listen or twenty. I love the way his voice carries when he sings.

Spin Me

2008-03-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

I'm really digging the artist Sea Wolf right now. Some people say he's a flashback to chamber rock, but I think he weaves great spooky tales with romantic sensibilities. His new disc is stellar, and when he sings "you're a wolf", it makes me hard.

Feeling Nostalgic

2008-03-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

My shameful weakness for gay young adult novels has led me to buy Diana Wieler's Bad Boy. I read it when I was in middle school and have remembered it all this time because I thought Tulsa was the coolest name for a character (I have since named one of my own after him) and because it contained the sexiest scene in YA literature ever.

Tulsa's best friend just caught him walking out of a gay bar with Derek, his guy-that-he's-sleeping-with. As they're driving home (or wherever), Derek wonders why he never gets to drive. Tulsa says because it's his car, and so Derek grabs him by the hair, hard, and Tulsa can't help but be turned on. I will now transcribe for you one of my favorite crappy little excerpts of all time:

"Grow up, Lavalle. You could make me roll this thing."
Hypnotically calm, the words seemed disembodied in the night. "You worship this car, Tulsa. You won't roll it, not if you drive carefully. Besides, you love this. Look at you."
Tully didn't need to look. The speed and darkness and adrenaline had worked on him, despite himself. He was almost touching the steering wheel.
Tully's face burned. This was too far. This was arousal taken over the edge, a sudden, dizzying drop into something else. He was frightened. And yet...and yet...
"You jerk," he said, his own breath cutting him to a whisper.
"I always drive, Tulsa," Derek said, and he gently released his grip.

It took me a while to realize that there was a penis going on in that scene, that's how new I was. Mild teenage S&M between two hockey players on drugs in a fast car? Scandalous! Out of all the YA books I've accidentally read twice because they were so forgettable, this scene stayed with me for years. So hot.

Pressure

2008-03-26T18:32:00.000-07:00

I find this sexy, but I can't really decide why. Maybe it reminds me of CPR class during college. At my private liberal arts school, this is about as close as two boys can get without being labeled an item. Yummy.

new Ryan McGinley photos

2008-03-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

I really like these new Ryan McGinley photographs. For a while, I wasn't digging his work, preferring the early stuff that mostly documented his life in NYC, the stuff that was included in his first museum show at the Whitney. Even though these shots were taken on an all-expenses paid trip by Agnes B., they have what I found missing in his middle works. They don't feel staged; they're smelly. I love how they almost look like '70s porno out takes. He's got an exhibit coming up at Team Gallery in New York.

derek jarman take two

2008-03-25T21:56:00.000-07:00

Going off of the previous Derek Jarman entry; the following are segments from Derek Jarman's "Blue" series. He is one of my favorite filmmakers because he is able to create poetic images using video, music and words: the worlds he creates are typically severe and house violence, beauty, love, chaos, and humanity. This is one of his most powerful artistic statements. It's his response to aids. The blue tint is said to represent his failing eyesight, and the seemingly random/cut up video technique he uses to portray the image is his response to life as linear and life as reasonable. I hope you are able to enjoy him as much as a few of us do.

Also...

2008-03-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

I just watched This Filthy World with John Waters. I like a little old school dirty/fabulous now and again. It's pretty funny, especially if you start to giggle every time you think of John Waters, like myself.

The Queen is Dead

2008-03-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

This is Derek Jarman. He's a deceased British filmmaker, punk, poet, and visionary. I saw the documentary depicting his life (Derek) while covering Sundance this year. He worked with The Smiths and The Pet Shop Boys. He's the man behind the "It's a Sin" video. He inspires me to reach greatness. You should check him out.

Recycling Jenga

2008-03-25T19:29:00.000-07:00

This is just a little game that my roommates and I play to decide who has to take out the recycling. If you knock over the tower, and can't re-stack it in three tries, you have to take it out. We believe that these pictures paired with "articles" from our lj community (http://community.livejournal.com/lyrical_science/) would make a great coffee table book.

On one page, this photo, called Extenze. On the facing page, a breakdown of five types of ~~assholes~~ people you meet at liberal arts school. We think it's a good idea.

Art

2008-03-25T16:52:00.001-07:00

I took this photo a couple years ago in San Diego. I saw this kid on the street and asked if I could take his photo. He said, "yeah" and he was really sweet and smart.

Shameless Self-Promotion, v. 1.0

2008-03-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

Hey Cool Things,

For the third year in a row, I organized a joint reading for the Best Gay Erotica and Best Lesbian Erotica anthologies. Held at the fabulous Bluestockings Books, and hosted by the divine Ms. Tristan Taormino, it always gets a packed and very diverse house (i.e., it's not all gay boys on one side of the room scowling at the lesbians on the other side). If you're in NYC, and have a spare hour or so to check out some smart/hot queer fiction, you should totally drop by and check it out.

Sadly, I am super-swamped at work and life and will not be there to read my story "Short Sad Sordid Sexual Encounters," which was published in Best Gay Erotica 2008.

Yr pal and fellow cool thing,

Sam J Miller
www.samjmiller.com
--
--

March 24, 7:00 pm
BEST LESBIAN EROTICA & BEST GAY EROTICA 2008
THIRD ANNUAL JOINT READING!
Get a double shot of hot smart queer erotica from some of New York City's most provocative lesbian and gay writers. For the third year running, NYC-based contributors to the Cleis Press anthologies Best Lesbian Erotica 2008 and Best Gay Erotica 2008 will unite for a dynamic joint reading at the fabulous Bluestockings Books.

Hosted by BLE editor & Village Voice sex columnist Tristan Taormino.

Readers include: Charlie Vazquez, L. Elise Bland, Lee Houck, Sam J. Miller, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Taylor Siluwe, Andrew McCarthy, DL King and Tom Cardamone.

Location: Bluestockings, 172 Allen Street (btwn Stanton and Rivington), New York NY

Admission: Free!!

Yay!! This is really exciting!!

2008-03-23T22:31:00.000-07:00

The anthology and this video I found on youtube last week.

xoxo
stephen

cosmic joy

be as when you were born

when we sleep, and play and act natural

Cool Thing

2008-03-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

Here's Sonic Youth's Kool Thing video. The song is about women being oppressed, so I thought that theme worked for homos, too.

Cool Thing

2008-03-19T14:05:00.000-07:00

All the selections have been made for COOL THING, so unfortunately, if you haven't heard from us, you're not included in this book. That doesn't mean you won't be published soon, and you're all very talented writers. Thanks everyone.