Sitting at work protecting the glass double doors from unknown terrors, I watch the pumpkin colored leaves catting after one another along the sidewalk, and I know, I say, This is autumn. And this makes me think, quite naturally of…well, Scholastic Book Services, specifically the Arrow Book Cl/… Read full post »

I’ve referenced elsewhere (“When I Write of the Veldts”) of the various postmodern riffs, pastiches, and sheer parody that I’ve shaken out of Thomas Mann’s novella, Death in Venice. I’ve spoofed it from Tadzio’s point of view (in which the boy remains/… Read full post »

Earl Thompson is the writer most people have never heard of. Those that have read him understand this and feel safe stealing from him. His time, they must innately feel, has come and gone, and won’t be round again ever.

I’d be just as dry on the subject if… Read full post »

Quite a number of you have encouraged me to stop writing for free and to hie myself hither and thither to a magazine. A few of you have also pegged that maybe I have had some past bad experiences in the trade...well, shall I go on?

There used to be… Read full post »

Out of my car window, he caught my eye. I watched him squinting up at the chilly blue sky, slouched over the cold metal roundabout seat burdened with dirty baggage. I was afraid he would see me. I waited for the light to change. But he did not turn my way;… Read full post »

Years ago, I worked with the shit string out of Canada, Thompson Newspapers. I’ve rarely seen a cheaper, more skinflinted operation. I started out as a minimum wage dockboy but wound up in circulation—much to the quick chagrin of my cocaphile boss. He came to think that I was too negative… Read full post »

On this day when the Empire State Building is gaily bedecked to honor the rise of The People’s Republic, it seems appropriate to take stock of the narrowing gap—culturally and philosophically—between our two nations. I’m waiting to see if the owners of the ‘State also pu… Read full post »

If I remember my schoolboy history, Thomas Jefferson’s evacuation during the 1812 War was delayed as he tried to secure the fate of his books. Even as a ten year old, this didn’t seem strange to me. I placed a high value on my own library, which was pretty flush… Read full post »

Gore Vidal once said, “I’m not interested in meeting other writers.” A little disingenuous perhaps—so much of his votive anecdotal material being tied to the apron strings of… encountering other writers. At his level, he can afford to be snobby; his cachet benefi… Read full post »

I have no picture of it, this house. What I have now is a broad lot, captured all these years later on memory card by a friend. As I look at… Read full post »

Seeing that AMC was redoing that old ITV chestnut The Prisoner, I could not stifle a groan. We know what “new and improved” means by now; I think AMC ought to concentrate on doing something original, and that they already do well, like Mad Men. The new Prisoner will star Jim/… Read full post »

My father is the natural villain of this piece. When I first came to know him he was bundled with fresh ex-Marine macho conformity and pettifoggery. His redemption was elsewhere—and it came, eventually. But we will not reach that far tonight.

It is the crest of 1970. I am… Read full post »

Michael Steele appeared on some newschat today to congratulate the barbarians at the gate. He helpfully informed us that the “47 million uninsured” were really only “more like 18” or so million. Well, yeah.

Was it really six million or only five-point-five?

Let&… Read full post »

Some of you have PM'd me about the large (40 x 60") paintings seen in an earlier post. Yes, when I'm a-not pimping my writing, I pimp my paintings! I paint in a style sometimes called "California Surrealism" (because of its early West Coast associations) or "Pop Surrealism"...the style relies on… Read full post »

…Clothes are white noise to boys. Clothes they throw over their skin—like soap and water—because you make them. They do not form emotional associations with clothing; they form emotio… Read full post »

As it gets on towards my birthday, one of the more evil stars, Sirius, comes to dominate the sky. This period was classically observed as the “Dog Days,” when seas boiled and wine soured, when dogs ran rabid and the rains faded, and brothers plotted evil against one another.

I alway… Read full post »

You almost can’t land on a personal page of blog, art, etc. and not somewhere see the “donate” come on. If you like my work, please cli… Read full post »

When the Berlin Wall fell—generally realized as a good thing—the media began to nose briefly into the fate of its Red citizens. What sticks with me is not the drunken dismantling photo op party and sledgehammers and Pink Floyd. It’s the old man who had the State Run Zoo in East… Read full post »

This country needs a paint job badly. So why should A-Temps be any different? Still I’m surprised to see how the mighty organization has folded—or took advantage to look as cheap as it really is.

I couldn’t craft a parody of the workcamp atmosphere of the New Employment… Read full post »

Yes, I should be asleep just now. There’s a dark foot of water in my tub with an abrasive measure of Liquid Plumber pooled round the dead drain, forming a handsome rotating chemical constellation. Tomorrow the maintenance man will drop by—so they tease—and I can start showering agai… Read full post »

I’m not flouncing, and I don’t have any grudge against Open Salon. It’s just quits now for me. I’d like to thank you hardy, you brave—and you few—who have regularly subjected yourselves to my rants, speculations, memoir, fanfare, etc., since last January.

There are… Read full post »

Strange, then, that my thoughts are on Old Blighty this 4 July, rather than the US of A. Don’t get me wrong—I’m not an anglophile. I’m not one… Read full post »

Call me Ishmael. Wow. As opener, that line is boffo: punchy, and delivers you to the scene, with sirens. Neither Hammet nor Chandler could top that one. Not even Lester Dent could have grabbed the jugular that quickly.

Unfortunately, it is a ruse—because it is all kudzu from… Read full post »

As Farrah Fawcett has found out—so to speak—there is no worse fate for a celebrity than to die in Michael Jackson’s shadow. I’ve just seen that the scheduled “F… Read full post »

PAID FOR BY THE COMMITTEE TO RENEW HOSTILITIES WITH JAPAN, D. RUMSFELD, TREASURER Read full post »