*
p.s. Hey. ** Wolf, Sandals, what?! It's cold, Wolf, cold. Not deathly, but still. Even the bum-rush of your sarcasm hasn't raised the temp. It kind of snowed for a bit last night while I was zzzz, apparently, given the crusty looking world outside. Well, I'm so happy for you that you're so equipped against the chill. Your hypothermal death is one less thing for me to worry about in advance then. Excellent. I can layer, and I will, as the situation warrants. I'm tougher than I sound. No, buches are never gross. They can be interestingly failed experiments in taste at worst. To me. Michael spits out anything that doesn't taste like milk chocolate into a napkin, so he's the one who wants an ingredient list pre-purchase. Awfully delish meal you cooked and had there. I ate veggie dogs, what else? ** Un Cœur Blanc, Hi! Thank you again so very much for yesterday, and I, of course, was most pleased by the positive response. Beautiful further thoughts about 'TtO', my friend, thank you. I think you have suitably aroused interest in the book, yes, certainly. 'Slow Slidings' is lovely. I think it was in one of my '3 books I read ... ' posts. I don't know if I know of Anne-Marie Albiach, but what you included by her was very beautiful, so I will go investigate further. Your new cloud sounds most wonderful. Thank you for everything, of course. ** Allesfliesst, Hi. No, LA actually has ever changing and very interesting weather. It's just more subtle. It's sort of like the difference between a vegetarian diet and a meaty one. The weather in LA just doesn't have a crassness or hard edge except in very rare instances. It's complex and kind of weirdly minimalist and maximalist at the same time. Writing a novel set in LA with a concentration on the weather patterns and effects would be an interesting challenge. Mostly, novelists just write about 'the Devil winds' aka 'the Santa Ana condition', which is LA's unique and special and very unpleasant weather thing. We got a bare snow-dusting in the dark. Something to notice, but nothing on the order of yours. Nice pic. Hope you got to Hamburg okay 'cos that seminar you're doing sounds extremely interesting. Report back if you make it there and if your mood and fingers align appropriately. ** David Ehrenstein, Yeah, I think Hamilton's particular thing is starting rhyme with younger artists and those who think/write about art, which is really nice, I agree. I ... don't think I've seen that Malle film. Interesting. Obviously, I missed the reference. I'll try to go find it. Thanks! ** Cobaltfram, Hi. Oh, I think if I sat down and ruminated, I could think of a bunch of authors who've written very well about gayness, and perhaps I'll do that. Well, I guess you just have to let your book be as gay as you are in a casual way. Like it's just there and understood and whatever. As you know, I'm not interested in gayness and gay identity much at all. The only time that word ever comes up in my stuff is when the rare character quibbles with the identification. That's my only guess at how a writer ends up a crossover type like Burroughs or Genet or Killian or whoever as opposed to an overtly gay-categorized one like White or Leavitt or whoever. If 'Dark Souls' is online, I'll check it out, although the 'difficult' thing makes me wary, if you mean difficult due to difficult battling. Not into that. Difficult to solve strategically I like. But fighting-heavy games just frustrate and bore me. It'd be nice to have an Xbox, but there are a ton of games I've yet to tackle on the Wii, so I'm cool. I've never wanted at PS3 for some reason. No interest. Anyway, if you get six figures, it's a deal, you bet. Weekend seems pretty free, I think. I'm hoping to get back into my novel this weekend, if I'm lucky, so I should be around-ish in general. I have to do an interview about JT Leroy for some Discovery channel documentary about that bullshit, but that's mostly my only obligation so far. ** SwAmPeX, Hey. Even with English as your primary language, Blanchot is a challenge, so no sweat. Yes, I remember that you're in Argentina. I was just being greedy. If you do end up translating, just know I'm very interested. Same, of course, about seeing the short film if you upload it, with subtitles or not. I can try my rusty Spanish on it, and maybe I'll get a little cross-polinated understanding. It sounds very cool. A scholarship thing in France of course sounds like something to definitely strive for to me, so I'll hope that works out. A noir detective thing in a Wiccan setting, wow. That sounds super fresh. Yeah, that idea woke up a bunch of my brain cells. Wanting recognition is completely cool. I mean, artists who say that's not a factor in their wanting to make things and have people like their things must be lying. You should be positive. Being cynical and hopeless is really just self-defeating and about insecurity and bullshit. Optimism and self-belief can really make the difference between the talented guy who never employs their talent and the artist at large. Those qualities are as important as talent, I think. Anyway, you sound really good, man. That's awesome! ** Will, Hi there, Will! Good to see you! I hope you aced the exam. Did you? Since it's the final one, what now? What've you got planned? ** Sypha, Ugh, James. Yeah, check that shit out if it's still bad today. I'm glad you're enjoying 'Against the Day' That's cool. Well, you know, it's all taste and what you want and need when reading. Others' opinions are just like road signs or roadside ads or something ultimately. ** Billy Lloyd, Hi, Billy. A CD printer, right, that's a good idea. Seems like they'd have a reduced sales price these days? You never know, though. You'd think turntables would be really cheap these days, but they sure aren't. I looked at Magcloud a little. Yeah, very interesting. It made me want to do a zine or a chapbook. Maybe I will. A really ltd. ed. booklet or zine could have a been a good Xmas present or something, but it's too late. Two new songs! Great! Are they on your soundcloud? I'll go check. Nope, they aren't. Will they be? Wow, ha ha, about your rival doing a 'Flood'-like track. Yeah, top him. So to speak, ha ha. Weather's icy here, but it's okay. It just takes a while to get used to it, you know. Winter, what can you do? My day was okay. Yours seems to have been. Now there's today to conquer. Vexing challenge. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. Oh, yeah, I wouldn't put 'HM' up there with 'EtV' or 'ToL', but it was very appreciated. 'Turin Horse' was a 2012 movie in the States? That lag is weird, It was a 2011 film for us. You should see it. If you like Tarr, it's fucking gorgeous. Me being me, yes, I did know that about Pollard and Big Dipper, I'm kind of embarrassed to say. I'll write you back via email today or tomorrow at the latest. Good day! ** Steevee, Good, on finishing the piece. Do you know when it goes up? Oh, so you'll get to keep seeing your current psych due to the upfront paying? Is that what you mean? Well, that worked out okay, I mean other than the added expense. I still think/ believe that BEE's Twitter outrageousness is a calculated performance/ project by him. That's what makes the most sense to me, but who knows. To be factual, Bret wasn't entirely in the closet before he copped in public. I'm hardly a close friend of his, but it wasn't a secret or even something he kept secret if you knew him. So, maybe he was sort of in the closet or, rather, in the closet when he talked to the media, which isn't the same thing. ** Pisy caca, 'BtB' is great, and it's kind of formally different than the work you've seen by xTx so far in a very exciting way. It's even cold in Barcelona? I guess I think of it as being LA-like, or like LA with a higher temperature. It's chilly here. Nothing too scary so far, but it does put a crimp in the normally lovely idea of going outside. Love! ** Oliver, Hey! Oh, man, if you can and want to make a post, that would be crazy wonderful. Thank you so kindly for thinking of here. ** Foggy Sapphires, Good morning, if it's morning. It seems to be a degree or two warmer here today, so fingers crossed. Yes, I'm very interested to read your talk with Nick, of course. Very nice combo of minds there. And thank you a lot about the blog on behalf of the good people here who are largely responsible, and that includes you, so give yourself a hug. ** Misanthrope, My writing is a chore right now, unfortunately, but that feeling always passes, or it has in the past, so, gulp, and bright eyes. I know that brain dead look well, I think. Or I think I know what it feels like from the inside. Sort of how I feel when I finish the p.s. Your NYC targets sound fun. There's a 1D store? Well, yeah, I guess there would be. I remember the Menudo store. Just above 14th Street near Second Avenue. God, it could still be these. That would be weird. So, are you one of those girls who are clawing out Taylor Swift's eyes in their daydreams? Panchitos! What I wouldn't give for a Panchito's plate right about now. Sigh. Donut Factory! You'll see Alan, cool. I guess the zoo would be open. You mean the one in Central Park? I've never been to the Brooklyn Zoo, which is, I guess, the real one. ** 5STRINGS, So, I guess since my face on Facebook is still yawning as usual, that means my wall posts are just figments of my imagination? Could be. How would I know? I'm just the crane operating the fingers that type the code that constitutes me onto the world. Porn can make the dumbest theme seem transcendental. Sex is so weird. Telemundo used to be real, but I don't know now. I don't think they have Telemundo here. No, they must. I don't think I'll try to go find it. ** Bill P. in Chicago, Hi, Bill. Ha ha, I did check out a couple of your namesakes for kicks. They aren't so bad. You definitely are the guy who owns the name, though. Lovely thoughts on the great Blanchot. Thank you. You're writing again? Well, that's great, that's big! What are you writing? What can you say about it? ** Statictick, Hi, N. You don't seem fuzzed out to me, but I'm kind of fuzzed out over here. That always happens at first when it gets so cold that you have to keep the windows closed. Stark rules, baby! No, I didn't see 'American Horror Story' while in LA. Sucks. I did hear some of it in the next room while Joel watched it and while I did whatever I was doing online. It sounded kind of austere/horrific, which was good. Book I'm reading? I wonder what it was. I'm almost always reading something. If you remember, ask away. ** Jebus, Hi. I'm like the opposite. Well, no, I used to be the opposite in that I read almost only French fiction dudes. Nowadays I seem to read almost always American dudes and dude-ettes. If Alt Lit had been around back then, it would have been different. Anyway, I, of course, highly recommend the French dudes. They made me whatever I am today. So, there's a plus or a minus re: them. Yeah, she sang in the band. I think she might have played some kind of instrument, but maybe just a tambourine, ha ha. Yeah, Pavement-y. Back then, Frances was all about Malkmus and Jason Lowenstein of Sebadoh. I hear the US has been getting a warmish winter in general. Whereas they're saying Paris is going to be architecture inside an ice cube soon. Global warming is so bizarre. ** Totaldepravity, Hey there! Welcome! Now, there is a Dennis Cooper I didn't know about, and that one would seem to be my biggest competition. Weird. Thank you, depraved one. Come back any old time. ** Postitbreakup, Hi, Josh, Gathering that stuff is a great idea. I'm happy to hear that. Yeah, you wrote, and who cares if it's a bunch of stuff or some labored over tome. Send it out, or you can join the self-publishiong eBook phenom. Really, self-pubbed eBooks are, like, 70% of what I read these days. Anyway, good move, man, and, again, excellent paragraphs yesterday. ** Okay. I got a bunch of Xmas tree close-ups for you today. Advice: scroll in a relatively slowish manner, and you will find some cool hidden things and secrets. In any case, see you tomorrow.