show and tell

"normalcy is ok to a point -- but what do you get for it? nothing. you've lived your life in a normal way. and then, you've got a problem. because what have we been seeking this whole time? anonymity and normalcy? i mean, you're dead and you're glad that you were so normal?"

(1) dave eggers: here's an eggers interview from way back, right when his first book "a heartbreaking work of staggering genius" was hotter than hell. his various ventures -- from his tutoring centers, his lit mag "the believer," on to mcsweeney's, to the books that mcsweeney's publishes -- are all incredible exploits and he's been a star and a cult figure for quite awhile.

"you define a genius as someone who almost never has to second-guess what their instincts say, who knows things without ever having to be told them."

(2) aaron cometbus: every time i roll into a non-chain book store i keep an eye out for anything cometbus. if i see something, i buy it immediately. cometbus is a long running zine originally about punk bands but expanded to cover anything cometbus was interested in. the zine ran for over twenty years and is the defining work of the genre. it's tough to even call cometbus "sleeper great" because he really shouldn't be slept on. a 600+ page collection of some of his works are now available. i'm getting this guy, asap.

"summer is the season when all of new york hates all of new york. and no wonder -- the place is a fucking pit. a festering, sweltering piece of shit. you step out on the street and start pushing people out of the way. it's not just the isolated bad mood or a case of not enough cofee in the morning. no, every single person who hasn't escaped for the summer is feeling that same way. eight million matches crammed into a powder keg and ready to blow."

(3) hipstomp: leslie showed me this guy's blog last week and since then i've read as much of it as humanly -- and work permitted -- possible. leslie's roommate has been cast in his upcoming internet movie; sounds like it should be exciting. all of the stuff on his site is great actually. keep doing the good works.

"the bar's crowded, so after deploying shady to get the first round, the four of us split up and circulate. shady and jerry are both single, but mike and i have girlfriends, so for us two, talking to strange women is essentially an academic experience."

(4) conquer club: we've been playing risk, the classic conquering board game, online for a few weeks. it's free, it's not that time consuming, it's addictive. if you want to join our games, email me and off we'll go. seriously, this is the best thing to come along in awhile. work productivity guaranteed to decrease.

(5) this isn't showing or telling, more hiding and seeking. i've lost, misplaced, or had stolen my "my so called life" dvd set. i originally purchased the set when it came out years ago, for an astronomical price -- it included a collector's lunchbox, in my defense. now the damn thing is missing. i got careless with it because i figured that the set was widely available -- i saw it in best buys and fry's everywhere -- but then the supply suddenly dried up. full original sets of the dvds are going on ebay for upwards of $150. whoever i lent it to, i'd like my set back, thanks. there's only a handful of people who'd even want to borrow this thing, but i was convinced by fellow investigators that a worldwide a.p.b. would be the way to go.

i won't say i'm in a panic here, but yes, i'm in a mild panic. "angela, krakow is looking for you, repeat, krakow is looking for you."