yes yes again

It warms the deep-down cockles of my heart to think men like this exist in the world.

Via Jump Out Your Window

yes yes

In this week's New Yorker, Adam Kirsch tackles the legacy of Charles Bukowski and explains why he is so easy to love and so hard to admire. This prompts me to post my favorite Bukowski love poem of all time:

when God created love he didn't help most
when God created dogs He didn't help dogs
when God created plants that was average
when God created hate we had a standard utility
when God created me He created me
when God created the monkey He was asleep
when He created the giraffe He was drunk
when He created narcotics He was high
and when He created suicide He was low

when He created you lying in bed
He knew what He was doing
He was drunk and He was high
and He created the mountains and the sea and fire at the same time

He made some mistakes
but when He created you lying in bed
He came all over His Blessed Universe.

- "Yes Yes" by Charles Bukowski

things are gonna get easier

I just remembered a perfect New York moment that occurred on Saturday night. I met three friends for sushi in the East Village and afterwards, we stood outside the 2nd Avenue F station, talking and saying goodbye. A happy-go-lucky (read: high) homeless man approached us and pegged us as "creative people." He made us go around and list our various creative outlets and somehow, all five of us ended up in a rousing rendition of the soul classic "Ooh Child." Nice.

this week's netflix

The Grudge: I had seen a few scenes from Ju-On (the Japanese original) that really creeped me out (that little boy's big empty mouth in particular) and someone I know had to return the film to the video store the night it was watched in order to not sleep in the same apartment with it. So I was hoping for a good scare and I'd say it delivered. In some ways, Bill Pullman's death was the most disturbing scene in the movie. There was something invidious, though, in the way the majority of the victims were white, terrorized by these Asian ghost-demons. I think I prefer Japanese horror originals, even if they don't feature the uncanny Grace Zabriskie.

I Heart Huckabees: Yawn. Is Charlie Kaufman the only writer in Hollywood who can pen truly poignant existential plots? The release of this film did get me to watch David O. Russell's 1999 film Three Kings, which was quite interesting in light of our current situation in Iraq.

anxin'

I woke up to a breed of whoahsome anxiety this morning, which I suppose is normal considering I'm about to uproot my entire life. I was temporarily soothed by a good friend and...

...some guggenheim...

...some gates...

...and some more gates.

speak, søren

To venture causes anxiety, but not to venture is to lose one’s self. - Søren Kierkegaard

the arcade fire have disappeared from my IPod

Even if he is a much more successful writer than I am, it's good to know other people like Neal Pollack are skidding into middle age by my side.

in search of lost Proust

In case you were wondering who is responsible for keeping the last three volumes of Proust's masterpiece out of our grubby American hands, it's that dastardly Sonny Bono.

calling all picassos

Yet another excellent way to waste time at work...not to mention feeding your soul. (Of course, I would never waste time at work. I am only addressing all the time-wasters out there. You know who you are.)

via Lindsayism

Later: I am now l'artiste!

thank you, mister mitchell

I am enjoying the hell out of David Mitchell's novel Cloud Atlas. Sometimes I forget I'm reading it and then I remember and it fills me with joy. Cloud Atlas was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and won The Morning News Tournament of Books! If you ask me, it deserved to win them all...and just a little piece of my heart.

south by southwest

You can download MP3s from all the bands playing the South by Southwest Festival here. Check out:

The Be Good Tanyas

Laura Cantrell

Dogs Die in Hot Cars

The Earlies

Richmond Fontaine

Jolie Holland

Ida

Keren Ann

Kings of Convenience

The Lascivious Biddies

Daniel Johnston

Aimee Mann (natch)

Raul Midon

M Ward

Amy Rigby

Mavis Staples

Trespassers William

VHS or Beta

Willard Grant Conspiracy

covers everything with hair, even aluminum cans

This made me miss my girl D.