p.s. Hey. (1.) So, we haven't done a Self-Portrait Day in a while, and I think it's time. For those of you who might be new or newish to this blog, an SPD basically works like this: Usually at the suggestion of someone from around here, I pick a theme or topic and then ask both people who comment here regularly and those who read silently to send in an entry that both conforms to the chosen thematic and is revealing of themselves, and then I collect all the ones I've received into a giant, single gallery style post. So, sans further ado or whatever, I hereby announce 'Self-Portrait Day: Objects of Desire'. I think I held a very similar SPD here quite a while ago, years ago even, but when someone here recently suggested the topic, it seemed like a no brainer, and a lot of you weren't around when that earlier version was done, and tastes change, and blah blah. So, I'm asking everyone out there to pick no more than five objects of their desire and send the evidence of these choices to me. You can send jpegs (as attachments), imbeddable videos, links to elsewhere, text, artworks, etc., or any combination thereof. (Text explanations of your choices, short or long, are always a plus but not in any way required.) I guess by desired objects, I'm thinking desired humans, although only you can choose what's hot, so you may choose whatever you like. Obviously, your objects can be famous, people you know, strangers, imaginary, dead, whatever. Please send your entries to dcooperweb@gmail.com. The deadline for sending in your entries is your bedtime in your time zone on Monday, July 13th, but if you can send them to me earlier, that would help me out on the post construction front. Understood? Please do participate because these SPDs are always most successful when they're jam packed. Any questions, just ask. I'll post this SPD info in a box in the blog's right hand column tomorrow. Thanks a lot. (2.) Oh, and I want to highlight and announce this important news: The long awaited, already legendary online experimental literary journal LIESISLE, co-edited by the blog's own Magick Mike, is finally up, and it's an amazing thing with excellent work by, among others, a bunch writers who will be well known to those of you who frequent this blog, including Antonio Uridales, Alistair McCartney, Michael Karo, Mike Kitchell, Jose a., Pascal O'Loughlin, and Lawrence w. Seriously, this first issue of LIESISLE is a total knock-out, so do click this link and take a look. And now, seeing as how the Tuesday cleaning crew is hot on my trail, I'll get to it. ** You-x, Your albums' absorption got delayed to today due to a ton of away from home time yesterday, but listening is my first post-p.s. order of 'business'. I didn't get to the Japan Expo, sadly. I had no time, it turned out, and I'm still grr-ing about that. Yeah, I read and loved your book, and let me fish it out and talk to you about it tomorrow when I'm not doing my Tuesday scrambling, but, yeah, I thought it was fantastic. Thanks a lot for talking back to everyone yesterday. You're the best, man. ** Orestes, Hey, man. How have you been? What's new? Thanks a lot about the recent posts. London and the 'Jerk' experience was very cool, apart from the fire, of course, which was quite haunting and awful. ** Erik, Well, as you can gather, Yury's and my interests are pretty different. The thing is, our place here is so utilitarian and feels so temporary even if it actually isn't, that our quarters is just kind of an organized mess. The table where my computer sits is basically my turf, so it's piled with all my stuff, and Yury has most of the rest of the place, apart from some bookshelves, to himself. When I'm in LA, I accumulate a lot, and I tend to keep things for many ages longer than I really should rather than eliminate them once I'm over the hump of my interest, but here, I try not to gather things as best I can, and Yury's stuff is mostly clothes and cosmetics and that kind of thing. So, basically, our little messes get along fairly well. I'll try to take some photos or something so you can see. So far, not a lot of local beach stories to add to yours. Interesting. I'd guess we'll get some stories before the summer ends, right? I'll probably even hit a beach before fall rolls around. Paris sets up a temporary fake beach along part of the Seine every summer, importing sand and everything, so there'll be my report of seeing that if nothing else. ** Stan_cz, It's so great to find a writer soul mate, as it were. My favorite Celine is -- using the English title -- 'Death on the Installment Plan', but I don't think he ever wrote anything that wasn't top tier. ** Alan, Okay, I'll pass things along when I know of them. I mean, I think there are a lot of things out there, but I just don't seem to get in the habit of consulting them for some reason. You're writing in Text Edit too? Interesting. I like it because it's so extremely basic, although I'm going to use that link you posted because word count is one thing I do miss. Right now, when I want to know how long my thing is getting, I have to copy and paste it in a Word doc to find out. Oh, ha ha, yeah, the 'S.C.A.B. 2' thing. The great genius, to my mind, of the queer zine era was this guy Johnny Noxzema who did a number of incredible zines, and who had a vendetta against Burroughs due to his misogyny among others things. Johnny and I were buddies, and I must have contributed to his works in some way, I'm sure, even if I don't remember the specifics, and JG, who was already antagonistic towards me by that point for various reasons, was not happy at all. I'd be surprised if there aren't quite a few unpleasant letters from JG to me scattered through my archives. ** Katsim, Wow, I can't believe you're already finished with your trip. It does seem like you only just got there. Time is scary. Oh, I'll go look at your Facebook pix today, for sure. I'm most curious to see Fraser Island not to mention any visual evidence of your time there. ** Kier, Hey. So, so great to meet you! More, more. Yeah, it was nice yesterday with the post(s) and everything, right? So how was that 3D 'Bloody Valentine' movie. I've been very hot to see that since forever, and it still hasn't opened in France, which is pretty weird. ** David Ehrenstein, Thanks, David. I hope we'll get to do a 'Jerk' post from LA one of these days or years. Palin is definitely pathetic, I more than agree, and here's hoping the media loses interest asap and facilitates her quick devolution into the female Joe the Plumber or worse. ** Davidc, Yeah, really good to see you, and you seemed utterly lucid to me, although I was enslaved to the heat as well, so perhaps a playback of our visit would find us peeking through our fingers, but I doubt it. ** Squeaky, Word has it that they didn't end up needing the SLG as a shelter after all. A more shelter-like space was found nearby. Just hearing about your lengthy SF trip makes me giddy too. I wonder if it won't make you want to move back there? ** Tonyoneill, You're incorrigible, ha ha. Oh, wait. Everyone, If you happen to be in the NYC environs tomorrow, the extraordinary writer and d.l. Tony O'Neill will be reading with a guy named Rob Plath at KGB tomorrow evening, and being there is a must. More info here. Oh, Sebastian Horsley came to see 'Jerk' in London with HP's Carrie, and I chatted with him for a bit, and he is such a totally charming guy. That was cool. ** SYpHA_69, Before you give up on Sade, you owe it yourself to try '120 Days of Sodom', which is, in my opinion, his best by light years. 'Justine' is easily my least favorite of Sade's major works. But do give '120 Days' a shot at some point. I think that might be the best way into Sade for you as it was for me. ** Kiddiepunk, Nice weather out, eh? Talk to you in a bit. ** Oscar B, Paris is all spring-like today, sigh. I hope you got some spring simulacra after your rain. Oh, okay, on the deadline. Mm, I think I'll talk to the powers that be here early next week because I'm sure it'll take a few days for the process to even begin. Fingers heavily crossed, and I'll let you know what I find out, even if it's only a vibe. Excellent on the MJ documents, yum, and I'll go look at the new drawings very happily in a bit. ** Pascal, Hey, pal. Got the email, and I'll post the poem with accompanying posed question in a couple of days. Should be very interesting. How's the novel reworking going? Thanks so very much about 'The Anal Retentive ...' Very kind of you, man. ** Empty Frame, As much as I'm determined and jonesing to move back to LA, I think I'll be here at least most of the time for another year. At the moment, the desired situation would be getting my bf a tourist visa so we could start spending more time in LA and living sort of half here and half there, but we'll see. So kind of you about helping me get to Berlin. Gosh, I don't know, anything would be okay. I've never read or done any kind of event anywhere in Germany. I've never sensed that my work is very well known or liked there, but I don't know, and Berlin doesn't seem like it's very typically German. 'Jerk' is playing in Berlin in December, which might be a good occasion except that I think that's before you're there. I'm game for anything and grateful for any possibility. So what are you doing and working on right now? You're still in England for a while yet, yes? Maybe some bookshops in London or somewhere sell imported copies of 'Ugly Man', but I don't know. I don't have a UK publisher at the moment, so importing it is the only way to go. Weird that my name isn't even in the system, though, since I think seven or eight of my books were published there and are in print as far as I know. Hm. ** JW Veldhoen, Well, yeah, totally, on the NYT review and more precisely re: your general point. Apart from Bookforum and maybe the NYRB and oddities here and there, I expect to learn so little from print coverage of books now. Print reviews are just opinionated press releases for the most part. Sometimes the negative reviews are cheap fun or mildly infuriating, but that's about it. I find almost everything, and I learn what I need to learn in advance about books, online and almost nowhere else now, which is actually just A-okay and preferable. ** Steevee, I hope you get some encouragement or decent tips from your friend of a friend. Mm, that's what I pretty much expected about 'Bruno'. Oh, well. ** Blendin, Uh oh, I'm getting this vibe that the LA move might not be panning out? Is the sad state that drastic? Hope not. What's going on? ** Math t, Hey. Um, you know, I did detect a certain difference in the UK Pizza Hut pizza. It had more ... substance maybe? More heft? More in the bread/crust than in the toppings. Not to say it was good, of course, but my stomach didn't feel as lonely with it inside as when American Pizza Hut splashes down. I might be tripping, though. Oh, shit, I'll go make the change in the post right now. Hold on. There, done. Sorry about that. What's the deal with American Apparel and Butt Magazine? Someone was just asking me the other day why AA is so gung-ho on Butt? Maybe it's just over here, but every AA store in Paris has the magazine on heavy display and with much pushing customers to buy it attached? ** Uli, Oh, yeah, I guess the cryogenics thing was too much to hope for. Not that I was hoping for it. I mean, who cares? It just seems like MJ's death is finally running out of weird twists and turns, and I was hoping for a new one. ** Chris, Oh, let me know what you see/find. I'm surprised there isn't more 'Them' stuff in my archive. I thought I remembered giving them a lot of things, but maybe they're still in my LA apartment somewhere. Anyway, it's awesome of you to take on the role of 'Them's' scout and foot-soldier and investigative reporter. ** Marc, Novel ... you're writing a new novel? Or do you mean the one you sent me, because I thought that was finished? (Btw, I haven't started reading it yet, ugh, sorry, due to LHotB submissions being backed up and my usual slowness re: everything except the blog.) Anyway, I don't know, man, about the novel. My policy is always to put things aside when they get like that. I never really abandon anything because it's amazing how things that look like shit can attain a golden glow over time. Very cool about the remix. Comanechi: yeah, I like what've heard of them, which is mostly the 'Death of You' and 'My Pussy' 45s. Let me know if your EP gets a UK release. Awesomeness on that possibility. ** NB, Well, howdy there! Thanks for coming in from what I imagine to be the scalding summer Texan heat. Strep is not good news. Nor is your laptop screen breakage. Mm, dude, it doesn't sound to me like you've had the best ever trip. Although learning that Shai talks like a TV game show announcer is revelatory if strangely appropriate enough news that I think it was probably all worth it. Do your parents have Texas accents? Do your friends? What else? Oh, it's so good to see you, pal! ** Flit, Oh, I should, uh ... yeah, let me ... Everyone, Flit, who is a rather sublime visual artist and d.l., has a question for anyone out there: 'So, I have been thinking about flypasting, wheat paste and graffiti; my work so far has been insular and implosive, I kinda want to take it into the street. Does anyone know anything about flypasting on a semi-large scale ... hints on achieving textures ? Oh, and if anyone wants to model for me. Feel free to email. No ideal models. I more interested in mirrors, if that makes sense, and I am hardly ideal.' Please, whoever and wherever you are, if you have some relevant knowledge or wish for photographc immortality, help Flit out via the comments area or elsewhere. Thanks. ** Magick Mike, Yeah, as I said in the announcement above, the first LIESISLE turned out incredibly well! What a wealth! Great, great work, man! I read a bunch of it this morning with my coffee, and I'll be all over it for days to come. Yeah, thanks a million, Mike. ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Tough choice there between 'Poultrygeist' and 'Empire of the Senseless', ha ha. I have a soft spot for Troma. I don't know that I would actually spend money on a Troma DVD, though. That might be a difference. I noticed on Facebook this morning that one of my friends there just joined a group called 'Gregg Araki is more talented than David Lynch', which kind of a weird, defensive name for a group, I thought. Why not go whole hog and call it, oh, 'Gregg Araki is more talented than God' or something. Okay, V. it is. Isn't there some scifi film thing called 'V.'? My day? I was kind of spaced out, but it was okay. I had lunch with the Jonathans, and that was very nice. My pal Gisele had her wisdom teeth taken out, and that wasn't very nice. I was barely home. The weather was ace. I worked on my non-fiction book. Uh, eating and so on. That was it. Today remains a mystery apart from more work on my non-fiction book, seeing Kiddiepunk, and getting kicked out of here by the cleaning crew any minute. And your day? Pray tell. ** Postitbreakup, Two days in a row here, nice. Keep it up, man. Tell me what's going on with you right now. Tell me what you did today in every detail. ** Misanthrope, Yeah, you should have been there. London, I mean. You should come to Avignon next summer. That should be a shebang. No, I don't want to see the MJ corpse picture. Things like that just make me feel bad weird. It just doesn't hold any interest for me at all. Don't know why. I think I told you I mistakenly looked at the picture of River Phoenix in his coffin years ago, and if I could take that back, I would. ** Panda?, Hey, man. Yeah, I got the pic, thanks a zillion. Everything's cool and on course. I wrote to my publisher to find out where that interview was for because I just can't remember. I like doing in-person and phone interviews because I just talk and don't care or think about what I'm saying. Email interviews aren't so much fun because I end up spending way too much time trying to say exactly what I want to say. I'm very glad your headache finally died. Probably one good night's sleep will take care of the afterburn, right? ** October, Hey, man. Gosh, that October possibility might really work out. I always do everything I can to go home to LA in October so I can have a real LA Halloween with lots of spooky house visits. So that might well be the thing. You want to hit some spooky houses? I can show you the best ones. I'm kind of an expert on that stuff if I don't say so myself. ** Okay, that's it. If you don't know the work of La Fura dels Baus, today's your chance to check them out initially at least. Start thinking about your SPD entries, please. I'm out of here now for the next 24 hours as per almost always, and I'll see you again at the usual time tomorrow.