Dec 29, 2008

Books Read 2008



it's that time of the year again...in chronological order, all the books I've read cover to cover in 2008...

1. Ecstatic Peace #2

2. Drill #3

3. Avow #17

4. Avow #18

5. Small Town XII

6. The Grand Piano Part 1

7. Sulfur #7

8. Gift Outright- Kevin Killian

9. Autoportraits- Stacy Szymaszek

10. Under A Gibbous Moon The Adventures Of Mister Funky- Larry Beresford

11. The Grand Piano Part 2

12. All Of Us The Collected Poems- Raymond Carver

13. Expensive Magic- Cedar Sigo

14. The Grand Piano Part 3

15. The Sandman Vol. 7 Brief Lives- Neil Gaiman

16. Preface To The Early Poems of Robert Duncan

17. Something (even human voices) in the foreground a lake- Kathleen Fraser

18. Plasticville- David Trinidad

19. Au Lit Holy or Transgressions Of The Maghred- Anne Waldman/ Eleni Sikelianos/ Laird Hunt

20. Clone School- Joanna Fuhrman

21. Small Kingdom- Sandra Beasley

22. Voice Notes: fox + three daughters- Adam Golaski

23. Beerspit #1

24. Site Cite City SF Works: Jan-June 2007- David Buuck

25. Comp.- Kevin Davies

26. Meat Is Murder! An Illustrated Guide To Cannibal Culture- Mikita Broltman

27. Beyond Good And Evil- Friedrich Nietzsche

28. The San Francisco Sound- David Larsen

29. Disembodied Poetics- ed. Andrew Schelling/ Anne Waldman

30. The Age Of Reason- Jean-Paul Satre

31. Five Fingers Review #20

32. The Adventures Of Huckleberry Fin- Mark Twain

33. Disposed- Steve Dickison

34. Plot- Claudia Rankine

35. Academonia- Dodie Bellamy

36. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets- J.K. Rowling

37. Transpiration/ Transpiring Minnesota- Robert Grenier

38. Mirage #149

39. Mirage #150

40. Work #3

41. Work #4

42. Work #5

43. Try- July 2008

44. The Grand Piano Part 4

45. Wanders- Robin Blaser/ Meredith Quartermain

46. Work #6

47. Goodnight Voice- Dana Ward

48. Mirage #147

49. You Better Ask Somebody- “Young” Brandon Brown

50. Book 6- Alan Davies

51. Tourmaline- Dorothea Lasky

52. Patzcuaro- Joanne Kyger

53. Mirage #148

54. Stone Marmalade- Kevin Killian/ Leslie Scalapino

55. Work #7

56. Work #8

57. Try- August 2008

58. The Grand Piano Part 5

59. Thrall- Susan Gevirtz

60. But I Like It- Joe Sacco

61. Cheap Imitations- Tetra Balestri

62. Late Editions- Emmanuel Hocquard

63. A Ring Of Trumpet Brass- Logan Ryan Smith

64. October Fires- David Highsmith

65. Animal Farm- George Orwell

66. Petroglyph- David Highsmith

67. Open Night- Aaron Lowinger

68. Double Impact- Michael Prince/ Kevin Opstedal

69. Interdiction- Michael Slosek

70. The Ancient Rain: Poems 1956-1978- Bob Kaufman

71. Japan- Maxine Chernoff

72. Any Time Now- Frances Jaffer

73. Organic Furniture Cellar Works On Paper 2002-2004- Jessica Smith

74. European Poems And Transitions Over All The Obscene Boundaries- Lawrence Ferlinghetti

75. Periplum Maps Our Stars/less Shores- Jennifer Koshkina

76. .compilate- J/J Hastain

77. Silver Standard- Justin Sirois

78. Weather- Richard Hell

79. The Particles- Randy Blasing

80. The Weatherman Turns Himself In- Leslie Scalapino

81. Our Beloved 26th- Riley Michael Parker

82. Close Encounters Of The Fourth Kind: Alien Abduction, UFO’s, And The Conference At M.I.T- C.D.B. Bryan

83. The Secret Meaning Of Things- Lawrence Ferlinghetti

84. Necessary Stranger- Graham Foust

85. Real: The Letters Of Mina Harker And Sam D’ellesandro- Dodie Bellamy/ Sam D’ellesandro

86. The Blood About The Heart- Sarah Menefee

87. High Life- Matthew Stokoe

88. Sessions 1-62- Eli Goldblatt

89. The Philosopher’s Club- Kim Addonizio

90. The Left Bank Gang- Jason

91. The Sandman World’s End- Neil Gaiman

92. The Screwtape Letters- C.S. Lewis

93. Work #9

94. The Poker #4

95. Watchword #4

96. ACTS #1

97. ACTS #2

98. Sermons From The Smell Of A Carcass Condemned To Begging- Tony Medina

99. My Afterlife Guaranteed- Nanos Valaoritis

100. 3 From The 70’s- David Highsmith

DINESH PATEL AND RINKU SINGH


"We not believing in Santa Claus, but JB sir say it true. Santa sir deliver us sweat shirts in night. we find morning. we still think JB sir. Dinesh write note for the thanks and JB sir say you send letter North Pole. We going on line and see no one living north pole. very crazy american festival."

you've heard of these guys...first Indians to be drafted by a MLB team (the Pirates)...i guess the MLB thinks India is a major untapped source for prospects...Dinesh and Rinku won some contest in India called The Million Dollar Arm and were promptly sent the the US to live and train for the possibility of a draft...and then they were drafted...and then they started a blog...and it's amazing...the video's are the best...i mean, how can you NOT just totally fall in love with somebody who blogs this: "One very, very bad thing about the news is that they say I on the BABEWATCH. This not true. i not watching girls. i only pitching, training, eat, watch baseball/Movies and sleep. American women very dangerous and very crazy. I like only Indian woman. Dinesh and JB, Sir have been harrassing me about this BABEWATCH. I do not like the BABEWATCH."

or this "We went with JB sir to breakfast at a great American breakfast eatery called Dennys. Rinku ordered a breakfast aclled the Lumberjack. We now know that a Lumberjack is a person who works as a tree cutter in the forrest so they must eat a lot of food. this breakfast was quite huge. It had eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, potatos, breads, and pancakes. I had French Toast and both meals were very fulfilling."


and this "In the USA we have noticed a trend. They have a tablet or machine for everything to help you.

On TV during the baseball games we have seen advertisements for tablets to help with sneezing, with shaky legs, to make you lose weight, to fix your hair, for ease in urination, and even a tablet for man and wife relations.

They also have machines for everything too! They have a machine to mix up fruit for protein shakes, and a machine to clean the dishes. There is a machine that sends water to your property. There is a machine that talks to you while you drive to direct you where to go. There is a machine even to open cans."


and this too "we are now at the point where we can understand very much when people speak. We are even learning some slang talk. like the other day one of the players on USC team saw another player eating and he said, “What are you cracking on DAWG.”

In America that means what are you eating my friend. Friends call each other DAWG here. Very weird."

enjoy for hours!!!





my phone broke...they're sending me a new one but it won't be here for a week...if you want to get a hold of me please call Cat or my brother or my roommate...Cat, Brother, Roommate...i hope you don't mind...

or email me at merkoneus@yahoo.com
Michael Davidson walks up to me while i'm bartending last night

he gestures towards the wine and says 'how much?'

and i say "five fingers...'

instead of saying 'it's on the house..." or 'free...' i immediately say 'five fingers...'

i haven't really used that term since high school

it just came out

and even in high school i never really gaffled anything

i mean, i gaffled an Old Dirty Bastard cd once from Tower but got caught

my mom had to pick me up

my friend Casey waited for us in the Anime section

Dec 28, 2008

MLA is in town...

me and Tetra "T-Rex" Balestri will be pouring drinks tonight at the SPD MLA Yerba Buena Poetry Reading Spectacular event...



an actual photo of my arm pouring a drink at a non poetry related event...



a photo of my kitchen BOTH BOTH the morning after...we won't have any of these drinks at the MLA event...just wine...

Dec 17, 2008

SEAQUEST DSV



LAW & ORDER: SVU



FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS



SIX FEET UNDER



THE X-FILES



BATTLESTAR GALACTICA



Dec 16, 2008

...

Friday:

watched Mystery Science Theater 3000 with C./ drank beers/"Oxycontin, i mean hydrocodone"/ Chinese food/ foot massages/ The Fugitive again/ drunken roommate "helloooooo?"/ sprained wrist ice skating/ ignoring cell phones/ Gumby

Saturday:

watched Tropic Thunder/ boo/ went to Indie Mart thing at The Independent/ didn't buy anything/ fled that nonsense/ met up with J. and B. and S. and Sondra and Manny (?) at Ziryab/ drank $2 pints/ froze/ got more beers/ went to J.'s/ DJ'd a Deep House set/ it ruled/ played a xylophone accompaniment while M. DJ'd a Deep House set/ it ruled/ finished beers/ B. came over/ J. came over/ P. came over/ B. and J. and J. and C. and me and M. and P. headed to the newly refurbished Mad Dog/ out with the stilt tables in with the leather booths/ it ruled/ drank pitchers in a booth-circle/ too many tv's not enough time

Sunday:

up and early in the rain for SPD's Open House/ it ruled/ saw Buuck and Angelos and Palmer and Rusty and Thanasis and Norma and Lyn and Craig and Stephanie and Kati Knox and my intern Chris opened up to me a bit while i overheard my other intern Nick talking to a cute girl in the kitchen about The X-Files Season 3

/ thought "i'm proud of you Nick"/ C. stopped by to see where i work/ i think i patted her butt in front of Norma Cole/ oops/ my 6 SPD Staff Picks 1. Necessary Stranger- Graham Foust (recomended with gusto) 2. The Front Matter Dead Souls- Leslie Scalapino (not sure if i could recomend it) 3. High Life- Matthew Stokoe (scat-sex and jack hammer fucking snuff film brouhaha...kinda dumb) 4. Sermons From A Carcass Condemned To Begging- Tony Medina (worst book of poetry i've read in 5 years) 6. Japan- Maxine Chernoff (an alphabet poem...nuff said)/ talked about song-poems with Andrew Kenower/ wrapped up the Open House/ drank a beer/ followed Andrew to his house for more beer/ walked Andrew's dog in the rain/ drove to 21 Grand/ Saw Jasper and Stephanie and KK perform poetry as rock show/ or poet's as rock stars/ hugged Ron Palmer/ hugged Clive/ thought "Clive gives the best hugs out of all these people"/ thought "i wish more poets would hug like Clive"/ got a peck on the cheek from Brazil/ talked about persimmons as money shot fruit with Lindsey/ hugged Boyer/ i think Boyer has the best timbre ever/ talked with KK about his SFBG interview/ SFist linked the interview as "Kevin Killian's penis"/ KK talked a bit about Arthur Russell/ Suzanne Stein in a pink rain coat/ wet on wet hug on Stein/ Clover messianic improv on Kylie video/ C. shows up and gets burned by the nuclear floor heater/ off to Luka's/ Brandon Brown's "Brian Howe"/ Buuck's burger/ does Buuck always get a burger at Luka's/ it seemed really familiar/ TAXT show talk/ Boyer's house as phantasmagoria/ lines of e while submerged in a deprivation tank as happy new year's/ broadside by Andrew/ lost in Oakland for 2 seconds/ then parking/ and pizza

Monday:

comp day/ spent in bed/ Transiberian/ it's okay/ The X-Files I Want To Believe/ it's bad/ crackers and more crackers/ sleep

Dec 11, 2008

long interview with 


in SF BAY GUARIDAN

Dec 10, 2008

Bob Gluck's class

SPD

MFA students

SFSU

Tonight

I open my mouth

For better or worse

Dec 9, 2008

i want

celebrity/ celebrity doppelganger thingy...

Zachary Quinto



and

Eli Roth

2 kinds of BO

1. the kind that smells like a lamb shawarma



2. the kind that smells like stale Lay's Potato chips



i think the potato chips BO is more repellent, it's less obvious, and i don't really understand it...
I FELT LIKE THIS LAST WINTER

POETS REMEMBER!!!




Dec 8, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZANE/ REST IN PEACE ZANE



i remember?


Friday:

X, beers, Log, Dim, Jon, Cat, First Fridays, Amber, vodka tonics, Small Town #13, Gary Gygax, Factory Records

Saturday:

coffee in the hood, crepes, Jeremy Fish Upper Playground show, mimosas in bed all day with C. listening to music, shower, stoop, beers, X, Earthworm, loopy, Suzanne Stein, grinding on Stan Apps's ass, Lindsey & Morgan, beers, books, Try, shirts off!, photos, Brandon's Liberace sequined bow-tie, Freestyle Fellowship, House music, trashed, stripping down to boxers and showing C. my dance moves, The Fugitive in bed at 3am eating mac and cheese

Sunday:

Punk Rock Breakfast at Danny's in Potrero Hill, mimosas, meeting Alex who says "you're C.'s Greek God...", blush, more mimosas, Fidel Castro, 1974, waffles and eggs and hash and pear "compote," C. explaining what "compote" is, meeting a girl named Deme, telling Deme that her shady D&D playing boyfriend sounds "chaotic neutral," explaining "chaotic neutral," Bay Guardian writers, dumpster diving, barking wolf spiders, Christmas spirit, bikes, back to C.s house for more mimosas, voyeurism in the kitchen, Othello the game, Foosball and mimosas, raver pics, off to Mission whatever bar formally Sadies, me and C. meet up with Logan, Mia tells me to drink vodka tonics, John tells C. to drink vodka sodas with grapefruit, Logan drinks whiskey?, pool playing sucking, C. hating on Metallica, me offended, losing 950 bucks to Log after i failed to make 4 shots in a row, me not paying Log, incredibly idiot conversation with bartender and his lady friend about a bunch of unmentionable stuff, Me and C. and Log and Bartender and Ladyfriend as only people in the bar makes for trashy conversation, BSG, trashed, pizza, Friday Night Lights Season 2, slumber, violent dreams about Molotov's

Monday:

semi-shame, coffee, pot roast, Greece is destroying itself, mom's birthday, talk to dad about Greece destroying itself
I FORGOT HOW TO BLOG

Dec 5, 2008

MURS



the fact that MURS is all over 106.1 KMEL lately is beautiful, invigorating and ironic...

i love it...MURS FOR PRESIDENT!

bully to you KMEL...didn't know you still had it in you...

i'm looking at all those early MURS tapes in my collection (Back For No Good Reason, ComMursial, F'real (c. 95-97))) and thinking hooray hip hop, maybe i don't hate your guts anymore, maybe i'll forgive you for being retarded for the last 7 years...KMEL as genre necromancer? wtf?...

Dec 4, 2008

SMALL TOWN #13 IS THE NEW BUFFPO/LUCIPO/FLARF LIST

DEAL
.


TOMORROW IN THE LOWER HAIGHT/ FIRST FRIDAYS!


JOSH WARREN'S 'GOODBIPOLAROID' OPENING AT D-STRUCTURE

I LIKE MY NEIGHBORHOOD

TONIGHT IN THE LOWER HAIGHT...

JEREMY FISH'S 'GHOSTS OF THE BARBARY COAST' OPENING AT UPPER PLAYGROUND

I LIKE MY NEIGHBORHOOD

Dec 3, 2008

i went dancing with Magie at Tiki Tom's the other night and didn't hear either of these amazing songs...


congrats sucker


a week from today...

i'm going to present something and then answer questions (???) for Bob Gluck's "The Business Of Creative Writing" class at SFSU...

sympathy to the SFSU student that looks to me for career advice...

Laura M. said "you can return to SFSU with glory...!"

honestly it's all very oblique...