overheard at Ezra’s Pound 8 min @ Ezra’s Pound, Dupont St. “Say something!” We’ve been in this standoff for fifteen minutes according to the industrial sized clock on the studio wall. I have accepted so many things over our three years. I have accepted you just as you are. You’re a freaking artist, you’ve never thought inside a box in your life. Maybe you really don’t know what the hell a box is. I like Read more
As time passes and the cells tire I find my vice count dwindling. Some things I’ve simply gotten smarter about, like smoking. There is still a Pavlovian trigger when I see an image or movie from France, Spain or Italy, but the desire to follow through and actually stick a cigarette into my mouth is lacking. Finally. I backslid a quarter-dozen times in the seven years it took to reclassify myself as a non-smoker. Read more
The Godfather by Mario Puzo 8 min @ The Tampered Press, TO The center will not hold and things will fall apart. You told me that would happen but I didn’t care. I wanted what I wanted and what I wanted was you. I didn’t care how much of it you were willing to give me. I had a super persuasive argument called a Brazilian bikini wax. You didn’t even want a one night stand. Read more
Birds of Jamaica by Frank Bernal 8 min @ Noir Coffee & Tea, TO Kate and Robin hadn’t said a complete sentence to each other since 1995. Quite a feat in their garrulous and extended Irish family. Kate facilitated the arrangement by constantly being on assignment with Doctors Without Borders whenever the holidays rolled around. Robin was convinced Kate thought this made her a superior human being. Kate thought this just made her equal parts Read more
Pop.1280 by Jim Thompson 8 min @ my desk I knew from the first time I saw that boy with his sister he was wicked. She was axin’ him to get inside and fetch water for the bird on account of it flying into the window. He stuck his lip out and said he wanted to see it first. His eyes was naturally small so they was easy to look mean. She held her hands Read more
What if instead of just checking off a name you had to justify it? Right there on the ballot. But in your own words. It’d still be anonymous but you’d have to vouch for your choice – I pick Mitt Romney because he looks like me and I believe he’s going to keep my taxes low. Or I pick President Obama because he looks like me and he’s going to make sure I have healthcare. Read more
Sutton by J.R Moehringer 8 min @ my desk When I was little I could talk to fairies and other spirits. And then they shunned me. It wasn’t my fault. I tried to tell them I didn’t even ask for the book. It was my sixth birthday and Aunt Sylvia turned up with her flamingo pink smile and matching nails. She always wore matching nail polish and lipstick and said you should never leave the house Read more
The First 90 Days by Michael Watkins 8 min @ my desk, Toronto, ON He is doing it again. And he is getting away with it, again. Just because he has that big rich voice equal parts molasses and honey, people lap up whatever he says. I hate these faculty/student evenings at the Dean’s, mostly because it is fertile territory for his prowling. He’s holding court and using the ‘Royal We’, which I hate. But the Read more