Ryan Adams

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I listened to Ryan Adams' "The End" 37 times in the past 24 hours, of which 29 times were while I laid on my couch staring at the ceiling thinking NASCAR. I love the song: love it!!! The twangs, the slides. I also downloaded Heartbreaker. I really do immensely admire Ryan Adams' Jacksonville City Nights...most especially "The End." And I do have a sweet spot for NASCAR matchbox cars. I've bought 13 for my youngest son Brayden and I'll tell you which ones if you ask nicely.

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There's an open mic night this weekend at The Writer's Place celebrating the 40th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's On the Road. I'm not going...definitely not going. But I will be drinking whisky, triple Belgian ale, Russian lager, and watching Lost. All at the same time: I like whisky with a beer chaser. I also like fake centipedes but who's keeping track. 12 days since I last (blank)...I won't say 12 days since what...I'll leave that up to your imagination.

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Rejections to date: 740. Keep it up! Way to go! (whistles, hoots, hollers, more whistling, a couple winks...can't you tell I'm walking the red carpet in front of my adoring fans).

The Future

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Five ways to go:

1. A caviling rant against "the scattered babblings" of drunken narcissists (a la Charles Bukowski wannabes: Yells, drunken slurred speech, Yells, Yells, drunken slurred speech, hush, hush, George Bush sucks, Yells, Yells, more drunken slurred speech...The End!)
   
2. A play-by-play commentary on WWE Monday Night Raw which my kids are watching with my wife right now (I think Rick Flar just retired...wow he's flabby!)
3. An essay on dismissiveness and the dangers of online dating services for dogs (MLA or APA???)
4. Engrandizing self-promotion and the endless search for self-fulfillment via knitting clubs("I just donated a scarf to the homeless shelter...my good deed for 2008 is done...now I must put a picture of 'homeless Bob' on the refrigerator wearing the scarf I made...here, I'll use my poetry magnets...perfect!")
5. Or none of the above.

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Rejections to date: 738. Today it was Southern California Review. I love rejections as much as I love Oreos and I just went through a package of Double Stuff Oreos with my wife in less than 48 hours: purchased at 7:16 pm on Saturday night.

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I finished Scientific American Reports' special edition on robots during lunch today. In the future I will control things with my mind via tiny microchips implanted in my brain. Seamlessly flip through channels on the television , control my robot vacuum cleaner, turn off the lights, turn on the microwave and warm up a bowl of Tomato soup, or perhaps even toast some Pop Tarts. Commanding robots by thought will be fun!

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Coming Attractions: thoughts on Pleiades, comments on Bredle's Standing In Line For the Beast, the side effects of Chantix, and what I keep in my top dresser drawer (which one: left, right, left, right). Fuck it, I'll stick to the first two.

Uneventful Weekend

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Very, very uneventful weekend: watched Spongebob Square Pants with the kids, did laundry, played with cars and moon sand (I hate moon sand: it shows up everywhere), watched a little more Spongebob Square Pants, the boys played Lord of the Rings video game on Xbox, cleaned the kitchen and dog poop in the backyard, played baseball with the boys in the poop free yard (after buying whiffle balls, a new Easton Little League bat, and a glove for Gavin), beat my son twice in FIFA Soccer 2006 (I should have let him win...but I just couldn't), played UNO a lot, and much, much more. At night I drank Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch (not the best whisky but it did the trick) and watched either Lost or Battlestar.

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I also finished Redivider (5.1). My favorites:

"Pathogenesis," Dan Pribble
"La Maison du Fada," Rebecca Hall
"Poor Yorick," Adrianna Ranta
both of Sue Standing's poems: "Deseret" and "Under the Sign Of"

I was also able to add one more book to my Book List. Sue Standing was published by Four Way Books back in 2003: False Horizon. Again, this is a little obsessive but I collect books based on publisher because I would rather have, for example, 10 Four Way Books books on my shelf so that I have a better feel for Four Way Books. Four Way Books happens to be on my "collect from this press list" and I have 12 titles in my office.

I don't like plithera of different individual titles from different presses spattered across my shelves. This is good because I believe I can gain a greater appreciation for individual presses but it can also be a bad thing because I procrastinate picking up individual titles with presses I'm not collecting currently. Which is why I break the rules from time to time or if I really want a specific book, like Michael Dumanis' My Soviet Union or James Allen Hall's Now You're Enemy I break down and buy 3-5 titles from U Mass Press or Univ of Arkansas Press. So, if anybody has any suggestions for poetry from U Mass Press or Univ of Arkansas Press I'm all ears. I have a small working list of authors but I'm not familiar with many of the poets published by both presses.

3

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I accomplished my goal yesterday of submitting my poetry manuscript to 3 presses and/or contests in March. I have the same goal in April: it's time to develop thick skin with the manuscript. I've been rejected 737 times by journals so I've built up pretty thick with literary journals. But presses that publish chapbooks and book-length manuscripts is another beast. My manuscript took my 5 years to finish. I officially finished it in early March. I already hate it and loathe everything about it, which I hope is normal. But I now feel free to pursue new ideas, etc.

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I'm loving David Roderick's Blue Colonial: both wonderfully crafted and elegant.

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I hope to post "The Fat (Book Review #2 & 3)" in the next two weeks. The books: Jason Bredle's Standing In Line For The Beast and Kevin Prufer's National Anthem. It's not NewPages but I enjoy writing about other people's work.

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On deck tonight: New Belgium 1554 Brussels Style Black Ale and more Battlestar.

Lack

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My writing life over the past week can be described with one word: lack. I went from writing everyday this month to not writing for a full week: very disappointing.

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I just finished Standing In Line For The Beast and have moved onto:

Jon Anderson, Day Moon (Carnegie Mellon)
David Roderick, Blue Colonial (APR/Honickman First Book Prize 2006, Copper Canyon Press)

They're both from a few years back but I've been looking forward to reading them for some time and those of you who know me know that I collect books by press. I'll buy 7-10 books at a time from a specific press as opposed to buying randomly or by author or new release. I like to support presses and get a feel for the larger body of work they're producing as opposed to single poets/authors here and there. It's a little obsessive as well...or uptight...take your pick. Plus I like uniformity on my bookshelf...which is pathetic.

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Battlestar was awesome last night. As was Lost's "Confidence Man." On to disc 3 from season 1 of Lost.

Weakness

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I gave in to weakness today: I purchased Battlestar Galactic season 3. There was a delay with Netflix, Megan forgot to send back our movies 3 days in a row, and my brother-in-law and sister have disc 1. Obviously a recipe for jealousy and envy. I couldn't wait...I'm pathetic. And what's worse? I also bought Family Guy seasons 1 & 2 because they were on sale for $19.99. I thought it was a steal for 28 episodes. I was a sucker more like it; a perfect example of an impulse buyer. But you know what...I'm going to enjoy my weekend: Battlestar Galactica, Family Guy, Guinness, and a little Belgian ale to boot!!!

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I got a poem accepted by The MeadoW today: one of the most professional journals I've dealt with thus far...and I've dealt with a lot.

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Rejections to date: 737.

Lost

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I received contributors copies for both Out of Line and Buffalo Carp. Out of Line is a wonderful journal dedicated to social and political issues (i.e., social harmony and justice). Buffalo Carp is based out of the Quad Cities (i.e., Davenport and Bettendorf, IA, and Moline, Rock Island, and East Moline, IL). Dorothy Lasky appears in Buffalo Carp. I have Awe, her book from Wave Books, and am looking forward to reading it very soon. Both journals look great and I can't wait to dig in.

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I am officially hooked on Lost. I've put off watching Lost because I was a fan of Alias and J.J. Abrams' eventual proverbial "dropping of the ball" with that show made me hesitant about jumping into Lost. But all it took was the pilot episodes and I was hooked. So now Battlestar is competing with Lost in my Netflix que...oh the drama!