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The Spaces Between
Posted 9:03 AM, Jul 29, 2005 |
the spaces between the broken plates
and glasses is the shape of a guitar,
the strings curling out from the pegs
like your hair, wild in the morning,
or strung out
from pulling.
the hole in the wall from the day after
your birthday last year is in the shape
of an adam west
cartoon pow!, crack!,
as i look at it with my mask pulled low
and snug around my open mouth.
the doorknob hangs loose,
the latch dangles, the whole thing
a brassy christmas ornament,
the quiet pull of an unwrapped
present that turns out to be
a crystal hummingbird
that shattered during shipping.
the halls of the house are the empty
veins of our body, the blood drained
and cooled and hardened like candle
wax, the holes unsuccessfully
sutured by golden rings smelling
of soap.
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If You Aren’t
Posted 9:23 AM, Jul 28, 2005 |
Oh, you know, if you aren’t reading toothpaste for dinner, you should be for two reasons:
1) On occasion, like today, it hits just the right tone of complete and utter self-loathing and demoralization, and
2) It takes, like, 7 seconds.
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Busy Busy
Posted 10:55 AM, Jul 26, 2005 |
It’s hard to tell if I’m busy or just don’t have anything to say anymore.
I could tell you about my speeding ticket (or maybe I already did). I could tell you about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Watership Down, my upcoming trip to thrilling Harrisburg, PA. But really?
Or that I’m going to see some band at the 400 Bar tomorrow that I’ve never heard of, although I met someone in it.
You’re probably asleep right now.
I’m working on some new poems and new ideas.
I’m going to quietly close the door and turn out the lights in an effort not to wake you.
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Judge of Character
Posted 11:29 AM, Jul 21, 2005 |
Sometimes, man, I’ll tell you what, I’m right on the money when it comes to judging people’s character. Sometimes it’s seriously all, like, prescient and shit.
And then sometimes, man, I’ll tell you what, I’m downright awful, and people I know really well do stuff that sucks and is crappy and also completely surprising, since I thought I had them figured out.
And no, this post isn’t about you, so just take it easy.
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HyperPoem!
Posted 9:07 AM, Jul 19, 2005 |
Well, so things finally got all put together. I talked about this idea I had a month or so ago, and now, thanks to the fine folk over at RType, HyperPoem is ready to go live.
It works best in Internet Explorer, as far as we can tell. We can’t tell why, so it’s a lot like living in a universe without any understanding of how the universe was created. Or something like that.
Things, including HyperPoem, will continue to be updated. I’ll also add a HyperPoem link on the sidebar soon.
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Musical Combinatorics
Posted 9:23 AM, Jul 14, 2005 |
So I was reading a review of Out Hud’s Let Us Never Speak of It Again and noted that 3 of Out Hud’s 5 members also happen to be 3 of !!!’s members.
I was thinking about this more as I took a shower last evening, and so I was trying to determine how many ways you could pick 3 members of !!! to be in Out Hud (which is obviously 3C5). But then I couldn’t remember the formula for combinations, standing in the shower, soapy beard and all.
So I got to thinking that really it’s like having a 5-letter word, say yyynn where the y represents a member of !!! that is in Out Hud and the n represents a member of !!! that is not a member of Out Hud. So really, if you just lined up all 5 members of !!! and then wrote one letter of the word over each of their heads, you’re really choosing 3 of the 5 members. So really the problem just amounts to how many different ways you can arrange the letters in the word yyynn to make new words. That problem is easy, just 5!/(3!)(2!). And that, of course, is the formula for 3C5.
Thank you, !!! and Out Hud. Notice that those of you that are in the intersection of !!! and Out Hud get thanked twice.
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Tetris Made Me An Excellent Box Stacker in Real Life
Posted 3:30 PM, Jul 12, 2005 |
So, around here, there’s this kid, John McLaughlin, who shot and killed two kids at his high school last year.
I wish I had kept the link to yesterday’s Star Tribune article, but I didn’t and am too lazy to find it, but it covered the testimony of McLaughlin’s father, a local law enforcement agent. He testified to having about 20 guns (one of which, John McL admitted, was used in the killings), some of which were not properly locked. He also testified to taking John to firing ranges and teaching him gun safety. The article pointed out that John recently took a firearms safety course and only got one wrong.
One wrong! How could he then have shot someone? I’m baffled.
The article went on to say that John had played video games such as Grand Theft Auto, as if that has some relevance.
Now, in today’s article there is no mention of his dad being a law enforcement, the kid being exposed to firearms all the time, and 20-some guns lying around, unlocked, with ammunition in the house in a known location. No, all that is gone from today’s article.
The paper does duly note, however, “Today, prosecutors also read a long list of the video games recovered from McLaughlin’s bedroom. The list included ‘“Grand Turismo,” [sic] “Medal of Honor,” “FA-18 Simulator” and “Grand Theft Auto.”“
Also, the defense attorney said that, “during the mental illness phase of the trial, he may call David Walsh, founder and president of the National Institute on Media and the Family, to testify.” I presume because Mr. Walsh also has a mental illness.
It’s amazing the kid didn’t steal an army assault rifle, carjack a sports car, drive it to the air force base, and then smash the airplane into a prostitute.
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Two Reviews
Posted 12:55 PM, Jul 8, 2005 |
Review 1: Shakers Vodka has a fancy bottle, and that isn’t even the best thing about it. It has earthy undertones with just a hint of old-country boll weevil and Midwestern sweat. The mid-palate tastes like either a cool summer breeze or road construction, but I honestly couldn’t tell which. The aftertaste could best be described as sweet, yet salty, and also sour. And bitter. Definitely bitter, too. Overall, though, this vodka got me wasted. A+.
Review 2: Karkov Vodka got me wasted. A+.
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Dear Reader
Posted 11:17 AM, Jul 5, 2005 |
Dear Reader,
Welcome to July.
Yesterday, a cashier at Target called me “Captain Ahab,” apparently in reference to the eyepatch I was wearing, my pegleg, and the rusty harpoon in my cart. Or maybe it was the beard.
The Captain was not amused.
There will be more. Work has been busy, so the site has been neglected.
Needless to say, I miss you all.
Hal
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