5 video stills published at The New Post-Literate

NPL-quasar

On of my favorite places for online inspiration, The New Post-Literate is a literary blog dedicated to asemic writing (that is, it appears to be writing, but may not have semantic function). Today five of my video stills with strong asemic elements appeared on the site. These come from an as-yet-unpublished piece, with text drawn from an older poem called “Shit on a Stick Corporation” published by Zombie Logic Press. You can check out all the images here.

“Five Horsehairs and the Soul of an Afternoon” and two other poems published in Unlikely Stories

horsehairs-unlikely-stories

I’m very pleased to announce that online poetry journal Unlikely Stories published three of my poems today: “Five Horsehairs and the Soul of an Afternoon,” “Big American Horn,” and “Saving the Day.” You can read them here.

Each of these has a genesis in real life events from many years ago. “Horsehairs” describes an unsuccessful attempt to earn money by busquing at the metro station on Dupont Circle in DC. I convinced my friend David Craig it was a good idea, but we literally made $1.02. Another bandmate, Finn McCool, loaned me his bowed psaltry, as I figured an “exotic” looking instrument would net more money. Another theory shot down.

“Big American Horn” was written during my Henry Miller phase, when I was reading a lot of his work. Not just Tropics, but everything–over 20 books.

“Saving the Day” comes out of my experience as a stay at home dad. I was feeling pressures to find work, stay creative and not lose my mind. Basic self-pity stuff. But then I realized what was really important.

Xmas rip offs: Kill Santa Claus app? $600 copy of Kill Claus?

I present two rip offs related to my bizarro Christmas novel Kill Claus!

First up, this game app: “Kill Santa Claus,” created by some company called ChipPOW and available through Amazon. Apparently, it encourages players to take revenge for bad or missing gifts by shooting Santa Claus.

killsanta-app

The description of game play seriously needs a grammar and syntax intervention:

Kill Christmas old man!

Santa Claus did not bring you a gift dreams? Behaves like rudolph! Start the game Kill Santa Claus as a snowball! Shoot on target! This pathetic old holly is not going anywhere from a sniper rifle rudolph! Try role grinch, destroy Christmas!

Each year promises rudolph gifts, only they do not! Hatred grew as snowball. Shoot to destroy all the Santa Claus! Suggests sight and tap on the shot. Your timer is 5 minutes to clean the territory grinch. You have to win the game Kill Santa Claus!

How old were killed – see on the screen, there statistics rudolph. Take care of snowball cartridges and do not shoot into the air. Aim, shoot and then holly. So you can do away with the silly holiday Christmas!

One user gave the game a single star and declared they were deleting the game.

For the record, my surreal science fiction novel Kill Claus! does not involve shooting Santa with any sort of firearm. So the game is not technically the result of plagiarism. However, I’d like to think the app grew out of a superficial glance at the title of my book.

As a shameless plug, Kill Claus! is still available on Amazon and Lulu as both a eBook and paperback. The eBook can be downloaded for a mere $1.99 from either site. On Lulu, the paperback costs $13.50. As for the Amazon paperback, you can choose between two price points, either 15 bucks, or $609.11!

kill-claus-$600

I love seeing these inflated prices on my books. It’s just further proof that when you put something out in the world, it takes on a life of its own.

Seven forbidden words

I am vulnerable

I am entitlement

I am diversity

I am transgender

I was a fetus

I am evidence-based

I am science-based

 

You are vulnerable

You are entitlement

You are diversity

You are transgender

You were a fetus

You are evidence-based

You are science-based

 

We are vulnerable

We are entitlement

We are diversity

We are transgender

We were fetuses

We are evidence-based

We are science-based

 

Have you heard? President Ubu’s administration has prohibited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from using seven words and phrases in their 2018 budget requests.

The forbidden words are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”

You can read the full story in The Washington Post here.