Todd Colby's Glee Farm

Local Whirl

2012-01-27T06:26:00.003-05:00

Let us cure what humping brown air
does for you. Fluttering with tools is one
way to champion the afterlife. I prefer
the written document with a clear
protective case for safety while reading.
During all the mornings I stood facing
the highway, I was able to dodge the sloppy bits
in a cycle of woe that was easy to dismantle. You
are protected from the slow slug of dawn
by a feathered mask a friend loaned you
before the crash. Grind into the local whirl
while being lit so precisely that your eyes ache blue.
I will bend for you, even break for you.
All the days are wobbly because the center
where the spindle goes through the disc
is off center. You are such a star, but your equation
is zero. You stop, look up, and sigh.

Wednesday

2012-01-25T09:14:00.000-05:00

Three Street Shots

2012-01-24T06:22:00.010-05:00

1.
Early in my situation
I felt my reluctance to have movement.
When the stage of triumph came
I maintained my skin as it degraded. I filled my sling
with petroleum jelly to avoid the pain of the rope.
I went for the win until I remembered
my head in difficult circumstances.
I still have a long way to go
before moving into the area of silky peace
far from the delicate lamb Oxfords,
desires, and orchids. My heart aches when I see
the frayed pink stitching on the mat in front of my door.
I keep my ice meat in the snow.
Shortly before the blast of silence, I increased my speed
while the landscape came to me.
Flash fade in the street shots.

2.
Early in my plight I felt my indecision to be a saddle.
And then the stitching grew larger than the leather
it was holding together. I filled my arm sling
with petroleum jelly to stave off the ache from the ropes.
I was riding triumphantly until I remembered
it was early in my plight; I still had a ways to go
before moving into the delicate clime of humid oxfords
and orchid lust. My heart beat maximally when I saw
the pink stitching on my saddle getting frayed.
I sustained myself on ice meat as I stood in the snow wet street.
Right before my bloom into silence I sped along
while the landscape came up to meet me.
A faint flash in the slaphappy streets.

3.
Early in my situation I felt my indecision
to be a saddle. And then the seam of larger things
cracked Leather WAS Maintained united.
I filled my support of the arm with the oil
for frost stave except the pain of the rope. I
Went up triumphing up so That I Were Remembered
Yields in my situation, I had a method still I HAD to go
to the wet clime Before moving in delicate oxfords
and lust of the orchids. My heart beat maximally
When I saw pink in my saddle SEWS That Comic consumed.
I felt myself Supported in the meat of the ice
as long as I was fastened to the street of wet snow.
Right Before the explosion in silence That I hurried
When The landscape Finds came up with me.
A weak flash in the streets slaphappy.

Monday Top 10

2012-01-23T09:28:00.005-05:00

1) Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed the Music World Forever by Will Hermes.

2) On The Nature of Things by Lucretius (Translated by Frank O. Copley).

3) Downton Abbey, I drank the koolaide.

4) Raleigh Denim.

5) Goose Barnacle on Atlantic Avenue.

6) Mast Brothers Chocolate (Maine Sea Salt).

7) Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.

8) The Yoghurt Boys.

9) The Marbled Swarm by Dennis Cooper.

10) This version of "Like a Rolling Stone" (Dylan and The Band are on fire):

Hennessy Youngman - ART THOUGHTZ: Beuys-Z

2012-01-21T13:18:00.001-05:00

It's a Sister Nancy morning

2012-01-21T11:26:00.000-05:00

Express Yourself

2012-01-20T08:13:00.008-05:00

The man whispers to an animal
in the dark apartment
full of squishy things like
Aerosmith and Cheap Trick.
Slabs of butter on the table
set for bread dice like in the olden
days when people played games
for what they'd eat. In the special temple
of forgiveness the leader dude
is all recumbent and enthused
because your disguise is working
as well as his. You build machines
and they come to life, in fact, they become
your friends and you take care of them
in the dark. In the warp and weft
of these nightly incursions into the slop
you got it going on and you are all that.

Lighten Up

2012-01-19T10:10:00.000-05:00

Feel Good

2012-01-19T07:59:00.003-05:00

It should feel good
for grilling pork neck.
Try actually automobile gas.
Should not be good
to burn dry your cheek bones.
Try this - THIS is dry.
I like when I turn things on
and they work out.
I'll go now.
I'll show you how to rub
the surface with sweet honey.
Spill new t.v. Forró.
Caro syrup squishing against her rendezvous Shoes.
Walk. Walk on water, they gin a duck
to a Fine point dock a point in IT.
You are lucky I'm giving you this.
I'll now go.
I'll a show you how
I feel gold.

The Wooster Group

2012-01-18T06:00:00.003-05:00

model intern [01.12.12] from The Wooster Group on Vimeo.

Marianne Vitale in The New York Observer

2012-01-17T22:16:00.003-05:00

I was interviewed recently by art writer Michael H. Miller for this piece on Marianne in The New York Observer. Lots of sweet memories.

Click here.

Enjoy!

X

Everything You Need to Know

2012-01-17T17:44:00.003-05:00

\The wagon comes rolling
down the hill with you in it.
The pull handle is propped up so it rests
between your legs. You think
you can turn the wagon. You think\

Marianne Vitale at Zach Feuer Gallery

2012-01-16T08:04:00.002-05:00

Zach Feuer Gallery 548 West 22nd Street New York, NY 10011 Tel: +1 212 989 7700 info@zachfeuer.com www.zachfeuer.com Exhibition dates: January 19 – February 25, 2012 Reception for the Artist: Thursday, January 19, 6-8PM Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10-6

Here's a link to the catalogue copy/essay that I wrote for her show: Click here.

See you there!

X
T

Invite

2012-01-15T08:56:00.001-05:00

Click on image to enlarge.

Friday Top 10

2012-01-13T11:39:00.004-05:00

1) Vicky Swanky Is a Beauty by Diane Williams.

2) The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus.

3) Richard the III at BAM (we got tickets!).

4) Kenya Gatomboya by Stumptown Coffee.

5) Early Plays by The Wooster Group/New York City Players (we got tickets!).

6) Peanut Butter Bomb by Wild Ginger.

7) 50 mph Winds Blowing Around NYC Right Now.

8) Pina Bausch film by Wim Wenders, tonight at BAM (we got tickets!).

9) Early Music Show on WKCR.ORG.

10) Happy Birthday, Dad!

Laurie Anderson

2012-01-12T23:52:00.001-05:00

Kind One

2012-01-12T10:51:00.003-05:00

Oh, kind one
soot on your branches
coughing phlegm into a napkin
swallow hard these birds
all the mystic you can assemble
is caustically rubbing off your features
to the tune of rubber on asphalt
squealing out you were notified
of my progress halting only
to reveal more than you can digest.

Kim Gordon, 1976

2012-01-11T09:36:00.000-05:00

Extracto cortometraje Felipe Orrego / Kim Gordon from Tiempo de Balas on Vimeo.

Good Night

2012-01-10T21:41:00.005-05:00

You wash your hands with lemons
and dry them with toast. You wake up
in the middle of the night and walk backwards
down the hall. The moon rattles in the sky
unhinged by wind and debris. Cars hum
in tune with the blood flowing in your neck.
The radio plays news as though from somewhere
in the past: the playroom from your childhood.
You can point to a spot on your body
and communicate with others through that spot.
The blue veins in your arms form letters. I am lost
in your code. You are evolving with reptilian certitude. A finger
in your ass. You speak from a deep place. You know
just what to say and you are saying it to everyone
who will listen in accordance with your listening rules.
The rewards you will reap are unimaginable.

Black Mirror (Barge Performance)- Doug Aitken Workshop

2012-01-10T21:37:00.001-05:00

Black Mirror Barge Performance 2011 from Doug Aitken Workshop on Vimeo.

Manhattan Poem

2012-01-09T10:14:00.004-05:00

Sizzling

2012-01-06T19:52:00.001-05:00

Happy Literary Heroes Day

2012-01-05T09:32:00.008-05:00

Pitching Woo

2012-01-04T06:45:00.003-05:00

If someone wants to hold your hand
make sure they know where we are at war.
My eyes are even more colorful
than the glow of your iPad.
To get an idea of what is right for
you, ask me to get over it. Advertising agency.
You would not (maybe) ask an arm
to be around you. No, you would
talk to the ear in order to ask about the arm
that you want around you.
That's the way asking works.

Tuesday Top 10

2012-01-03T10:15:00.003-05:00

1) The 38 Annual Poetry Project New Year's Day Reading. Photos here.

2) Only Love Can Break Your Heart by David Samuels.

3) United Placebo by Todd Colby.

4) Officine Creative.

5) 2012.

6) Feeling okay about "blanking out."

7) Finding a costume I can believe in.

8) Megan Boyle.

9) Diane Williams.

10) "Let's Go Eat the Factory" by Guided by Voices.

Last Poem

2012-01-02T23:47:00.007-05:00

What a beautiful new rhythm.
This pulse is plenty
our bodies and the pale liquid inside
bitter as peach scented pillows.
The real, a catalog
of unevolved spirits from
things themselves, but our
impressions of them. Closing
arms along the river, delicate
pieces of brightly colored silk flags
in the salty wind.
You fall from a mountain top
to another, you run with a radio
and then one day you just walk around.
I came back and said why do you not stay here?
I've never been around when things started
but I've done my part and I'm sick of endings.
I live in a world where goodness is in most things,
you just have to look harder.
The sky looks awful with all that sun and blue.
See my section of the forest?
I smile on them, can be cut.
Robust, successful, young evergreens.
I understand the beautiful sounds
of cosmetics and how they act in the mind.
Oh, my descendants: life is strange when
you are still alive.

38th Annual New Year’s Day Marathon Benefit Reading

2011-12-29T08:19:00.002-05:00

Sunday, January 1, 2012
3:00 pm
The Poetry Project
at St. Marks Church
10th Street & 2nd Avenue, Manhattan
poetryproject.org
212-674-0910

The 38th Annual New Year’s Day Marathon Benefit will feature over 140 Poets & Performers:

Ace Mcnamara, Alan Licht, Alex Dimitrov, Amy King, Ana Božičević, Anne Tardos, Anne Waldman & Ambrose Bye, Anselm Berrigan, Ariana Reines, Arthur’s Landing, Barry Denny, Basil King, Betsy Fagin, Bill Kushner, Billy Lamont, Bob Hershon, Bob Rosenthal, Brenda Coultas, Brendan Lorber, Brett Price, Bruce Andrews & Sally Silvers, Bryn Kelly, CA Conrad, Charles Bernstein, Christine Elmo, Christopher Stackhouse, Church of Betty, Corina Copp, Corrine Fitzpatrick, Daniel Kent, David Freeman, David Henderson, David Shapiro, David St. Lascaux, Denize Lauture, Dgls. Rothschild, Don Yorty, Donna Brook, Dottie Lasky, Douglas Dunn, Douglas Piccinnini, Drew Gardner, Dustin Williamson, Edgar Oliver, Ed Friedman, Eddie Berrigan, Eileen Myles, Elinor Nauen, Elizabeth Devlin, Elliott Sharp, Emily XYZ, Erica Kaufman, Erica Hunt & Marty Erlich, Erin Morrill, Evan Kennedy, Evelyn Reilly, Filip Marinovich, Foamola, Frank Sherlock, Franklin Bruno, Genya Turovskaya, Gillian McCain, Greg Fuchs, James Marshall, Janet Hamill, Jess Fiorni, Jim Behrle, Joe Elliot, Joe Ranono, John Coletti, John Giorno, John S. Hall, Jonas Mekas, Josef Kaplan, Judah Rubin, Judith Malina, Karen Weiser, Kathleen Miller, Katie Degentesh, Ken Chen, Ken Walker, Kenny Goldsmith, Kimberly Lyons, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Lee Ranaldo, Lenny Kaye, Leopoldine Core, Lonely Christopher, Macgregor Card, Maggie Dubris, Marcella Durand, Mariana Ruiz Firmat, Mark Nowak, Martha King, Matthew Abuelo, Miguel Gutierrez, Mitch Highfill, Monica de la Torre, Nada Gordon, Nathaniel Siegel, Nick Hallett, Nicole Peyrafitte, Pamela Sneed, Patricia Spears Jones, Patti Smith, Paul Mills (Poez), Paul Legault, Penny Arcade, Peter Gizzi, Pierre Joris, Reuben Butchart, Rickey Laurentiis, Robert Ashley Secret Orchestra, Shafer Hall, Simone White, Sinan Antoon, Stephanie Gray, Steve Dalachinsky, Steve Earle, Steven Taylor, Susan Landers, Susie Timmons, Suzanne Vega, Taylor Mead, Ted Dodson, Ted Greenwald, Thurston Moore, Todd Colby, Tom Carey, Tom Savage, Tony Towle, Tracey McTague, Tyler Burba, Wayne Koestenbaum, Will Edmiston, Will Yackulic, Yoshiko Chuma, Youmna Chlala, Yuko Otomo, Yvonne Meier, Nicole Wallace, Arlo Quint and Stacy Szymaszek.

Admission: $20, $15 for students and seniors, and $10 for Poetry Project members.

Helmet of the Wild

2011-12-28T17:15:00.002-05:00

Every Helmet of the Wild is made by my hands for a personalized fit.
The outer shell is cornstarch-based to allow for easier concave molding
to fit the skull and accommodate the distinctive flare over the ears.
Surface color pigments (all organic) are mixed into egg tempura:
mint green from soda grass, tan from
winter wheat, faint pink from pomegranate juice.
The helmet is then heated in a clay oven
for approximately all day. Once removed,
the helmet is brittle until leather cables
are epoxied (rice milk and oat gluten)
to interior in latticework pattern.
Tempering is governed by seasons and milled
to a smooth touch. The protective mask is one inch thick tubular
semicircular protuberance made of catgut and twine,
with burlap at its core. Pewter screws with flat twists
affix protective mask to each side securely.
Leather buttons on chinstrap. Antique decal
of skull and crossbones rendered in soda ink on linen
and applied on each side above hand-drilled ear holes.
Gifted to a lucky few.

Three for Wednesday

2011-12-28T00:26:00.002-05:00

David Bowie Young Americans Live Dick Cavett Show 1974

2011-12-27T15:34:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-24T09:51:00.002-05:00

Friday Top 10

2011-12-23T10:02:00.004-05:00

1) Megan Boyle - Selected Unpublished Blog Posts of a Mexican Panda Express Employee.

2) John Jeremiah Sullivan - Pulphead: Essays.

3) Kevin Killian - Cruel Intentions, from Aedes.

4) Daniel Mark Epstein - The Ballad of Bob Dylan (thanks, Carrie!).

5) Grouper - "Dragging a Dead Deer up a Hill" & "Alien Observer."

6) Selentino - "Rose" Brown 100% Fur Felt Fedora w/ 1.5 inch brim.

7) Jim Krusoe - Girl Factory.

8) Santa Molest (email me and I'll send it to you).

9) Hibino Sushi (thanks, Tara!).

10) Slippers from Muji.

December Poem

2011-12-21T05:41:00.004-05:00

A fistful of coffee will get you
to the F train in time for the meltdown
of three babies and their exasperated dads.
Funny how the air of December feels
like the air of June under the East River
I think about you. A mile in any direction
leads me to such great heights once
I'm above ground I feel spiced and surly.
What makes a cab curl around a body
all bright yellow and curried, bundled
against the hyper crawl of these winter days.
I feel better in the sunlight even without
the terms of my endearment, which are written
on slices of paper in the drawer next
to your bed. I would like nothing better
than to unfurl a note the size of a banner
over Union Square, something you could
see on your way to work, a red word on blue vinyl
carried by my breath to your delighted ear.

The Middle East - Blood

2011-12-21T05:12:00.001-05:00

Grouper - Alien Observer

2011-12-20T06:54:00.000-05:00

Upon a Time (Bedtime Poem)

2011-12-19T23:16:00.008-05:00

Let them eat sleep and while
eating they crunch to fulfill lives
to this heart pudding they call muscle grief
frightened by night let them eagle
into it from on high all rosy with mistakes
let them have at it let them eat into it
to move their slender gifts let their
lack of reason anoint us with rawness we creep
upwards in return for favors we kiss
where we can see fantastic places
in each arm we plow into paradise
knowing hello death this capital crime
this seizure of gladness this restraint
this limit to all we all know about
come for us come for all upon a time.

Grapple

2011-12-19T07:28:00.003-05:00

Your purple-headed majesty
your milk brain lumpy home stay
your fetid ginger mobility
and all the angels come marching
into a solid structure colliding
with water tombs and expectant
loss lighter and freer than never.

Hugo Largo

2011-12-18T21:27:00.000-05:00

This cover by the great band Hugo Largo is simply sublime. Xo

Sunday Outfit

2011-12-18T08:34:00.002-05:00

Gadabout oatmeal linen gaucho sweats with red silk
drawstring from Muji, purveyors of the finest in Japanese design.
On the feet: TYR imported vinyl flip-flops.
Organic cotton white v-neck t-shirt from Paris
Mission Looms, makers of the highest thread count
t-shirts in the world. Over the t-shirt: Grey cotton
shawl-collared cardigan with Brazilian rubber
buttons, hardened the old fashioned way: under
sunlight and stars. As for the lid: A classic nautical
writing cap with royal blue and white stripes. Made
from Virginia cotton and hand loomed in Denmark.
I hope to see you outside my window in the courtyard
as I sit at my writing desk!

Saturday Outfit

2011-12-17T08:21:00.002-05:00

Butter yellow oxford with hand carved
mahogany buttons, sewn on with reclaimed
North Carolina cone mill thread, spun in small batches.
Maroon Japanese silk tie (anvils and horseshoes print).
Vintage denim vest with navy issue, no-sheen buttons
of brushed virgin aluminum. Borsalino
2 1/2 brimmed bronze fedora with thin
black band, no tucking feather. Black Zimbabwe
cotton chinos, tapered to ankle over brown rancher's
boot with caper-toned heels, bees wax toe
treatment, oiled with mink and silicon.
Flint gray wool socks from Marblehead Looms,
sugar tops and reinforced toes.
Today's scent: cedar and frankincense
with dry down to amber and vanilla.
See you in the park!

Friday Outfit

2011-12-16T10:57:00.005-05:00

Cream-colored wool waistcoat with cranberry lapel,
reclaimed whiskey oak cask buttons
and rugged blue canvas rear cinch
with stainless steel clasp and tongue.
1940's era dark indigo chambray work shirt
with collar strap and Fairmont-era wooden buttons
handmade in Paris. Run-off chain stitching at sides,
in caramel and powder blue. Trousers are dark brown
with faint mint pinstripes, tilt pockets (welted at seams
with crimson cotton thread from Senegal). 2-inch cuffs
showing inside scoop tint of chicory and tangerine.
Shoes are handmade and dyed doe skin monk buckles
with organic matte black polish from Medicine Leather,
the London boot shop. Soles are hand crafted solid cork
with raw rubber plugs for durability and beauty.
Up top: Irish wool watchman's cap of rare blue black
hand spun Dublin Spirit Yarn with wisp of raw amber
from Southern India. Sunglasses are handcrafted
from raw tortoise shell plastic with coffee tinted
high-optic lenses and organic blue velvet nose bridge.
Say hello if you see me today!

Thursday Outfit

2011-12-15T09:29:00.008-05:00

Pomegranate red flannel jacket
with cross hatch eggshell monogram
depicting pine tree and bluebird
on grey silk patchwork chest pockets.
Peach canvas fedora with ruby band and blue tucking feather.
Trousers: burnt umber Harris Tweed with slash pockets.
Pleats sewn in hand-spooled Alabama gold thread.
Faint cobalt blue pinstripes on rear pockets. Welted crease
in this caviar of wools. The belt: quarter-inch thick
cowhide in natural beige, untreated mode. Antique
buckle from Iowa Salvage, infantry gray pewter.
Valmont eight-eyelet dark brown (artfully scuffed) work boots
(leather sole with rubber additions, stacked heels).
Laces made of artisan bamboo stock batch-dyed
in chocolate brown with blood-red lace cuffs
for fringing prevention. Socks: army green wool dipped
in lanolin oil at manufacturing site with wisp
of lavender for longevity. I hope our eyes meet
during your 7th Avenue stroll!

Wednesday Outfit

2011-12-14T07:17:00.002-05:00

Chestnut tinted newsboy cap
with silver stitching accents
worn at rakish angle to one side.
Hydro-patch on shoulder, featuring delicate
cherry blossom scene under tassels.
Blouse in magenta, starched. Some poof
on lower sleeves near mother-of-pearl
and dead stock glass buttons. French cuffs.
One of a kind red line denim collar
with cinch at back (buy one size smaller).
Pantaloons with crisp blue sheen. Stripes
at side, with slanted pockets (liner: opal
canvas, for durability and rub). Blue fade
near crest of heel, so the bubble lifts
over the shoe, giving delicate tumble effect.
Engineer boots in moss green suede with gold
buckle. Made in U.S.A. Heritage gloom.
Scented with post coital sandalwood, extreme.
I'll be looking for you in Union Square!

Drunken Boat - Shit Suit

2011-12-14T07:15:00.000-05:00

Tuesday Outfit

2011-12-13T07:59:00.003-05:00

Mollusk leather loafers
with twin-oiled wool socks
and sugar pleated trousers
of gingham and heather balsam.
Aligator thunder belt from Tennessee.
Shirt combo of vestiture mule tone
and tan overture. Lily clamps
at sleeves and on buttons. Further
up the collar: starch weed with chrome
clasp engraved with the word LOVE.
As for the hat, a Winston Flowers
mock-brimmed overland lid
with boiled rose felt and clapper
prism pin. I hope I see you on
the F train, delighted.

My Interview with an Astronaut

2011-12-13T07:53:00.002-05:00

My interview with an astronaut is now up on The Happy Endings website.
Click the link below to read about what it's really like to be an astronaut in outer space.

Click here.

XO
T

Monday Outfit

2011-12-12T07:50:00.005-05:00

Valley lemon lace ups
with a misty coal deep-v tee.
Ginger tinted halo with potash.
Cobalt blue tunic with Spanks
and lime Velcro unit.
Silver waistcoat and plumb
garter with express
star features. A dollop of
musk on wrist and a pink sutured
felt hat. Purple silk band,
marsh and ventricle, some
bent gliding, overland spice
and sliver of kiwi ice cap.
Delightful for all involved!

That Would Have Been Wonderful

2011-12-11T09:11:00.003-05:00

Fit into red
the gold of oblivion
perfume in your palm
a crease
smeared with amber
loud jubilates
from a cedar chair
caress the stuff
of dreams from
your shoulders
get with the real
over time
fail

Tweeting

2011-12-11T08:47:00.001-05:00

I am now (also) tweeting @KunstvereinNY

XOX
T

Friday Top Ten

2011-12-09T08:03:00.003-05:00

1) The band: The Middle East.

2) Heritage Boots, Austin, TX.

3) Oatmeal from Starbucks in the Austin, TX Hilton Hotel lobby.

4) Memories of Mark Pellington.

5) Writing this list on my new iPad (thank you Tara).

6) The novels of Jim Krusoe.

7) Krapp's Last Tape at The Brooklyn Academy of Music.

8) Reading glasses from Mass MoCA.

9) South Congress Avenue.

10) Back in Brooklyn in 36 hours.

Riot Kiss

2011-12-07T18:20:00.011-05:00

Carry a migraine on your city hips.
That we may catch wind of the silver
thread over the desert. My grace is
pretty and needless, more or less
just what it is. Like I can build
a charm machine but I never will
because I trust you to do what
it says in the manual which is to
only build stuff you can hold.
Open your arms to the sun while I salute
your steady gait and silken frame.
I bring you things from places
you've never been.
Here's a warm breath
for the spot I love to kiss
when you are still.

The Wooster Group (Kate Valk)

2011-12-06T20:56:00.000-05:00

house call - Kate [06.17.11] from The Wooster Group on Vimeo.

Moving to Florida

2011-12-06T20:43:00.000-05:00

Holiday Books

2011-12-06T06:41:00.003-05:00

It's just the fever doing some clanging.
Light makes a skipping tone
to soothe what manages to ripple
over the sheets of paper.
Try hopping into a cool lard bath
or grinning under wax factors.
All warm and pasty, some
of the particulars are lost
to the momentum of infernal delight.
Trickle into oblivion then
by way of syrups and chalk.
Instead of a winning combination
start wistfully remembering,
get a lot on your mind bending
and then soap, get sudsy, rinse.
That you could wring it out
over and over. That you could
twist everything into a pleasant
muted ball and sleep for days.

The Joy of Weird Friends

2011-12-06T06:33:00.000-05:00

Monday Top 10

2011-12-05T12:23:00.002-05:00

1) The energy to do things that are totally punk.

2) Tara's lemon ricotta cake.

3) The Trip, a film by Steve Coogan (brilliant).

4) My interview with the writer Jesse Browner for the Happy Endings Reading Series website.

5) Edmond Jabes.

6) Rag & Bone sample sale, ahem.

7) Fugazi on a bike.

8) Mimi Goese at dawn.

9) Raw honey.

10) Austin, Texas: here I come.

Bloom

2011-12-04T12:42:00.005-05:00

You can bloom into some new flesh and chrome
being all elegance and sheen. The chief
of the rangy heroes is flat on your back.
Muscle into the meat room, harsh as a prism
off a tin can. Everything you do is special
to the committee that decides such things.
Start lifting heavy objects by bending your knees
(we're just looking out for you).
I don't want anyone to die for a day or two
so we can take in this soft avalanche of days.
I want to be buried by the whole sky.
Do you know what I mean?
Like a time out, where you're kind to everyone
because everyone is fighting
a hard battle. I'm on to you.

Lack

2011-12-03T16:09:00.001-05:00

Here to Go

2011-12-01T06:18:00.004-05:00

Your function, should you assume disaster
is no longer your function or goal,
is to move through the day in such a way
that you pulverize the mechanisms of your
doubt. If the delight of soothing movement
becomes somehow unbearable
then you might want to reveal yourself
as clownish and irreverent, which is better
for your heart. We will enable you to
move from yard to yard, balloons in hand,
ready for the stillness of the green, which
is all around you right now, anyway.
I would like nothing more than to please
you with a carnival of lights and a cream horn,
followed by some well-considered words whispered
into your ear that you find relaxing
and somehow reassuring in the midst of your
activism. I want to retard the flow of time
just enough to make you feel ageless
and full of wonder. Then I'll lower you
and let you sink into the warm water
glad that you are flesh and here to go.

EARLY PLAYS – I am yours - The Wooster Group

2011-12-01T06:16:00.002-05:00

EARLY PLAYS - I am yours [07.08.11] from The Wooster Group on Vimeo.

Reggie Watts

2011-11-30T08:48:00.001-05:00

Jonathan Lethem on Writing

2011-11-29T07:11:00.003-05:00

"I began writing in order to arrive into the company of those whose company meant more to me than any other: the world of the books I'd found on shelves and begun to assemble on my own, and the people who'd written them, and the readers who cared as much as I did, if those existed."

-J.L. from The Ecstasy of Influence

New Math: Five Equals Twleve

2011-11-28T22:16:00.003-05:00

Done in collaboration with David Lantow a very long time ago (thanks for sending this, David). Click on the image to enlarge it.

MASS MoCA Dance

2011-11-28T11:01:00.001-05:00

Bear Attack

2011-11-27T08:48:00.001-05:00

Document

2011-11-25T09:36:00.005-05:00

You can lick the sky
until it sparkles, I don't mind.
Hold your hands so they cast a shadow
that looks like a bear. Fun! Morning comes
without warning: it's just here. You are
free to move about the cabin
exhibiting a distinct message
of forgetfulness and all the bliss
that it implies. I'm saving my mind
for what's really important
when I get home: you. The smell of the sea
blowing in over the Brooklyn-Queens
Expressway makes me feel like
something good might happen today.
I'll tell you this:
We're going to have a real good
time together in our tight pants.

Coat of Arms

2011-11-22T09:36:00.004-05:00

A finger sliced on cream-colored formica
while grape fruit leather is chewed in mournful bites.
Glass magazines. The paper bones of billionaires
fold over as grief becomes panic becomes
friends eating roast beef from each other's
mouths in a tent. Like it matters what you think
at dinner, at all. You lift a cup, you tip
a cup, you grow old, you whither. Watch what
you say. I mean it: watch your mouth move
in the mirror when you say what you say.

Sunday Morning Photos

2011-11-20T09:02:00.000-05:00

Top 10 Friday

2011-11-18T10:18:00.006-05:00

1) The Clash, London Calling. Soundtrack to NYC 2011.

2) Pierre Reverdy: Selected Poems, translation by Kenneth Rexroth.

3) The Early Music Show on Fridays, 9-12. WKCR.org.

4) The Iliad. New translation by Stephen Mitchell.

5) Pre-threaded sewing kit.

6) "Combustivism" by Todd Colby

7) The Three Classifications of Humans: Nervous, Very Nervous, Very Very Nervous.

8) "What is characteristic of the two of them, Freud and Marx, is that they don't bullshit." Jacques Lacan, The Other Side of Psychoanalysis - Seminar XVII, p. 71.

9) "I think it's so groovy now that people are getting together" Christopher Knowles, Typings

10) "I think it's good you don't know how you're going to end." Rudy Burckhardt in an interview with Simon Pettet in Conversations with Rudy Burckhardt About Everything.

Ruth Stone

2011-11-18T10:10:00.004-05:00

Ruth Stone from Neil Astley on Vimeo.

James Brown Dancing Lesson

2011-11-15T08:08:00.009-05:00

Caileen Kehayas

2011-11-15T08:08:00.008-05:00

Below are a sampling of photographs by my friend, the photographer Caileen Kehayas. Caileen's ability to get at the the ticklish center of her subjects (in this case mostly her nephews Ollie and Henry) give her photographs a special warmth that feels intimate, poignant and delightfully captured from the slippery glimpses of life as it rumbles along. Caileen's photographs give me a sense of joy in the world and remind me not only of the big, heroic and hilarious gestures of early boyhood, but of the quiet clarity and jarring yet joyful isolation of simply being human. Enjoy! For more photos by Caileen Kehayas, please visit her photo blog: Pure Gravy.

William Eggleston with a Video Camera: "Stranded in Canton"

2011-11-14T08:31:00.001-05:00

Samuel Beckett

2011-11-13T21:20:00.003-05:00

“Don’t lose heart: plug yourself into despair and sing it for us.”
Samuel Beckett in a letter to Robert Pinget in 1956.

The Lumpy Path (for Jennifer Keitzman)

2011-11-13T07:44:00.001-05:00

The real thing
the blue of the sky
adheres to the trees
and trickles down
to chartreuse
and off into orange
and red and pale yellow
and lavender of the lumpy path.
Ranunculus is pretty much
better than any other kind of flower
but I am a sucker
for the colors of the hellebore
and the shape
of the passion flower.

Public Access Poetry

2011-11-11T14:51:00.006-05:00

I gave.
Will you?
It only takes a few bucks
& about thirty seconds.
It's an incredible project.

Click here.

Brought to you by The Poetry Project.

In the House

2011-11-11T06:18:00.005-05:00

He stands up on the table
and gets savage. He yawns: too
many conversations in one bed.
He gets to be excited about things,
builds a fort under the table,
he brings things he loves
into the house.

*

The sound of a bike
bell indoors can startle, but clear
the air. It all looks beautiful until
I put my glasses on, I am not ashamed.

*

The lightest wind blew in Union Square
and a giant oak tree let go of all its yellow leaves.

*

Look, he says, the whole world is sparkling
but I know he means his watch
which has just been shined by
a professional.

*

The vague mathematics
of the day; what we get rid of;
what we bring into the fold of our
lives; leaning into a stranger inadvertently
on the subway as it comes to a sudden stop.

*

When I was a boy I collected
matchbooks in an old blue Adidas shoebox.
When I visited my father two years ago,
I threw them all away because I feared they would
spontaneously combust and burn my
father's house down.

Destroy Flower

2011-11-09T20:29:00.007-05:00

You make perfect sense to me because
you'll know where to run along the river from me.
You are me now and then. Version: Mellow.
No one gets and summoning ghosts and soft hands.
Jabbing at the sugar, planting military kisses,
tortured on my team. I win. Fuck.
That can bring about change the scent of frenzy.
I wear a grey cotton twill work shirt
to work. Even as the hand shakes the sky
when people want to hold your hand
open a feeling for blacking out. Trusting
or wanting what smells good.

The Slits: New Town

2011-11-09T20:14:00.000-05:00

Art Show: Two Boys, Flower Atlas, Stuck Deer

2011-11-09T07:19:00.006-05:00

Two Boys

Flower Atlas

Stuck Deer

Kodachrome

2011-11-08T09:48:00.002-05:00

Picture a mint green bathtub with a bloody washcloth
plopped down next to a rusty drain. Sold! I'm a live wire
under the covers. My methods of relaxation,
while disposable, are largely sources of ambient funk.
It is the sureness of chemistry that insures
the production of sleep without work.
Not that the means of production don't draw
you in, its just that I can't tell if you're here or not.
You might be waiting for me with a new thought pattern
which should set us up for the time being.
Listen to the city out there all pouty and gray.
Please turn your head this way and look at
the yellow chiffon scramble with misty orange pulp
and leaden hamstrings. You've got a lot to live
and New York has got a lot to give.

In the subway on the way to the Dina Seiden and Reggie Watts show last night. Photo by Tara.

2011-11-07T09:03:00.001-05:00

Telepathic Morning

2011-11-05T05:53:00.006-04:00

The weather isn't cold enough
so I feel uncomfortable in my special clothes.
This morning I read that planet Earth is all
about combustion and that most of us are
remedial readers and that if a well-read ghost
wanted to come around and get tricky
he would have a heyday. I'm just saying.
All these stark zero-hour predictions are
freeing me from panic, which is pleasant, for a change.
I live next to the highway, so I hear a hum
all the time. Just let me know if you'd like to send me
a telepathic message. I have special cells
that allow me to receive your thoughts.
Just let me know when you're really going to do it
so I can pay attention. I'd like to understand
what you're sending me more than anything else.
A baby blue journal with the word ROMA
embossed in gold on the back.

Art Show 2: Scary Thoughts and Best Team Helmet Design Ever For Any Sport

2011-11-04T01:37:00.005-04:00

Art Show: We are so proud of you and Apparitions

2011-11-04T00:37:00.000-04:00

Interessant!

2011-11-03T23:33:00.001-04:00

Tres bien!

well,

ah.

ooooooooooooo-o-o

we-e-eeeeeeeee

x
o
tj
ccccccccccc

Catastrophic Successes

2011-11-03T09:08:00.004-04:00

Flame

Because the bright blue light from the gas flame
in the dark kitchen came to the lashes
making everyone look alien and hairless.

Mint Green Pants

Lining the walls with protein
for the foil wrap protection
setting fire to flames with a sulphur leather cuff.

Provoking Animals with Political Buttons

Kick out the pajamas with a full on tang hatchet
and the glorious sweet birds chirping over a concrete
saw. The jet-setters are all on scooters in this, the modern age.

Hibernation System

The earth is a great animal guilty of movement
because Cat Power is a good cop, making measured
having not shaved in a week. Free bird this.

Vanishing Point

If your friend calls from Hollywood
hung with a strut of imagination and thunder
purple flowers deck the halls of medicine, raunchily.

My Brightest Diamond

2011-11-01T09:26:00.000-04:00

Ask Anyone Who Knows

2011-10-31T09:54:00.004-04:00

If you sit on my chair
you'll see dozens of people
farming their instincts out of habit
on my lap, which is really only denim and flesh.
Killing time fudges things up,
makes the street appear smudged
like a film full of poorly lit jump-cuts,
all redundant and dull.
I might rub cream into a soft shoulder,
as though I had a shoulder
to rub cream into. Let the last
light of autumn bend shadows
around the block and thrust honeyed light
through the apartment at horizontal
angles. In the meantime, I'm going to dance around
like an ass clown in Brooklyn under a cavalcade
of really great things all fucking day.

The William Forsythe Tape Ball That Rolled Under My Seat Last Night at BAM

2011-10-29T07:09:00.002-04:00

See below this entry for photo of tape balls on stage.

William Forsythe - I don't believe in outer space

2011-10-28T15:35:00.002-04:00

Tonight at BAM!

Vegetable Ivory

2011-10-28T07:31:00.004-04:00

The scent of mint
my toes curled under the desk
pure traffic muffles
quaint radiator music
my head the bone
is full of electric gray mush
thinking in word sparks
totally out to lunch
a vocabulary of silence
how remarkable to be a poet
and not trust a single word

Gerhard Richter, Painting

2011-10-28T07:15:00.003-04:00

From Corinna Belz’s new film:

GERHARD RICHTER PAINTING (2011) Official Trailer from Richard Lormand on Vimeo.

Oakland

2011-10-26T09:18:00.001-04:00

Wednesday Top 10

2011-10-26T07:41:00.002-04:00

1) Stephen Mitchelmore's review of the recently published second volume of Samuel Beckett's letters here.

2) Paul Violi.

3) The Step Not Beyond - Maurice Blanchot.

4) Nietzsche and the Vicious Circle - Pierre Klossowski.

5) Nothing - Blake Butler.

6) Some Notes on Translation and on Madame Bovary - Lydia Davis, Paris Review # 198.

7) Jennifer L. Knox.

8) Mister Freedom.

9) Michael Portnoy.

10) Flax Seed Oil.

AZEALIA BANKS - 212 FT.

2011-10-26T07:35:00.001-04:00

Tuesday Top 10

2011-10-25T07:52:00.004-04:00

1) The Paris Review #198 (interviews with Nicholson Baker and Dennis Cooper).

2) Listening to Hugo Largo's "Drum" all morning.

3) The Best Allen Ginsberg Archival Site: Here.

4) Occupation.

5) The ghosts of St. Pancras.

6) Vague feelings of joy.

7) Donadio & Olson.

8) William Forsythe, Friday Night.

9) "Don't be disgusted, don't give up, don't be impatient if you do not carry entirely conduct based in every detail upon right principles; after a fall return again, and rejoice if most of your actions are worthier of human character." Marcus Arelius, Meditations.

10) "I must tremble if the possibility of play no longer attracts me." George Bataille, Le Coupable.

St. Pancras

2011-10-25T07:39:00.001-04:00

Lucifer is the evening star
terrified I'm missing a word
standing on rain
I think

John Giorno

2011-10-24T23:06:00.001-04:00

Thanks to Daniel Nester.

William Forsythe - I don't believe in outer space

2011-10-24T22:08:00.001-04:00