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p.s. Hey. ** jay, Hi. Oh, right, intimate “coupon-ish” things, that’s even better. If I ever give Xmas gifts again, I’ll try that. Right, again the youth = innocent and/predatory and the adult = predatory or blinded by the libidinal. Good old generalisations. Thank you about ‘I Wished’, and, yes, caution is probably advised. Speaking of wishes, yours for the IKEA is greatly appreciated. I haven’t stepped outside yet today, so who knows. I hope your today lacks sogginess. ** Dominik, Hi!!! Thank you, yes, it could be ideal if the stars in the sky keep aligning. If only wrestlers were my type, but alas. They’re so not. Me too. I only shower. I get bored just looking at a bathtub. Wow, what would I tell my teenaged self, I wonder. Maybe ‘Dude, you’ll never have sex with Keith Robarts — a high school mega-crush — so give up!’. Do you have words of wisdom for your former teen version? Love asking you to choose one of the lunchboxes today with the caveat that you must carry it with you everywhere you go for, oh, a week, G. ** Steeqhen, I’m manor-less too. Yes, I know that feeling. And it’s an unpleasant one. But sometimes it’s the best and only way to make your masterpiece. Keep at it. And … did you make your 3 hour deadline, and are you consequently and gleefully festooning your Xmas tree with ornaments? ** Huckleberry Shelf, Hey! Cool, I’m glad you liked LA. It has a tendency to disappoint people who don’t know it well, but you obviously got it. Nice: the Xmas trip to NYC. It’s a city that, like Paris, actually feels Xmas-y when it’s Xmas time, I’m not sure why. That sounds totally fun. I’m sharing a Xmas Buche de Noel with a slew of good friends tomorrow, and I think that might end up being as much of a Xmas as I’ll have. Other than the wonderful stroll around on Xmas morning when Paris is as deserted as it was during Covid lockdown but without the terrifying vibe. Is prose something that you see yourself giving as much concentration to as your poetry? Do you feel as at home and excited writing prose as you do when you’re making poems? That’s really great news in any case. Happiest day, sincerely me. ** _Black_Acrylic, Nice, you sprang for the New Juche special edition thing. And that does extremely covetable. I haven’t gotten any Xmas cards yet. Maybe I won’t. Although I can always count on John Waters’ card. And that would be plenty. You have a tree! And a decorated one! I always think about getting one, mostly for the smell, but my hands never follow my brain’s dream in that case. ** James, Hey. I don’t know what ‘Ping Pong’ is which probably answers your question about whether I read much manga or not. No, I don’t. Just not in the habit. But one of my novels is being turned into a manga/graphic novel, so I really should get knowledgeable. Your Xmas break starts … tomorrow? Am I remembering correctly? If so, you’re so close to your Xmas freedom that you could kick it in the face, but you probably shouldn’t. Sneezes and nosebleeds aren’t a great combination. You okay? So, your brother is a homophobe, I’m assuming? Or you intuit that he might be? Or you just want him to think of you as a mysterious, ambiguous human being? Hot, weather-wise, you mean? Not all time, but it can be. Summer lasts a long time in LA. Starts in early June or sometimes even earlier and doesn’t end until late October if you’re lucky. It never gets cold there, or not cold in the way you and I define cold, although people there think it gets cold. You probably know this, but in France hot chocolate is called chocolat chaud. ‘Chaud’ (pronounced ‘showed’) doesn’t sound like it would mean hot, at least to my American an ears, but apparently it does. Mm, I’m pretty sure I’ve heard about people getting my novels as Xmas presents, but then that doesn’t mean they were ever within a million miles of the North Pole, obviously. I am praying, or, more accurately ‘praying’ that you are not totally totalled by Thursday (today). ** Sarah, Hi, Sarah! It’s really, really good to see you! Things are okay. The film is finally on its way to being born. How are you? What have you been doing and working on and into, etc? I’d love to know if you feel like spilling. Take care! ** Toniok, Hi, man. Jamie gets all the credit for absolutely sure. Comix and manga and graphic novels are a huge weak spot for me. I know very little about that world. My experiences there are so limited that I don’t have favorites. It’s an area I keep meaning to do a deep dive into, but I haven’t so far. Thank you about the film. Yes, there are still some troubles left, but the film will finally be alive and in the world soonish, and that’s a huge victory. I hope you’re doing great. How are you? ** HaRpEr, That amount of money sounds pretty doable. Fingers as crossed as they need to be. I’m really happy you’re into your novel and feel confident. As long as you shoot high, and I know you will, you’ll always be confused, no worries. ‘Swimming Underground’ is really fun and good, yes. ‘Belladonna of Sadness’, no, but it sounds great in your depiction. I’ll hunt it. Thank you, thank you! ** Bill, Hi, B. Maybe my blog’s on a no-fly list in Thailand. I think of Thailand as being pretty wild, but I mostly only know about the ‘seamy’ aspects, so I’m sort of like people who imagine an Amsterdam that doesn’t actually exist. I’ve only been to Hong Kong. I’d like to see Taipei. One of these years. Another gig, awesome. Awesome that you’re getting to perform so much while you’re there. What is the upcoming gig? ** Jimmy, Hi. Well, I’m also perfectly capable of encouraging you to feast on what you wish to feast on. I’m a man of many colors. I ate some Flying Tiger gummys once. They were good. Hm, I’ll check the candy aisle when I hit my little market. Yum. ** Barkley, Hi, Barkley, old pal! I’ve been good enough, but what about you? Wow, that playlist, you’re so kind and cool. Wow. Yes, sure, email me about art stuff. I think you have my email, right? I can give it to you again if not. No, I didn’t know solidaritycinema until you just mentioned it. I just had a quick, superficial look, and it does look really valuable. Thank you so much! I’ll pore over it and inside it. Merry Xmas to you too big time if I don’t get to blab with you again before. ** Lucas, Hey! Hm, favorite Lispector? I think maybe ‘The Hour of the Star’. Yes, it’s ‘Crowd’, and I’m seeing it tonight. That qualifies as superstardom in my book. I hope your Thursday is just as lucky. ** Darby𓃱𓃱, I’m really, really glad you’re feeling better. You definitely just made me smile, and it was definitely unexpected. Thank you, pal. Maybe my lunchboxes or something therein will bring a smile to your face. The game with the ‘staple’ boss is ‘Paper Mario: The Origami King’, and it’s really fun and really good. High recommendation. You’ve played some good stuff. I just started gaming again after a few years break, so I have a lot to catch up on. Yeah, save some that $400 for yourself, but gifting friends is also a fine goal, obviously. Which Tim Buckley vinyl are you aimed at? Cool poster concept(s). You can probably get all three looks and effects? I especially like the ‘Carrie’ one. I hope today lifts you up like 70s glam rock platform shoes. ** Right. If anyone out there is in the market for a lunchbox, my blog has 218 suggestions for you. See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
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Pretty sure that as a kid I would have been a regular lunchbox user. My memory is lost re any of these specific designs, though. If I were to choose any one now, think I would go for Disco Fever please.
Casting an eye over the best-of-2024 lists from the lamestream media outlets, it seems I have never even heard of any of this year’s cultural highlights. Maybe we are all living in a bubble here, but it is really not such a bad place to be.
Hey Dennis,
Re: prose it’s been a funny experience the last few months really trying at it. Because it’s (for me) so much harder, probably because I have more to unlearn or something. A lot of my attempts feel very boring/traditional. The last thing I want is to be writing anything that feels like it could’ve been written any other time. Which is probably somewhat of a flawed way of looking at it, but I’m really attached to the idea of like, while I’m a young writer, I need to write things that feel exciting and new, if only to me. Which I feel very confident doing in poetry and when I try in prose I often feel like I’m drowning. But that drowning feeling is going away, as I find a voice I’m more comfortable in, and now I’m super excited about seeing how far I can push it. Though I know from experience that what will immediately follow the current feeling of improvement will be a prolonged stretch of difficulty. It’s all productive though (I hope).
And yeah, I can see why people could hate LA (or NYC for that matter) but I really can’t relate. The whole time I was in LA I was thinking of the Bruce Boone quote “I like the bigness of things, their largeness.” Which I really relate to.
These lunchboxes are all excellent but I’m really moved by the Harry S. Truman one. When I was a kid my parents sent me to school with a brown paper bag every day. It probably made everything a little less exciting.
Huckleberry
Hey, sorry if this is imposing or something but I just want to say that I know exactly how you feel in regards to wanting to write something completely modern. I kind of personally came to the conclusion that getting hung up on that was kind of taxing for me. I think what’s important is that you explore your own style and interests. Also, I think we’re all essentially a product of our time, so the writer who may seem to go against their time is paradoxically considered modern in retrospect if that makes sense? I couldn’t find the quote but Blanchot said something in ‘The Space of Literature’ about how several writers have a kind of nostalgia for the time in which their favourite books were written. Essentially, what I’m trying to say is that I think ‘modernity’ is created by writers rather than vice versa and that much of our highly picturesque understanding of the past is informed by the most dominant writers of their era. Nothing really exists until you write it down. Everything is too up in the air. Modernity doesn’t exist yet, so trust your instinct.
I also think the fact that you’re working in a medium that feels foreign to you is an exciting opportunity. I think of how Samuel Beckett forced himself to write in French because the act of having a constraint brought things out in the work that he wouldn’t have considered before.
Anyway, sorry for the ramble. And of course, if you read this I won’t be offended if you think what I’m saying is complete nonsense. This is just stuff that worked for me personally.
Hi!!
The stars will keep aligning. You’ve already been through way too much shit with “Room Temperature.”
Yeah, well, I can’t say I’m too hot for wrestlers myself.
Ah, your poor teenage self! I’m not sure if learning the truth would dampen the crush, but it might be better to have… realistic expectations. This might sound a bit cliché, but I think I’d tell my teenage self that things will get better. It was a miserable period for me.
This is perfect because I love ugly clothes and accessories, so I wouldn’t have any problem carrying one of these lunchboxes around for a week. Which one to choose, though? Most of these are crazy good. Maybe one of these: https://denniscooperblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/m_65ab16a9f8c5da29a30ad3e5-400×400.jpeg or https://denniscooperblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/AF-26LBP_Size1000px-400×353.jpg. You?
Love wondering why his muscles feel so sore today, Od.
Wow, those types of lunchboxes are so fascinating to me; so American… or maybe they’re not and instead they’re so 20th century — whatever the case, I always associate them with that one Simpsons scene when it shows a flashback of Marge crying on the schoolbus because a girl saw her Monkees lunchbox and told Marge that they don’t write their own songs.
I actually got 1100 words down before I left for my friend’s place. Just edited and finished up the essay an hour ago, definitely not my best but at this stage I’m just glad to be *technically* done for the year. The Christmas party was good, some messy bits that made me feel like I was in Housewives at one of their crazy dinner tables, but otherwise I’m so happy I went. I got some closure on this one thing that had kind of been haunting me for the past year and a half, which I think I’ll tell you all about when I’m over, you’ll probably enjoy it.
Now I’m off for another christmas night out with college people, and then another tomorrow… I think this has been the most I’ve been since the summer!
Addition since my brain is going wild now that I don’t have to be in academic mode:
I’m so excited to finally have time to write stuff that isn’t essays and articles. I think I’m going to work on some stuff that will go towards some larger project that’s currently existed solely in the ‘free’ parts of my brain, and my notes app. Plus I have a backlog of games to play, books to read, films to watch. I can’t wait to go to bed tonight, knowing I don’t have a deadline or some project that will have me stressed every waking moment.
I’ll email you the stuff I’ve been meaning to send on like writing + face pictures so you can picture the person writing these and not just have me exist as a bunch of sentences that are spoken in your internal monologue.
You have any games you’ve been meaning to buy for the Switch?
Hey Dennis! Lovely post today – whenever I see one of these list-heavy image posts I often start out thinking, like, “Oh, whatever”, but I’m always transfixed by the end. Particularly by the very adult ones – the idea of a kid with a Jim Morrison or Twin Peaks lunchbox is just incredible. I don’t think I ever really used a lunchbox, school meals have always been off the table for medical reasons for me.
Haha, yes, that’s a good way of putting age gap anxieties down. I think my boyfriend jokes that I’m by far the more predatory one in the relationship, given that he’s sort of my exact physical type and thinks he has less “mature” interests than me – not that I really agree, or think that’s a bad thing. I have this joke with him about being a like, incredibly ancient lecherous old man that he finds funny but has been insanely serious about me not even alluding to in front of his friends – I sort of start the performance by hunching my back and making eye contact, so it’s easy to do discreetly, much to his annoyance.
I really second the “Belladona of Sadness” recommendation, btw. It’s a really interesting looking film with a lovely soundtrack, and the complaints most people have (excessive sexual violence / no plot) are things I think you’re not put off by. I’ve actually just started Blue of Noon by Bataille (despite my boyfriend’s best efforts), and that’s been amazing. It’s so short that I’ve been rationing the pages out, but it’s just so interesting. I saw you made a blogpost about it ages ago so once I finish it I’ll make sure to read that. Anyway, fingers crossed you enjoyed the still-smoking restaurant that crashed outside your apartment, see you!
For whatever reason, I did not expect actually 218 images of lunchboxes when I saw the post titled 218 lunchboxes. For me, it’s Asteroid City, or Human Organ For Transplant, or Kung Fu, or The Flying Nun, or Harry S. Truman, or Kirk V. Gorn, or MF Doom, or Skyrim, or any of the bread/sandwich lunchboxes.
Never had a lunchbox per se, I was always on school lunches when many others were on sandwiches from home. If I ever had lunch from home, it was in Tupperware, or a carrier bag.
Ping Pong is a manga/anime about… Ping Pong. I only know it because it’s known for its art style which is ‘ugly’ but it’s also, like, emotionally heavy hitting, apparently. Never seen it or read it, but brother has read it after I suggested he do so.
I used to have a manga reading routine, but that’s fallen by the wayside.
Uh, 1) which novel is getting the graphic treatment? and 2) why?
Yeah, technically. I’ve got 2 hours of English (supposedly/fingers crossed lowkey festivities and no real work), the final 2 hours with my currently useless and unprofessional teacher (I am displeased at her patting my arm on my way downstairs this afternoon, among other more pedagogical things) until I get a Canadian guy called Jeremy to teach me after the holiday. And once English tomorrow is over, two weeks off. Or ‘off’ since exams in January I should prepare for.
I’m so tired, man, I can*not* be arsed, I just want it to be the holidays already. Bastards made me write another Russia essay today on war/revolution. Geography was more easygoing. We ate chocolates and I wore a Santa hat which got compliments and discovered that a guy on my table whose music taste I otherwise judge likes a band that I like, and I impressed him with how much stuff he liked that I knew (and disliked), and gave me his headphones to listen, and went on Tinder and started swiping through girls, asking for my feedback (indiscriminately, I gave thumbs down, and read Kafka and rested my head on my scarf on the table and caught some shut-eye).
Nosebleeds and sneezes are indeed not ideal together. I think I have the latter so often that they cause the nosebleeds, totally diabolical positive feedback loop. I believe I’m okay, I’ve always just been a very sneezy person.
Huhu, no, brother’s not a homophobe, I don’t think, my family is genuinely tolerant/progressive and have close friends that are gay but they are not above occasional comments/jokes that rub me the wrong way. I just don’t want my family knowing I like boys (even if it’s obvious) because of the awkwardness, not so much the fear or shame. I told my parents and brother I liked boys at 13 but they either didn’t take me seriously or have just completely forgotten about it, because whenever I say/do things/give ‘hints’ they still get all eyebrow-raise-y and ask ‘is there something you’re not telling us, James?’ which is annoying. Maybe it’s all just a big joke and they Know. But now these days it’s just not my family’s business, is my viewpoint, and they can keep their noses out of what I want.
Summer until October? Yeesh. Hell. I need my crisp chill and blueish nights and scarf-wearing weather.
I do know the French for hot chocolate is chocolat chaud, not least because you’ve told me this before, teehee x)
I agree that showed doesn’t give off hot vibes. But to me, froid *does* give off cold vibes. Makes me think of the word frigid.
Oh, to have family/friends to which Cooper novels as gifts would not be ‘weird.’ I think Santa’s factory would be much improved with some subversive gay elves.
Not as rough a Thursday as I’ve known before. See ye again some time tomorrow. Tschuss tschuss.
Hey! I’ll add ‘Hour of the Star’ to my list, then. I’m excited to read more Lispector soon. How was ‘Crowd’? My Thursday was sort of meh, but the good parts were great. I spent most of the day in bed and then went to the city and did some organizing and got food with my new friends. They’re amazing people; I feel like I learn so much every time I talk to them. But I’m sort of really stressed out because of Christmas and my parents and blah. My mom’s feeling awful and going on about how she wants to leave the country again, my dad doesn’t care at all and is planning to leave tomorrow on holiday and I have to tell him that I need to keep staying with him bc ofc my mom can’t take care of me now, I’m left in the middle as always having to deal with the problems and worries of two middle aged adults. Yay yay yay. And I really just want to be left alone to read and watch movies and hang out and stuff. Hoping tomorrow will be better, xo.
This makes me happy.
In the little (rather, once little – now fucked) town in NC in which I live, there used to be a fine place called The Lunch Box That Rocks. Their walls and ceilings were totally covered in old school bizarre lunchboxes, either donated or curated. They had awesome vegetarian options and nobody looked at me askance if I ordered a mimosa with my breakfast sandwich on a weekday. Like most unique things around here, it sadly no longer exists. They would’ve loved this as well.
Thank you for sharing the short-long-short story about My Loose Thread. That’s quite the scheme… asking to be refunded an advance they didn’t… fucking advance.
Somehow I know not one but two people who may be moving to Japan in the next year. Neither is definite, one is eyeing Osaka. The other, I can’t recall where. Both I know well enough to let people crash. If any of this comes to fruition, Kong Country ahoy.!
Gates of Hell and Bigfoot are both v tempting but I think I’d have to go for one of the beautiful vintage space ones, probably Space Explorer.
Also this is a test to see if I can finally get past the bullshit Cloudfare issues.
oh wow I think that ac worked!! hello dc!! it’s been a longer minute than i expected bc of all sorts. how are you? i’m glad to hear that the film issues are finally sort of maybe drying up a bit. oh and the comic adaptation of your work?? v exciting. which one, when? (& wasn’t there some super rare manga version of Closer or something in the 00s or did i make that bit of trivia up?)
i have weirdly big news, in that i’ve persuaded broken sleep books that a performance text i wrote last year counts as a sequence of prose poetry, & its going to be published march 2026!! which still seems unreal to me. i also think (and this is classic me & i know i kind of sound like a dick) i am… unhappy with it, and looking over the draft again now turns my stomach. i know i should be allowing myself to enjoy the success, and that other people _haven’t_ been successful and this is kind of insulting to them — i wish i could just sit back and think i rock — but i can’t. it’s going to go through an editing process of some kind or another next year so i’ll do what i can then without overcorrecting and making it work. i still don’t know how to edit. i’m got too into process too early maybe.
otherwise the last few months have just been deadline deadline deadline. a lit journal i helped edit has finally launched. i was teaching 18yr olds poetry, which was… well i won’t go into detail so as to protect what little professional standing i have, but the number of students who complained that reading 7-8 poems a week was too many… i wouldn’t care honestly, i’m not a cop, except the same students then complained i was “introducing unseen material” into my classes when i asked them to analyse a set poem. what a waste of energy you know.
anyway if i can get through cloudflare now i might be able to get through in future! how is your xmas shaping up, what are your plans?
It’s been a difficult day. I learned that my parents have been without heat for the past week. Their boiler needs to be removed and a new one installed, which will happen Saturday at the latest. (This weekend is supposed to be horribly cold.) It seems like the situation’s on the road to getting fixed, but it’s disturbing to know how far it went. I was planning to go to a party tonight, but I feel so anxious and dizzy that I may not.
Are all these lunchboxes real? What kind of fish is that second from bottom?
The “fetish urine” manufacturers know their target audience. The store sold another brand of bacteria-free urine too.
I have an idea for a new EP: what music would a 4-year-old with a serious Tiktok addiction make if they got access to their parents’ equipment? Tentatively, it’ll be called BRAIN ROT.
Hi Dennis!
I never had a lunchbox, why?!
Thanks for asking. I’m afraid there’s not much exciting to share. I keep working and trying to find a publisher for a book featuring my art. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a publisher interested in it yet, but I won’t give up and will keep trying to get it published somewhere (if you happen to think of any publishers that might be interested, I’d love to hear your thoughts).
Other than that, the usual: friends (they’re awesome), exhibitions (my favorite this year is one by James Lee Byars), books (Magic Kingdom by Stanley Elkin and a collection of Russian horror stories —no kidding), comics (King of the Flies by Mezzo and Pirus), music (the new one by The Cure), movies (can’t wait to see your film!), and video games (Thimbleweed Park again, possibly Ron Gilbert is my favorite game designer).
I think that sums it up, nothing too exciting on my end.
Xo, Toniok
Hey. Ah, the lunchbox really is a lost art. I remember I had one with a labelled map of the solar system on it. And I still can’t really name the planets, despite the obvious ones. I couldn’t tell the time until I was embarrassingly old. The same with counting with my hands. I don’t think I ever bothered to get good at anything which didn’t interest me.
Yeah, I’m feeling really good about things. I’m still neurotic and stuff but I don’t know, I’m just hopeful suddenly. Well actually, the HRT is really giving me mood swings so maybe I’m just in a euphoric mood or something but creatively I’m more productive than I’ve ever been. I was re-writing the old manuscript today and was just really getting through it. Usually I’m so damn slow, but I think it’s because I’ve totally re-thought my process, and I’m really successfully cutting all of the shit remorselessly. This is technically the third draft, and the second draft I was basically just tweaking the google doc of the first draft, but now I have a new doc and I’m free to just ignore the big chunks I hate. But I don’t know, I think I’ve figured out a lot more about what I really don’t like in terms of my taste and have learnt to avoid doing it.
Oh hell yeah, Jay agrees with me about ‘Belladonna of Sadness’. I promise it’s an experience you won’t regret if you ever watch it.
I’ve been listening to William Basinski’s ‘Silent Night’ today. I’m a big Basinski fan. The ‘Disintegration Loops’ series is probably my favourite ambient album of all time but I hadn’t heard this one before and it’s perfectly in keeping with the season. I feel like it captures those rare moments of calm and reflection that fall over the holiday period.
Hello, I love the idea of you eating gummy bears! I’ll make sure to bring you some next time we meet. Did you hit the market yesterday? Though it’s not like you need gummy bears now that you’re finally getting your Bûche! What do you say I should feast on then, The man of many colours? Love, moi
PS I am vibing hard with these quirky lunchboxes, would love to fill one with my Flying Tiger gummy bears and share them avec toi. Muah
Hi! I’m glad to hear the movie’s coming together, still super excited.
I’ve just been writing and reading, not really doing much. I haven’t really read anything in the past year that’s popped out at me except for Diary of a Rapist by Evan S Connell. I don’t really remember anything else. I’ve been playing Yakuza, have you heard of those? Pretty fun and there’s like 15 of them.
I wrote most of a novel but it got really long and I got sick of trying to figure out what was going on with it so I started writing another novel and now it’s almost the same length and I’m having the same issue. Oops. What I’m doing now is this really overcomplicated, slightly annoying political satire following a McSweeney’s writer about the war on terror. I don’t know. It’s somewhat funny, so it’s whatever. I got into watching all of these terrible movies about electoral politics like “Man of the Year” and “Game Change” and “Dave” and just found it fascinating how weird the tone of these things are. They’re always so cynical about politics while also being obsessed with how sacred the process is. Rubbed off on me or something, and then I started reading all of this stuff about drug trafficking in Afghanistan etc… Spiraled out of control. Crazy shit.
What are you reading/watching/whatever? I really do need a book rec, but if you don’t have anything, that’s okay, I’ll try and ask someone else. Did you see Wicked?