*
p.s. Hey. ** _Black_Acrylic, Cool, you’re most welcome, ‘unruliness’, nice! ** Laura, Yeah, I had a little British moment there. Wild that you have relatives that would have watched ‘The Color of Love’. When friends have parents or relatives who even dipped their toes into the avant-garde it boggles my mind. I know guys who are total tops who get turned off when their bottoms are aren’t limp. By the time I’d even heard of Blanchot he was in his total recluse phase, so I would have had to be stalker. Years ago Juliet Landau friended me on Facebook, and she even liked my posts fairly frequently, but then she left Facebook like most people do. She seemed like she was into pretty cool, experimental stuff. Venice is still pretty okay as far I’ve been able to tell. I guess it’s not a bohemian enclave anymore though. No script feedback yet. Very soon, I’m promised. Hug-eroonies. ** kenley, Um, … no, I don’t think I did hear that collab. Moor Mother is so prolific. I’ll go find it, thanks. Why won’t your friend give you that guy’s contact? I would go find him and put in a good word for you. Don’t abandon it! Work your fingers to the bone trying to make it great first. No, I’m weird in that I have some weird inherent confidence in my writing, that I can make it work. Not that I always do make it work by any means. But I never worry that I can’t. Of course that’s been more the case after I started publishing and had a bunch of positive second opinions. You can make it work, I swear. If you could see the shit I used to write along my way you wouldn’t believe that I believed in it, but I illogically did. ** Carsten, I haven’t listened to Ribot in a long time either apart from some of the collaborative things he’s been involved in. But I just downloaded his newest thing to help decide if I want to pony up and see him or not. Weird, storms everywhere except Paris. We’re just fairly cold and a wee bit rainy and stable. Sounds fun, the storms. Easy for me to say. My weekend? I have my biweekly Zoom book/film club in Sunday. Maybe see some art today and watch that new doc ‘Disneyland Handcrafted’, which I’m unsurprisingly dying to see. Probably a trip to After8 where they’re having some kind of sale. Film stuff. That’s my prediction. Enjoy making yours count. ** Steve, No, that was shot pre-Nancy murder. I had a conversation with Malcom McLaren once at this retrospective of his work up to that point at the New Museum back when it was still on Broadway in Soho. He was lively. We had a really interesting talk about how genius Bow Wow Wow were. Those storms you guys have always inevitably seen to end up being ‘disappointments’, so I hope that trend follows for your sake. ** HaRpEr //, I guess I should read Sally Rooney one of these days just to see what the fuck all the rigamarole around her is about. You’re definitely not the first. I’m starting to feel like an antique for not writing fiction on my phone, and certainly for not reading from my phone at events. Whatever works, I guess. Obviously lots of luck with your laptop. ** Steeqhen, Ni. Nice. I’ve had five different people tell me not to see ‘Sentimental Value’ unless I want to suffer. Enjoy the weekend, sir. ** Okay. I thought I would take it easy on you while simultaneously indulging my gif fetish this weekend. See you on Monday.
Now available in North America 
hi dennis!
hahaha ill have to reach out again. i think i just feel awkward cuz last year we did a bunch of k together and uhhh…yknow. and now im spoken for soooooo š¤Ŗ
heres the link!!! https://sumac.bandcamp.com/album/the-film . idk if youre into sumac, theyre incredibleeeee and their members have been in, like, every good artsy sludge band
and ok i will channel your confidence and march on!!!! if nothing else…no ones expecting anything of me, which i suppose is rather freeing.
and since i saw a gif of tom sandoval up there, i need to know…have you ever watched vanderpump rules? to me it is the ulysses of trashy reality tv lolololol
Captivating collection today, Dennis. Funny, I first viewed this on my tablet, with the gifs not moving. I kept wondering whether the subjects were saying no, or whether you were saying no to the subjects.
I’m embarrassed that I don’t know Peggy Ahwesh’s work, even though I come across her name a lot. Will definitely spend some time with your post.
Saw Steven Brown last night, test running material from his upcoming record. He played rollicking versions of some of my favorite Tuxedomoon songs (59 to 1, In a Manner of Speaking, Desire, The Cage), so I was happy.
Bill
No snow yet. I’ve been out twice today. The first time, in mid-afternoon, wasn’t bad, because there was no wind, but it’s gotten far more oppressive this evening. May tomorrow be “disappointing.”
Do you remember what McLaren had to say about Bow Wow Wow? He was a lot more successful at turning them into industry plants than he was with the Sex Pistols, at least Lydon. They’d be taken more seriously now without that aura of exploitation, because the music’s held up well.
My latest “Radio Not Radio” show is out now: https://www.mixcloud.com/callinamagician/1242026-radio-not-radio/. This one features Haram, End It, Vein.fm, Che, bleood, Seo, sidepeices, Zayok, Ari Falcao, Meryl, Didi B, Lady Saw, Nina Simone, Beverly Glenn-Copeland & Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland, Frederik Croene, Kris Davis, Cassie Watson Francillo, Julianna Barwick & Mary Lattimore, Hekura, Hildur Guonadottir, Here And Now, 801, Fauna, Dry Cleaning, Geologist, Maria BC, Gaute Granli and Ralph Towner.
Hi!!
Hey, Dennis! How have you been? Are the lung thing and back pain long gone? Howās the film script coming along? How was the Zoom book/film club?
Iāve finally finished one of the big proofreading/editing projects Iād been working on, and I feel like I can breathe again ā at least until next week or so when the next one is supposed to come in.
I havenāt continued āHouse of Leavesā since I mentioned that I was reading it, but ā after a long-overdue video chat with one of my dear friends ā thatās the plan for today. So far, Iām finding it intriguing in a simmering but not mind-blowing way ā Iām curious and drawn in while reading it but not as consumed as I was when I first read, say, Blake Butlerās ā300,000,000.ā That book really got under my skin.
Have you seen the movie āPillionā? Or are you interested in it? We watched it a few nights ago, and it was completely different from what Iād expected.
Love physically unable to say no to you, Od.
Are these gifs found objects or do you “make” them yourself? I ask as someone who has no idea how gifs are made.
What was on the docket in your film/book club? After8 I had to look up: the bookstore? Did you score anything good? Let me know what you think of that latest Ribot you downloaded once you’ve listened in.
Storms are funāif enthralling qualifies as funāif you live in a house built to withstand them. Our rental has been revealing its many faults & shortcomings to us gradually. It’s perfect as a summer house, with glass doors instead of windows in some places that flood the inside with plenty of sunlight. The problem is that all this glass is single-pane & we’re on top of a hill, so once the winds pick up some speed you feel like you’re living in a tree house with all the drafts & whistling.
Yesterday the Costa del Sol lived up to its name & gave us plenty of sunshine, which allowed me to show my cousin Nerja & Frigiliana, two beautiful little towns, the former on the coast & the latter up in the hills behind. Today we’re taking it easy by mostly staying in our village, taking some walks & the like.
Lately the balancing act of remaining an informed citizen of the world while still fully living one’s own life has been on a curve of sorts. I start my mornings with rage at what’s coming out of the news, but somehow wind my way to a state that allows me to function. Coffee & cigarette coping rituals. The morning shower as therapy. And life goes on…
Here in my kitchen, this is the Scottish Independence mug to counter today’s negativity!
OMG today is very much dreich = a fine Scottish word that means cold and rainy. Mum and I braved the elements this morning to share some breakfast and coffee. Forecast is that the weather will be like this all week so there is not much sunshine to forward to around here.
Hello,
How was your weekend?
I officially ended the period where I could not read easily and went back into reading every day Along with writing in my variety notebooks every thing
I read The sorcerer’s apprentice and Candy Darling’s bio in Full, loving both and I keep going with more
Will tell you about the books I read as I go on if I have thoughts to discuss
Have you seen this book cover of Claude Simon’s Triptych? I am curious to read this book and if I love it I will buy this specific edition (out of the many that exist)
https://www.amazon.com.be/-/en/Claude-Simon/dp/071453787X
Hi from Chania :))
I’m sure a lot of people have said this before, but “no” is my “Yes.”
Whenever I think about *any*thing, any kind of work, I have to take some time to gt my mind off what is happening to the United States. I dont see a lot of TV news or newspaper news or corporate news, but enough to see that agents of the government are killing people they’re just momentarily annoyed with, as crazy as any police killings we’ve ever seen, and the press colludes with the unprecedented, heretofore totally unthinkable position that no investigation is necessary by presenting it almost without comment. The killing is horrifying and shocking, but the government’s position is even more so, especially as it’s a strategy to inure people to an entirely lawless regime unbound by any existing procedures and regulations, and the position of the press maybe even worse.
I’m in danger of going off on this. The thing is, by far most of the people in this country have no idea what is happening or why; and so far the liberal and progressive wings have no answers beyond pleading for humaneness and fairness and justice and all the hearts and minds stuff; and still haven’t grasped that the regimne and the oligarchy know that they have no alternative but destroying or nullifying the existing system of law if they want to hang on to what they’ve got. They’re building fortresses, physical and metaphorical, while the liberals hope to win an election. I mean, I hope it works, but I think the only reason they count on it is that they’re as invested in the election industry as Hollywood is in movies.
Well, hello. Of course I wish I could keep up with the blog more, especially because it’s kind of hard to catch up on something like 3 weeks’ worth. But randomly:
-Big belated gratitude to Lucas for Phil Ochs Day, as he was someone I fell in fan love with early. Bob Dylan (back then), Odetta, Leonard Cohen, and I still love Joan Baez for how fiery she gets when she talks to people dismissive of the political dimensions of popular music.
-I remember Gretchen Bender from DC, where she was, you know, charismatic. From what I recall, she liked the poetry people and of course we liked her. I think she arranged Robert Longo’s visit to the Corcoran School, which impressed a lot of faculty as well as students, but of course like you, I figured she was way ahead of him in understanding and achieving what contemporary art could do.
-Terence Winch very recently resurrected a 2020 post about Tim Dlugos from his Best American Poetry blog. Of all the things written about Tim — someone just contacted me to ask if I was the person mentioned on the page about Tim on the Poetry Foundation blog–for some reason this is the one I find hardest to get through without seizing up with grief:
https://craic-headpoetry.blogspot.com/2026/01/tim-dlugos-things-i-might-do-terence.html
-I just spent the day at a Korean spa not far from here so I had about 6 hours of nudity and steam and sauna and whirlpool and even a fantastic nap on an “infrared” slab of polished pink granite (I’m very skeptical about the “infrared” but naps there are great). Of course one thing I really love about visiting Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands is all the spas. So far my #1 is the Carolus Thermen in Aachen–the same waters where Charlemagne rested his weary limbs after a long day of slaughtering people. A fun thing is to see American straight couples where the woman booked and knows what’s up, and the look on the guy’s faces when his gf/wife strips, and what’s worse, he realizes that he’s expected to, too. At the Korean spa here, I don’t find the atmosphere sexualized. It’s cruisy but that’s easy to ignore. But I find that when I mention it to people not used to group nudity, they seem to think it’s arousing just to see people naked. Do they not go to museums? Am I a freak?
-I realize I have no idea where you find your escort posts; they’re very outside my mundane internet searches. They’re probably from some dark corner you’re not supposed to talk about. I really ought to find a bunch of posts from bears just to gross you out.
Anyway I’ve been busy. I think I mentioned, I’ve been doing talks for a pretty good fee, and since I do one on Frankenstein, it draws a good crowd–aftermath of the latest film but it’s always a popular topic. But I just finished a round, and I’m going to focus on poetry and some prose before I propose any others–probably on one aspect of dreaming or another. Still hoping for Paris in the fall. Lately I’m also getting as excited about Mexico as I’ve always been about France.
Hey there Dennis!
Today was very nice. I bought my camera with me and I visited the local zoo with some friend. Some things stood out to me about the experience. For one thing the place exists in the abstract to my online friends because it was the basis of a Cameron Crowe movie. Some of them are interested in his filmography, though I’m only really drawn to Vanilla Sky. Interesting when local experiences are something that are actually less closed off then you’d originally assume.
Regardless, that wasn’t the only thing I associated with them. I mentioned bringing my camera with me, and it was a chance to return to a form I haven’t given much attention to. Took quite a few shots, but there were two particular animals that we photogenic to me. One was the Amur Tiger they had there, who rested on top of a rock that was quite close to my view.
The other one is something that reminded me of my friends. I spent most of my time staying around the otters. Really I haven’t seen them much, so it was a nice experience to condense and focus on them. They spoke to me because I was thinking of my friend whose fursona is an otter. As I took these photos, I kept wondering about their particular relationship to them. I’m a furry myself who fixates on foxes, so I know what it’s like to find a sense of security within a particular animal. A vehicle for a kind of expression that represents closely how you wish to perceive yourself out in the social world. So, watching them move along was like finding my own resonance with them.
I’ve been keeping well beyond that. Thinking of your previous response, it’s enlightening to hear about your qualms with structural focus within screenwriting classes. That’s exactly how my module is built to be, especially in its relationship to the didactic authors who focus on imposing universal structures within film. My recent assignment had this notice that exclaimed “MUST INCLUDE INCITING INCIDENT” and just felt arbitrary against everyone’s conscious guides through whatever they want to explore. Oh well. I’m familiar with these dialogues so I’ll just press on. At least we have a vehicle to express our aspirations and qualms in.
Do you have any suggestions for works that focusing on the language of film? I mentioned reading I was reading Bresson, and I’m curious to see where else I can go.
Take care!
hey Dennis. Dennis I’m reading the George Miles cycle and I have to know what the fuck you’re trying to pull, here
> “Dead… men… tell… no… tales.” George said those words with a fake British accent. He’d heard them spoken that way in his favorite Disneyland ride. Repeating the line *six or seven* times cheered him up. (p. 41, Closer)
> There are *six or seven* lightning-bolt hairs on his chest (p. 155, Frisk)
> I slapped his face five, *six, seven* times (p. 221, Frisk)
> Once, years ago, Julian had believed in some theory that criminal types had a black aura, halfway between a cloud and veil, which covered their whole bodies ā *six, seven*, eight inches thick (p. 239, Frisk)
> Calhoun stares into his desk’s open drawer. At a glance, it’s a mess ā *six, seven* majestic if well-used syringes… (p. 65, Try)
> Robin’s face, twisted by bad dreams or something but gorgeous for *six, seven* seconds… (p. 106, Try)
What meaning did these specific numbers have for you when you were writing this? The fact that it keeps reoccurring in different formations throughout the first three books of the cycle (‘six or seven’, ‘six, seven’, ‘five, six, seven’, ‘six, seven, eight’) makes this feel like an intentional if unconscious decision. What do you think the significance of their reappearance in the memetic collective consciousness is today? You and I both know this integerian couplet transcends its modern context of a rap song/basketball player’s height — it possesses some hauntological quality, deeply gnostic yet strung from trappings of faith.
I would appreciate your thoughts on this matter or at least some kind of explanation since I feel like I’ve been had. Suffice to say that I don’t think it’s a coincidence given your work’s treatment of youth popular culture as reflecting internal repression, so for you to have projected the import of a number that would hold youth consciousness 25 years on feels deeply significant. Lacanian, as it were.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and have a wonderful Sunday afternoon š
AMAZING observation
hey thatās v interestingā¦ i think i just saw it as 6 is an evil number or whatever, 7 is v blessed, if they donāt cancel each other out they at least add some subconscious contrarianness and ambivalence. but ofc it could be anything, and your thing w youth consciousness is v cool. if only everyone stayed young for 25 years only, or no-one ever did!
hiii dennis.
whatās up?:) how was your weekend?
iām about to finish reading āabout edā (took a month in between winter depression and busyness) finally. i have conflicted feelings on the book since i like it but i feel like the second part just kind of drops off. i mean i think thatās the intended effect that itās more muddy etc but it was certainly jarring to go from reading these really beautiful crystal clear descriptions and like one sentence analyses of entire relationships to like the sometimes difficult to get through / repetitive meandering through grief in the second part. i mean i think my main thing is that the first part is obviously so much clearer since itās written decades past the actual events, and the second not so obviously
still a rly worthwhile read.
are you reading anything interesting right now? i still need to get a good look at your favs from ā25 to get into some contemporary fiction. i have like a really specific taste so i feel very stuck in my weird personal niche sometimes when it comes to fiction.
my weekend was really filled with ups and downs but the ups were great.
nothing bad even happened i just spent some time with a very unattainable person that i find really special (tho i barely know them tbh) so i like sulked and sulked and made this collage while wallowing in self pity
https://imgur.com/a/bIela47
text is from a song by the smiths lol
i think i just need to be like, more well-adjusted when it comes to people i find attractive itās embarrassingly obvious every time and i always cringe at myself like a second after the person leaves the room. itās not a big deal to me at all right now which is funny
re: āabout edā clearer is maybe not the best word to describe the first part of the novel, but āsharperā
Hey. Very humbling to scroll through this and see countless faces disapproving of my presence. Not something that Iām not used to I suppose.
I watched āThe Ice Towerā this weekend which I really liked. Did you ever get around to watching it? I remember you mentioned it at some point.
I had this crazy emotional writing night yesterday, concerning things that would be too lengthy to explain, but it concerns a boy I once knew and in the middle of editing a specific part that sort of contains a thing that channels him, I broke down and spent hours writing a letter to him just because I felt like I had to. I knew very well that I would never send it. I intended to get something very directly out of my system in a non-writerly way and assumed that it would make the rest of the writing process easier after doing what amounted to regurgitating some poison in my stomach. Unfortunately, today something about the process seemed tainted. It becomes exceedingly difficult to detach myself from the writing on an emotional level. There are cavities in the manuscript where I only have rough outlines for things in monosyllables. I keep putting it off, thinking that Iāll eventually get to somewhere emotionally that will make the process easier. I donāt think that will happen anytime soon, so I think I really just have to get through it. Thereās no truth in my eyes. Up until this point I havenāt been thinking all that broadly about what place I hope to get to with the book and if anything will reveal itself to me. Maybe I should, but I think itās more faithful to my outlook if I donāt force closure, just leave everything where it is. I think just making it all compact and streamlined is what I need to focus on.
Hey Dennis,
That 4th gif is Tom Sandoval from
Vanderpump Rules; heās now seen as one of the biggest āvillainsā of reality tv because of him cheating on his partner of 9 years with her best friend, all the while she was defending them on camera ā it came to be known as āScandovalā. Iām actually just watching that episode that reveals the affair and itās fascinating as whilst this show was built upon all of these people cheating on each other constantly, this one felt way more insidious and wicked, as he not only lied to his partner and cast members, he also lied to the audience and was planning to frame her as a crazy ex and āfind loveā in the mistressā¦ well, his partner Ariana is now the host of Love Island USA and is doing pretty well for herself, so karma worked outā¦ I also just hated him because I found him incredibly obnoxious and ādude-broā, if that makes sense.
Thereās a lot of faces I recognize as well in this lineup, although none that I feel impassioned enough to touch on.
Iāll keep that in mind about Sentimental Value. I feel like seeing it and hating it is worth the āvalueā of it being ā¬0.00! Iām thinking of going to the cinema sometime this week. I was hoping that Bugonia would be back in cinemas in the lead-up to the Oscars as I missed out on basically every big film last year, and I did really want to see that, and One Battle After Another, especially before the Oscars. Though the latter Iām fine with seeing after, and Iām sure that will be back in post-Oscars. There is that Silent Hill film thatās based on the 2nd (and objectively the most popular and recognized) game, but even from the moment the first images came out months ago I knew it would be a bad film (the quality of the wig they put āMariaā in is very tellingā¦). I may just go anyway on Tuesday ā which has a cheap ticket deal ā and enjoy watching a shitty adaptation of something I love.
Perhaps itās coincidental, but I feel like having a job has given me the motivation to go out, do things, make plans. I think itās that having to work on specific days makes the days off feel much more valuable, instead of every day being a day of āpossiblyā doing something.
Nice post. Reminded of going to a curio shop with assorted secondhand bobbleheads that filled up an impossibly high shelf (it seemed impossibly high to me when I was in the single digits at the very least). Snowed heavily here last night and then through today and I decided to disregard my toe in order to walk around and feel it. I’m considering making snow angels as I write this, but I’ll probably fall on the side of no because I have an interview tomorrow and don’t want to fall violently sick beforehand. If only my future trajectory was not all but determined by these silly hourlong sessions! I know you’re very tall, so you must make massive snow angels.
*were, not was.
Hey Dennis! Neat compilation, do you like to use reaction gifs in conversation or do you collect them for your novels/blog mostly?
WTF you got to see shellac live?? Iām so jealous, I didnāt have the opportunity. How was the concert? & do you have a favorite song by them? Mines probably āBilliard Player Songā, āRiding Bikesā, or āPrayer To Godā.
Also, everyone here has gotten over their illness so I sent out the mail to you a couple days back! Should get to you in around 2 weeks. :^)
Hope you have a wonderful day, Dennis!
hi Dennis!
Too Many Cooks!! you know how at first youāre like huh cool, then after a while itās is this forever but eventually you settle back into it and hope it doesnāt end lol =)
i have this v funny image in my head of stalking Maurice Blanchot and itās like poor guy he just wanted to have his posthumous existence or whatever. judging from his correspondence and common sense, tho, he would have loved you. loved you weirdly, granted. but loved you.
Juliet Landau makes sense! sheās v cool lol
man, those toppy blokes, so interestinglyā¦ feminising of their partners, wildā¦ like is it a youāre asleep thing or a dead thing or do they just not like it when the other person likes it too tho there are obvi ways around w guys at leastā¦
think i only knew it was The Color of Love bc i def saw it way later on and i rememberedā¦ got too watch a bunch of stuff young just like that, through the cracked door lol. no way they didnāt know i was there but i think the idea was ok, itās unofficial so who cares. my father and one of my uncles, traditionally v into the avant garde and most of the family does smth creative or other, often more than one thing, but in exchange i at least am a major dyscalculiac, uh, donāt ask me to count change lol, iāll fake it =) on the other hand numbers all have these great colours and even more so in combination ^_^
where is it even fun to live in LA lately? and script newsā¦? *extra whiny voice* me iāve got to choose between writing a gory party scene rn or a not actually super random porn script to then embed in the thing. iāve got no idea how to write a script but iāll figure it out, which scene scene should i do first?
love you!