Joan Didion, "On Keeping a Notebook." "It all comes back. Perhaps it is difficult to see the valuein having one's self back in that kind of mood, but I do see it; I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unanounced and suprise us, hammering on the door at 4 a.m. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends. We forget all too soon the things we thought we would never forget." Frances Mayes, Under the Tuscan Sun"In my mind … [Read more...]

Janice AnnJanice Ann perfected the pirouette. Some say she invented it. She has eyes like juicy little gumdrops and wears polka dot dresses. She has a poodle named "Jabberwocky." The Mary and JaneIdentical twins Mary and Jane have been living here since Mary's first nervous breakdown. Jane is secretly plotting her escape to Reno where she wants to run a roulette wheel and eat two-inch thick steaks every night. Stay tuned...The GalaxieChalky white aliens live here. They are blocky, wear blue pinstripe suits and thick black glasses. They sell insurance. They are secretly buying up real estate … [Read more...]

"An artist is someone who produces things that people don't need to have but that he - for some reason - thinks it would be a good idea to give them." ----Andy Warhol Did we need JT Leroy? I think in some ways, I did. First the statistics, the numbers to set the scene. I was thirty-three years old and living in San Francisco after seven years in Manhattan. I was dating a twenty-two year old bartender whom I shall call "T." He was half japanese with a handsome face and a tattoo around his neck in gothic lettering, "to thine own self be true." We were hanging out, eating burritos in the … [Read more...]

Last night I went to see David Foster Wallace read and was really excited to do so. The San Francisco literary scene can become incredibly stagnant, with the same four people reading every weekend with their friends--which is good for them, but not so great for the audience. Booksmith in upper Haight has some really wonderful authors forthcoming, bucking the trend.David Foster Wallace is built like a lumberjack. He even dresses sort of like a lumberjack. Black workboots, denim pants, short sleeve button down with a hint of undershirt peeking through. Like a lot of large men, reminiscent of the … [Read more...]

This story is also up under my name on www.ecstaticmonkey.com."Erin Jourdan's 'The Green Button' is a well-done alternate-reality piece about a woman who gets intoso much debt she has to live in a vat to pay itoff. In this world, that's common. I don't know if it's an intense commentary on life, but the tone is eerilycomplacent, especially when itcomes to the role of the green button."---Stætionary.com … [Read more...]