Toilet Mug

I know.
I posted this on facebook already, but I can't get enough of the toilet mug.
I heart the toilet mug.

That is all for today.

m

The King of the Birds

"Many people, I have found, are congenitally unable to appreciate the sight of a peacock."

Larry Levis

3.

You are the sweet, pregnant,
teen-age blonde thrown from the speeding car.

You are a dead, clean-shaven astronaut
orbiting perfectly forever.

You are America.
You are nobody.
I made you up.
I take pills and drive a flammable truck
until I drop.

I am the nicest guy in the world,
closing his switchblade and whistling.

Birthday Letters

From The Shot:

You were gold-jacketed, solid silver,
Nickel-tipped. Trajectory perfect
As through ether. Even the cheek-scar,
Where you seemed to have side-swiped concrete,
Served as a rifling groove
To keep you true.

Frederick Exley

Page 35: "And finally, I wanted love - or said that I did, though I know now that what I wanted was the adulation of the crowd, and that love was just a word that crowded so many other, more appropriate words off the tongue."

Soapstone

I am here at Soapstone for one glorious week.

I'm in the cube.

Out the circular window in front of me:
the pointy roof tip of the other writing cabin, spring green tree leaves, white birch bark, cloudless blue sky.

Out the circular window to the left of me:
rolling white river water over rocks, green moss on the trunks of trees, insects zipping by at top speed.

Out the circular window to the right of me:
the sound of a car or two passing on the highway, a big red sign that says EAT, and green, green, green.

I'd tell you about the circular window in back of me, but that one's dirty and needs to be washed.

Loyal reader, (that's you Brian), ahoy from my cube. And good day.

The Future of Publishing?

I just went to a panel on the future of publishing.
After 75 minutes, I'm left with two very specific lessons:

1. The big houses swallowed the little houses and most of them are now owned by hedgefunds who do not know how to manage a bookstore, let alone a publishing print. So your best bet as an author is to go with a smaller independent press because they will really get behind your work - at neither location (big or small) should you plan to make any money at all. So go with the guys that love your book and will promote it.

2. I think we as book buyers should boycott Amazon.
I learned some terrible terrible things about amazon.com that I'd never known before. Amazon doesn't charge sales tax (ostensibly this means they're able to bring the cost of the book down for the consumer). However, a few states in the last couple years have started to pass legislation demanding that Amazon pay sales tax in their states, due to the serious budget cuts and tax revenue deficits most states are dealing with lately. In response, Amazon now refuses to deal with any smaller, used and antiquarian bookstores that had previously used their site to sell their books. It's really very petty. Think of the amount of money that amazon might make off those mom and pop stores, probably almost nothing, pennies. And they're pulling their access to a larger global consumer base because the states they happen to live and work in have changed their tax laws. It's obnoxious.

And that's just ONE of the things I learned about amazon at the panel.

Anyway, I'd love your thoughts.
I know Amazon has also done some good things (right? haven't they?) for writers and the publishing industry. Making books and publishing more accessible, etc.

I don't know what to think.
And then to make matters worse, as I logged on to post this entry, at the top of Blogger, it said this:

New! Do you link to Amazon in your blog posts? Our Amazon Associates integration makes linking easier, and can even earn you some money! Details here.

Is it a sign?
And if so, of what?

This has been today's dispatch from the front.
Thanks for listening.
m

For more info here's a starters link
Here is another one