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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Pumpkin Seeds: Seven Days “Post-Op” Edition

1. I really hope the idea that how you start the New Year reflects the tone the rest of it will take is way off base. 2. Trip #4 to the ER yesterday included an excruciating round of poking and prodding of the wound - literally, a pair of surgical scissors stuck up in there and opened in various spots to encourage more drainage. The doctor really wanted me to take the anesthesia this time but the memory of the burning was still too vivid so I clenched my teeth through it and almost regretted it. Almost. Pain you can…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Real-Life ER Drama

I visited the ER many times as an accident-prone kid - and a couple of times as a still-accident-prone adult - almost always for stitches, almost always somewhere in my head, to the point that one time, after seeing it done so often, my mother got medieval and fashioned her own butterfly stitch for one of my lesser wounds. As of this morning, I've visited the ER three times in the last five days. *** Semi-graphic details to follow. Check out Robert Smigel's hi-f'n-larious "Blue Christmas" instead! (Or, in addition if you're the voyeur type, like Dyanna!) *** Long story…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Profiling Jehovah’s Witnesses

"Game recognizes game." Or in this case, former Jehovah's Witnesses recognize current ones. There's a youngish couple in our building that I pegged as JWs a while back and finally had my J-dar confirmed when they came knocking during the Jets game yesterday. Something about the way they carried themselves rang familiar, but it was seeing them heading out a few times on weeknights, usually around 6-6:30pm, that gave them away. At those times, they were always well-dressed, but modestly so, with briefcases in hand and the friendly demeanor of those who genuinely believe they have found the way to…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Review: Worldwatch #3

With Marvel not publishing a single thing of interest to me this week, I decided to throw an extra $3 towards an indie comic I'd never read before and let me preface its review with this offer: the first person I don't know personally to leave a comment here, I'll mail it to you, bagged and boarded, postage-paid, completely free of charge. Someone involved in its creation would be ideal, actually! I told someone recently that when it came to indie comics, if I didn't have something nice to say about a particular title, I simply wouldn't review it. The…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Did Ni Imu Abe Imu.

What to do?

I haven’t really had any compelling desire to blog lately, what with my decision to not bash the holidays this year, things at work in flux yet again, and Comic Book Commentary getting most of my writing attention these days. So much so that I’ve lost interest in the previously announced Anecdotal Evidence which is supposed to launch next month!

I’m loathe to make this a purely personal journal as I find most of those boring, and have pretty much withdrawn completely from the poetry scene the suspected majority of you reading this know me from. Factor in the necessary break from politics for the next couple of months and I’m at a loss for words.

And yet, I feel vaguely guilty when I go more than a couple of days without posting something here. Like I’m neglecting the only, admittedly tenuous, connection to many of you that I consider friends but don’t get to see nearly enough.

I’ve also noticed my traffic has dipped by almost half over the past month, too, which is a bit of a drag on the ego!

So, what to do?

(more…)

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Pumpkin Seeds: Gonzalez’s Twelve Edition

1. The difference between sanity and insanity is whether or not you do what the voices tell you. 2. If you know you're a sore loser, it's best not to answer the phone for an hour or so after your team loses the game you talked so much trash about. 3. Don't tell my wife but, I don't really hate Christmas. Beyond the obligatory, consumerist aspect of it - which I do despise - I actually like shopping for people I want to get gifts. The feeling of finding that perfect gift for someone makes the overall stress worth it.…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Review: Chango’s Fire by Ernesto Quiñonez

There is something simultaneously appealing and frustrating about Ernesto Quiñonez's second novel, Chango's Fire, a marked improvement over his highly-flawed debut, Bodega Dreams, but in the end, still something of a disappointment. This time, the problem lies in his biting off more than he can chew with too many subplots rolling around what is essentially one man's coming-of-age story at its heart. He's inexplicably combined the systematic burning of Spanish Harlem, insurance fraud, organized crime, gentrification, Santeria, pseudo-socialism, illegal citizenship papers, a shady government agent and a few other random nuggets into a muddle-headed plot that rests precariously, and unsuccessfully,…

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