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

Formerly known as Pumpkin Seeds

1. Esmeralda Santiago's When I Was Puerto Rican is without question the best autobiography I've ever read. Her writing is vibrant, fluid, and concise. Her evocation of life in PR as Americanization slowly seeps in is deadeye brilliant, and her transition to life in the margins in Brooklyn is heart-rending. She never uses a hammer to make her points, choosing the subtle, the offhand, the seemingly innocuous instead. Edwidge Danticat should take notes. Ernesto Quinones should be embarrased. 2. What ever happened to Junot Diaz? 3. Up next, Matt Ruff's Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls. 4.…

Continue ReadingFormerly known as Pumpkin Seeds
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

It was a year ago, almost to the day, that I went to St. Mark's Comics with Omar and got hooked on comic books again. "Hooked" in that crackhead sense, apparently, as after buying a legit box for them, I've realized the sense of control I thought I had over what, and how much, I was buying turned out to be a severe case of denial. For some reason, I thought the long boxes held 100 comics and was surprised when my nascent collection didn't fill it completely. So I counted...and realized I've bought over 200 comics in the past…

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

I may be speaking a bit prematurely on this but I'm bored at work and excited about the potential of this new wrinkle that's come up. I mentioned a couple of days ago that I wasn't feeling the idea of continuing louder than words after Eric heads west. One of the keys to the show was our tight relationship that allows us to smacktalk each other without offending. After some solo thinking on it, I asked Omar - one of the few people I share a similar rapport with - if he'd be interested in stepping in. He was, but…

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

The stock market's been getting pummeled over the past week - with the Dow dropping below 10,000 again - despite three months of optimistic job growth and starry-eyed predictions of a full-on economic recovery. Much as the pundits want to, though, you can't force a rebound to happen with wishful thinking, and you can't play the smoke and mirrors game when the surface numbers don't play along. Three months of admittedly impressive job gains don't even come close to offsetting the previous three years of hemorrhaging, especially when many of these new jobs are lower-paying - with inferior or non-existent…

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

Today's navel-gazing missive about the meaning of life and the fallacy of the American Dream will be pre-empted for in-the-moment coverage of some late-breaking news: my main man Eric Guerrieri is leaving town. :-( He just called me a little while ago with the news that he's moving to Colorado...in two weeks! It's a great, if bittersweet, opportunity for him and I'm simultaneously happy for him and selfishly pissed. If Bassey is my little sister from the poetry scene, Eric is my twin brother. From those first days when I wasn't sure where he was coming from to the present…

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

Pumpkin Seeds: Survivor Edition

1. Call me a sap but last night's Survivor catapulted the show back to the top of my favorites list. Rob proposing to Amber, before the winner was declared, was one of the coolest TV moments ever. EVER! 2. There was more drama, humor and energy in last night's three-hour finale than in the last three seasons of Friends. 3. For all those complaining about reality shows being bad for TV and being of lesser-quality than its scripted counterparts, Survivor is the George McKibbens that shoots that theory down. 4. Speaking of George, the Urbana trio has appropriately dropped out…

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

Between my internet connection at work being screwy all day and Blogspot.com seemingly on the blink, the post I started writing earlier was lost. It was about the difference between Batman and Superman and a comment director Wolfgang Petersen made about it. Petersen was apparently attached to a Batman vs. Superman movie that was scrapped in favor of separate movies. Can't say I'm disappointed. Petersen's also the director of the new movie, Troy, with Brad Pitt lamely delivering one of the corniest lines ever: "Immortality! It's yours. Take it!" No thanks, Brad. Between Gladiator and Return of the King, I…

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