My own Poetry, Fiction, Non-Fiction, and occasional commentary on all of the above.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013: Mt. Pleasant, NY, USA “Maybe we could domesticate one?” “Dude! No fucking way can you domesticate a zombie!” Anthony DiBlanco passed the cup of warm Budweiser to Jason Reed, his vision slightly blurred, nodding his head in mock annoyance. “You’ve taken one sack too many, I think!” They both laughed like it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard. Jason, star quarterback for Mt. Pleasant High School’s varsity football team and boyfriend of Anthony’s sister, Jennifer, was known for holding on to the ball too long, preferring a sack to an incompletion or an interception. “Scouts…
Wednesday, October 30, 2013: Mt. Pleasant, NY, USA According to its web site, the Mt. Pleasant Police Department was officially organized in 1941 after decades of operating as the Bureau of Water Supply Police, an extension of the NYPD created to police the Kensico Dam, its workers and area residents, and later as the vaguely-titled "Special Patrolmen," keeping the peace in the unincorporated areas of the town. It was cleverly assigned 769-1941 as its primary phone number and remained such 72 years later as 16-year old Anthony DiBlanco dialed it nervously from the wall phone in his parents’ kitchen to…
Friday, October 30, 2015: Bronx, NY, USA My father never thought that the Boston Red Sox finally winning the World Series back in 2004, breaking the legendary “curse of the Bambino,” would ultimately be seen as the turning point of American civilization. It’s downfall, some might say. Yankee fans, mostly. He certainly never thought it would signal the end of his playing career so early in its prime, run out of the Bronx the following year when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays won the division title, losing the World Series to the Chicago Cubs in five games, while his Yankees…
"Those who can, do. Those who can't, edit." While that's not always true, in light of my inability to write something in time for the newly-launched e-zine of "cutting-edge non-fiction," loupe, I've decided to do the next best thing...launch a web site of my own to highlight all of the great writing I come across in my online travels - not unlike like that appearing in loupe and other e-zines and blogs I read regularly. [drumroll, please...] ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE Critiquing the American Dream ABOUT US Anecdotal Evidence is dedicated to the idea that while everyone has an opinion, the majority…
Thanks to my reviews on Amazon.com - where I'm currently ranked 8345, and climbing - I've been offered a free copy of Ernesto Quiñonez' new book, Chango's Fire by his publisher's marketing department. As Amazon has firmly established itself as THE online bookstore, it's reviews have become more and more influential, with some places even selling mailing lists for their Top 1000 Reviewers for marketing efforts! I was kind of surprised at the offer as my review of his first novel, Bodega Dreams, wasn't exactly glowing and Publisher's Weekly's review of Chango suggests it has many of the same flaws.…
Late-Friday Randomness... Assuming this cold we're all fighting doesn't ruin things, tomorrow's birthday party for the kids should be fun. We're expecting 12 kids altogether, the most by far to be in our place at one time. Never mind the 20 or so adults accompanying them! Isaac was sick as a dog for his first birthday party and he and India have both been coughing with runny noses for the past few days. They're two handfuls normally, and sick kids become cranky kids, so this morning was a nightmare getting them out of the house without Salomé. Plus, I feel…
Life is cyclical, a simple if debatable truism. Live long enough, you will begin to see the patterns. Stand still long enough and you might get trampled by your past. I have no idea why but I felt the need to put that into words. In other news, since I have nothing particularly interesting to offer, let's take a walk through blogland... 1) Bassey, Miss you much. I feel like I owe you an email about something but can't remember what. Let me know. Also, please set up an RSS feed so I can keep up with your journal via…
