043: None More Midwestern
AN EMAIL LIKE A GUNDAM MODEL, IN MANY PARTS
First, Tha NEWS.
I finished THE FAILURE EXPERIMENT. I finished THE FAILURE EXPERIMENT. It's done.
...mostly. The copy is done. The notes are mostly done. The layout is pretty much done. It's off to first readers and the cover artist. I haven't set a release date for it because I still have some sections both out on submission and waiting for publication after their acceptance, so it's likely not out til next year.
And of course, I've already started the next thing, by which I mean there is actual written work happening. Fuckin' ADHD. To offset that, I'm going to be spending at least part of today looking at audiobook stuff, so maybe I can get confessions from a drainage ditch recorded and released to coincide with TFE's release. I know at least one person is waiting for that.
My last newsletter opened with my having arrived in North Dakota. Over this weekend, I've started making plans for heading back to Chicago. Scheduling this year has been a mess, and despite having felt hopeful, the last two weeks have been basically nothing but covid mitigation after some family members caught it. The partner and I have managed to avoid it so far, but ugh. UGH. Mask up, people.
The reason I mention the scheduling is because I'm a silly goose and still have shit to do. I have two mechanic projects in the middle of completion at my mom's (fixing the Polaris ATV and reviving my family's classic Harley-Davidson), some deck work to do out there, some internet-related stuff here at the farm, and several people I still need to visit. In three weeks. Sigh. Brilliant, ricki. Brilliant.
Second, INTERLUDE.
You wanna speak like angels
But you can'tWhat is that, whore
You're living for?You will get your...
Reward~ “Whore”, Low
Third, CONSUMPTION.
Finished Damien's dissertation and got his blessing to include an entire paragraph in THE FAILURE EXPERIMENT. I liked it that much. You should definitely read it. It won't take you long, I promise.
Read Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto, by Tricia Hersey. I'm gonna just post my initial impression upon finishing it: I was right. Not About Me. Arguably not For Me. While a strong portion of the book was, indeed, About Me, a huge part of it speaks from a place I can never properly empathize with. (That's not because I am an asshole, but because I truly have no idea, even if I can imagine to some degree.) A good message overall, of course. I understood the literary/rhetorical technique, as well, but unfortunately the technique (largely the titular ministerial voice) led to it feeling a bit repetitive and vague. Lots that could have been fleshed out was instead unexplained in favor of repetitions that felt like padding rather than anaphora. (I skimmed a LOT of the back half, tbh.) That said, glad I gave it a shot. I am in absolute agreement with her main argument. It's just not a book For or About Me, and that's okay.
Last night I ran through the book of Sappho I talked about last week. I think the thing I'm most sad about is genuinely how little poetry was in it, and how most of what we know about her work is from second or third-party sources. Because the more complete portions were absolutely beautiful. I also learned that she played barbitos, sort of a bass lyre. So yeah, she was your lesbian bassist girlfriend.
Been playing Elder Scrolls Online very sporadically, due to having to stream most of my gaming through Steam Remote Play. I am a sucker for MMOs, and I currently have four installed on my desktop back home, but I think ESO is the least graphically intense. I've done a couple quests, and am learning the systems I never really took part in, which is a lot of em. The Bethesda model of progression is still weird to me, despite having played several of their games. More research is necessary. By which I mean more playing.
Have you seen the new Magic: the Gathering set, Bloomburrow? It's stepping into the woodland creature fantasy of Redwall and Mouse Guard and whatnot. At the very least, the art is a wonderful diversion from the standard late MtG faire of "magepunk".
Partner just received her copy of two-time Hugo Award finalist Dr. Chuck Tingle's Bury Your Gays. I dunno if I'll get to read it before heading back to Chicago. We'll see.
Speaking of books: Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard have a new book coming, The Power Fantasy. It's Gillen's first creator-owned book in a while, and while a lot of the coverage calls it a cross between The Boys and Watchmen, it's pretty clearly a version of what Gillen would do with X-Men if given complete free reign.
Jamie McKelvie has a new book called One for Sorrow. Goth Jamie? Goth Jamie.
They both have the WicDiv covers book Kickstarter winding down. Six more days!
Fourth, HUSTLE.
First and foremost is my most recent book, confessions from a drainage ditch, which was released on Sept 1st through Amazon, and is available in ebook and paperback formats. If you haven't picked it up, it's a great introduction to my more concrete and mainstream work.
If you're looking for something weirder, you can check out A Void and Cloudless Sky, a chapbook, which is also available from Amazon, as well as most other retailers. By being a subscriber to this newsletter, you're also entitled to a free PDF version, which you can get here.
If you're liking this whole project and want to support it directly, here is my Patreon. There are lots of little benefits you can get there, from poems written to your specifications to subscriber-only limited-edition chapbooks.
Finally, THE OUTRO.
I just ate pistachios. I am very allergic to tree nuts. I have my reasons, though! You see, the partner's dad explained to me last night that he made a fluff salad (we're very Midwestern, after all) and it didn't have nuts so the partner and I could eat it. What he didn't tell me is the reason he did is because he made GREEN fluff salad (aka, with pistachios) as well. So here's me, chowing down on salad, thinking I'm all good, and the partner turns around, looks at what I'm eating, and just says THERE'S NUTS IN THAT. I thought it was just the extra chonky pineapple bits! So anyway, I finish my spoonful because I'm not gonna waste that last bite I'm on, and then it's time for Benadryl and Pepto Bismol, because that's what my EMT friend said they use for not-quite-Epipen-level emergencies.
Stay tuned to see if I make it through. six hours pass Yeah, I lived. Only just coming out of Benadryl fog now. Time to finish this up for all you weekend warriors to read! Stay safe and don’t make assumptions about why the thing you’re eating totally doesn’t have nuts in it if it seems to have nuts in it!