after my first visit to the Asylum in two months — the longest I’ve been away from there in the entire time I’ve been attending, which is probably ten years or so now…I’ve taken breaks before, but never this long.
It felt good to be back.
I read a strange piece from an online lit journal I found reprinted in Harper’s, and “Song for Shootings”.
Mike McGee did a pretty darn good feature set.
Got home early enough to watch enough of the Oscars to realize I haven’t seen many movies lately. Haven’t seen Lost in Translation, Monster, Master and Commander, Cold Mountain, or any of the Lord of the Rings movies.
In general, I don’t really like movies much. I will go through periods where I watch a bunch of them (like last weekend where I saw White Oleander, Thirteen, American Splendor, and a few others) but I have to confess, I’d rather be doing almost anything else — reading, playing guitar, writing.
I also don’t read very much fiction of any sort…would rather read philosophy, social and political thought, poetry (of course), or magazines like Adbusters, Punk Planet, etc. Don’t read much fantasy or SF, either.
I think I’m kind of unusual in this…certainly among poets, certainly around here…
Ah well…off to bed.
Sleep well, America…the Marines are securing Haiti as we speak.
Dark Matter 
March 2nd, 2004 at 6:43 am
Yeah — I like them both, or rather, I used to…
I used to read a lot more fiction ten, fifteen years ago — I’ve just lost interest.
It doesn’t matter the genre; it’s the nature of fiction itself, I think — at least in part, I suspect it’s an attention span thing.
Odd.
On occasion, I will read the odd mystery — Sue Grafton, for instance — on a plane somewhere if I don’t feel like writing. Something I have no attachment to, which will just pass the time.
The only fiction writer I do seem to reach for regularly is Umberto Eco, and I think that has more to do with the speculative sections than the plot.
March 1st, 2004 at 11:02 pm
Have you tried reading fiction writers whose work leans more heavily toward the poetic? (Salman Rushdie and Tom Robbins pop most readily to mind.)
March 1st, 2004 at 1:23 pm
Re: Heh.
oooh – i would definitely want to see Monster! Aileen Wouronos gets some really neat comments in cunt, btw…
March 1st, 2004 at 10:20 am
You get by along pretty well for not reading much in terms of fiction or sci-fi. Not that there’s really that much to always read that is truly worth it. That’s just my personal experience though.
Movies though… I think I see all of them eventually, even the crappy ones. “What’s this on Showtime at 2 AM? Holy fuck this is bad. It stars Richard Simmons and Jay Leno. Oh well… I’ll watch it anyway.” (there is no movie starring Richard Simmons and Jay Leno… on the other hand there is one starring Jay Leno and Pat Morita… and I have seen it.)
March 1st, 2004 at 8:01 am
i know what u mean
as far as the not readin much sci fi or fantasy- some poets from around here have read every book and seen every movie- im not a huge fan, so usually im lost when the conversations go to that topic
March 1st, 2004 at 7:27 am
i hear you. i will rent movies maybe twice a year.
March 1st, 2004 at 7:02 am
Re: Heh.
There have been other female serial killers, but they mostly used poison. A.W. is the only female (that I know of; I am no expert) who had a traditionally masculine M.O.
March 1st, 2004 at 6:40 am
Heh.
The only ones I really want to see out of this stack are Lost in Translation (which I’ve heard good stuff about) and Monster (which Charlize Theron won best actress for last night; a scary good depiction of the life and crimes of Aileen Wuoronos, America’s “first female serial killer” — why do I distrust that moniker?).
I could care less about the other two.
March 1st, 2004 at 6:08 am
. Haven’t seen Lost in Translation, Monster, Master and Commander, Cold Mountain…
that’s the first i’ve heard the titles… (slinks off)
March 1st, 2004 at 5:56 am
ps –
Glad you finally found out the test results for your wife. How scary. I hope her health improves with the tummy meds. You’re often in my thoughts.
March 1st, 2004 at 5:55 am
I’m the same way about movies. I used to be ravenous for them, but somewhere along the line I figured out what all their tricks were, and I almost never want to watch a whole movie — except for LOTR, which I will watch over&over.
I love science fiction, but almost exclusively short stories. Maybe I have an attention span problem…