Flagstaff. Also pictured, Brandy’s, which was only marginally sullied by Guy Fieri’s presence in stencil and article form. “Guy Ate Here”. Good for you Guy, good for you.
Pivo Divo
I still don't like McNally restaurants. Or Sonic Youth.
Dec 15
Sedona
Leaving Phoenix
Walking down Fremont East last night...
A young woman walking in the other direction yelled at me “Hey curly hair! I love your curly hair, curly hair!” I thanked her and kept walking. She continued. “I’m sorry, curly hair. You know, I’m black, so I shouldn’t be talking to you. Bye!”
Right.
This is after Sunday, when I paid for my tacos at the Ranch Market grocery store (the aforementioned Mexican Fairway of Phoenix) and the cashier, and teenage latina, exclaimed as she took my money “Your hands! They’re so soft!”
I’m not sure where this all goes, except to demonstrate that I had to leave New York to learn that I am beloved by women of all races, apparently.
Dec 14
What it means to be a New Yorker
Today I’m ensconced in a very mid-mod Suite at the Valley Ho here in Scottsdale, the definition an inoffensive place. Though, the Mondrian and Asia de Cuba were empty and sad, like they built for a future—a future that contained scores and scores of LA douchebags—and that future never came.
Nevertheless, as much as I enjoy this room, the best part is that it has a washer and dryer. Already availed myself of those bad boys and soon I’ll have pants graced by Snuggle the Fabric Softener Bear’s presence. Live in New York City long enough and washer/dryers get to be mighty exciting.
Tacos at the insanely large Mexican grocery store in Phoenix, whose name currently escapes me. Yams were 4 lbs for a dollar, though.
Dec 11
» Payback Time - Many See the VAT Option as a Cure for Deficits - NYTimes.com
Gosh, Glenn Beck’s viewers are going to be disappointed when they find out the VAT Option doesn’t involve tarring and feathering President Obama and Nancy Pelosi.
“ I’m sorry if some people have lost their jobs. I want to make that part very clear,” said ICM co-head Esther Newberg. “But it’s never been a publication worth anything. The reviews were almost always negative and not helpful in any way. And so that’s it. Good riddance.
— Esther Newberg, not a fan of Kirkus. They didn’t like anything, but isn’t there value in a publication that doesn’t like anything?
Dec 10
» pantone's color of the year: discuss.
- skater clothes
- original G3 iMac in bondi blue
- actresses who were popular in 2002
- hypnotiq liqueur
- betty rubble
- vintage punchbuggies
- 80s-era esprit
- vanessa abrams
- bob dylan: “i’ve seen all these decoys through a set of deep turquoise eyes / and i feel so depressed.”
- turquoise jewelry purchased on a trip to the southwest when you were 17 and wanted to get drunk but you were stuck in an uncomfortable SUV with two squirmy brothers and a dad who wouldn’t ask for directions and a mom who asks for way too many.
1990’s Expansion Teams
Starter two-tone baseball hats
Miami, any time, any place
Ladies from the UWS who smell really strongly of perfume and sit on the boards of several charitable organizations.
Dec 08
And speaking of delusional…
» Fuck Joe Clark and the Submission He Rode In On
fek:
Seriously.
Good writing gets around quickly. It gets people excited. And you don’t have to beg people to read it or try and out them to make some kind of point.
Anybody who’s worked in book publishing or at any kind of agency, house, or firm that handles literary properties knows what a pain in the ass unsolicited submissions are. Almost nothing ever comes of them.
- Most of them are by people who have been “working on their novel” for fifteen years.
- All of them are fucking awful.
- Almost always, as a matter of courtesy, even agencies and houses who absolutely don’t accept unsolicited submissions will write a form letter back. And by “agencies and houses” I mean “overworked assistants.”
Joe Clark should be the last straw. Agencies and publishing houses across the board should institute a draconian policy for this kind of assholery: nobody, anywhere will accept unsolicited submissions, and together, nobody, anywhere will ever respond to an unsolicited submission ever again.
Anybody so presumptuous as to think that any editor owes them anything for something sent to them without solicitation should be ceremoniously beaten unconscious with the manuscript they sent in, this motherfucker especially. You want a courtesy? Someone might publish your book and pay you for it. That’s a courtesy. Otherwise, the publishing industry doesn’t give a shit about you and your list, Joe Clark, other than as a shining example of the kind of person who will never get anything published, and maybe, also, for the amusement of seeing who sucks enough to dignify your cantankerous bullshit.
Back in the days when I was in school and thought book publishing might be the career for me, I had an internship at a small publishing house here in the city. I was put in charge of the slush pile—which, I was reminded, was a very important slush pile, a slush pile with a tradition, a slush pile where Cold Mountain was discovered. Anyway, there were some quality unsolicited manuscripts, including one that was “translated” Italian erotic poetry—written in Sharpie.
So, Joe, good luck to you, but I think it’s strange that Joe expects “nice” responses, yet is doing something very not nice himself.
