y'all can't all be wrong: There's A Reason Hookahs Have Manifold Valves

Addiction affliction, affliction addiction, I'm going fuck-all insane. I keep looking for things and I can't find them. Not things like keys that generally stay where you last left them. That's easy. I want to find someone who can critically discuss David Coley's story, "The Reach Of Wonder" (republished in Harper's October 2003), and give me insights about his use of overt symbolism juxtaposed with autobiographical-realism. I want to find the god-source of literary knowledge so I can understand the difference between symbolism and metaphor -- so I can actually describe something as autobiographical-realism and have it be something more than personal, cerebral ass smoke.

I want to find new blogs to link to -- blogs that give me essays, implicit philosophy, and impetus for me to reach for my Holt Handbook. I don't want to find another blog that talks about last Tuesday's bus ride. But, if you want a paradox, a conundrum, a fucking mystification, try escaping Insipid's grasp. I think that's why God invented Man and in turn Man created drugs. In essay form: that is why God created Man and Man created drugs -- is that more convincing? It's also why hookahs have more than one valve. But, for sanity I'll forego the insipid thing for the remainder of this essay (vocabulary and experience are codependents, so my recurring infatuation with the word insipid makes me wonder if one of my feet [I believe that is grammatically correct, but holy shit does it sound weird] is in a very dull grave?). Anyway, the static of the blog world is worse than watching a 1975 Zenith TV when your roommate is vacuuming, and I just pissssed away my entire night looking for a blog that has the ability to reach into a tomato sack and hurl one at my middle American face and rock-star hair and make me soil myself for all my wannabe aspirations, land-of-make-believe philosophy, and cream-of-cornstarch delusions that I sell to myself and to others all the time. Ah, this reminds me of two words that I've impressively used, but have since forgotten: abrogate and abscond. For those who don't possess WMDs or a disposable battalion, but do possess the need for unlimited ego fulfillment (for unknown reasons, Ron Jeremy's organ on W's silver platter comes to mind) -- you can be mighty imperialistic by vocab and vocab alone. So, I didn’t find any links, but I am linking to waxy.org -- 'cause every fifth idea of Andy's usually hits me in a musing way and because of his link to a Todd Rundgren article (and fuck Todd Rundgren, but you know, it's a rock-and-roll thing). I'm also linking to waxy 'cause I think if he and I met, we'd be diametric totally (in an intellectual, valley-girl type inflection). Or maybe not. I similarly wonder about my other links (picklejuice and bjg) -- who I now refer to as my font and electron friends, but would they be corner-bar-friends, or goto-the-game friends? I'm also linking to Bookslut, 'cause the site came up on a search for literary blogs (although, I should have been searching for opium-tinged-essay-blogs, but I wasn't fast enough), and 'cause I might actually learn something from Bookslut content. Which reminds me...

I also want to find someone that will tell me, "hey TQ, you'd be a lot better writer if you tried X," or, "your musical abilities would improve if you did Y," or, "your career wouldn't be so sideways if you just Z'd." We hide behind euphemisms like Saddam hid his WMDs and somehow we have managed to taboo all personal critical analysis (which I think is different than critique; which is different than critique). Just fucking tell me -- tell me not to swear, tell me I'm going to hell. But start a dialogue, aim for dyadic embodiment. And why the hell not -- if you can't find anyone to listen -- I'll fill those shoes.

I also want to talk to the person who's been reading Hesse on the #5 Seattle bus 'cause I'm convinced that Hesse should never be read alone (attained by 2 years of being a loner Hesse reader).

Comments

TQ, the only thing that will make you a better writer is writing, so just keep doing it.

Second: Have you check out ftrain.com? There's some good writing there.

Posted by: Jen @ October 24, 2003 05:51 AM

I suck because I have to add a second comment. You think you've got two unique and interesting comments, but no, just two lame ones from me.

I also like fray.com -- lots of different writing there, with variations of goodness.

Posted by: Jen @ October 24, 2003 06:17 AM

2nd comments are allowable -- as long as they aren't solely Viagra plugs. Thanks for the site recs.

Posted by: TQ @ October 24, 2003 09:09 AM

This puts me in mind of a blog entry that I almost wrote but didn't regarding how stupid I seem on my blog. I am not a stupid person - my content could easily be high-brow and literary. Why do I blog down? I don't know. Why do I want people to think I'm a clown? I don't know. Why did I just rhyme that? I have no idea.

I may have to revisit the blog entry that I'd discarded but it began to sound like I was navel-gazing. If I can change the tone I'll post it.

(PS - check out Girlsarepretty.com - that's probably my favorite "blog" in the world.)

Posted by: picklejuice @ October 25, 2003 07:56 AM

Additionally, being a corner-bar friend and a go-to-the-game friend aren't mutally exclusive.

Posted by: picklejuice @ October 25, 2003 07:57 AM

Thanks, TQ. I don't think we're diametrically opposed... Maybe just diagonal.

Posted by: Andy Baio @ October 25, 2003 09:03 AM

Natalie -- I've never really gotten clown vibes from your site, even with all the crazy colors (that's often the way I dress). Stupid too, I think is a bit harsh. I return to your site because of your insane proliferation, but if it was only that, I wouldn't hit it (nearly) every day.

Andy -- I'll settle on diagonal -- kind of a good word implying balance and non-balance simultaneously.

Posted by: TQ @ October 26, 2003 11:47 PM

It is so funny to me that your post mentions Coley's "The Reach of Wonder", as I too have been wrestling with the story's symbolism. I read it more than a month ago; and tonight, while in the shower, I began yet again to wonder about that girl in the window and the carnival below her. A quick google search brought me to your blog. I have all the pieces of the puzzle except how the girl and the carnival fit into the story. Perhaps I'll never figure that one out....just thought I'd share :)

Posted by: Michelle @ November 17, 2003 09:26 PM