Fly

Now that I look back on my previous post about the tour, I realize that I probably left a lot out. But mainly that would consist of important things only to me, most of which would be fairly boring to others.

Like driving through Brooklyn and saying, "That looks exactly like the street of family in The Squid and the Whale," which is one of my favorite movies, and then realizing that though the streets all kind of look the same in that sense, one of them may have been their exact street.

Or the guy at one of the toll booths giving me 17 one-dollar bills instead of fives and tens, prompting me to tell my friend who I was talking to on the phone, "Apparently I was mistaken for Pacman Jones, because I'm gonna make shit rain."

Or the Full House trivia session at Manuel's Tavern in Atlanta with Blake Butler, who lost. I'm not sure Blake would want me to include him in this section of the post, and I'm going out on a limb by including myself, but I can answer many questions about Full House. And you probably don't want to challenge me, regardless of how embarrassing it is to say such a thing.

So there you go. Things like that. The post would've been longer and more drawn out, and I wanted to get to the heart of things. Hopefully you found it worth your time.

Also, I need to say thanks again to my beautiful and understanding wife, who let me go on the trip in the first place. Without her, I probably wouldn't even have a book out, so she does deserve more credit than I can give her.

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School's starting in less than three weeks. I'm excited to get back to it, get teaching again, read novels, write non-fiction, work on manuscripts.

Two more semesters of coursework to go.

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I was planning on going to New York City if need be to go see Enter the Void. I think it's going to be one of the best of the decade.

It's been eight years since Irreversible. That's way too long.

That said, I found out that it'll be part of On Demand IFC in Theaters, which is amazing. If I were closer to NYC, I'd go, but being able to get the HD version, though it won't be as good as the theater, will make me happy enough.

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If it wasn't enough that Enter the Void is premiering in theaters on September 24th, I also pre-ordered, as should you: The Thin Red Line Criterion Blu-ray and Bobby C. Rogers' Paper Anniversary.

Add to that list Gary L. McDowell's American Amen.

September's going to be a good month for good art.

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I love the new Ra Ra Riot record, The Orchard.

They're doing amazing things. They're a bunch of young and extremely talented kids. The strings are gorgeous. The melodies can't stay out of my head. And the production's top notch.

And finally bands are starting to realize that records in the 30-minute range are the way to go.

If only poets could get a clue about this...

What's that? Actually, no, I don't want to read your 110-page book if it's not a Selected or Collected. Sorry.

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The NFL season will soon be underway. Can't wait to see how the season plays out for the Giants. Many have them collapsing, with Coughlin getting let go after a losing season.

But I'm optimistic.

I can't wait for Sundays... bring it.

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And finally, a big congrats to Luke Johnson, whose first collection, After the Ark, will be coming out in in spring 2011 from NYQ Books.

Luke and I traded manuscripts a few months back, and I told him I gave him two years until it was contracted. I pride myself on usually being right about good collections I've read when it comes to publication and the like, but I have to say, he demolished my window into a thousand pieces.

It's a strong, strong collection, and one you should certainly pick up once it hits the shelves and the streets.