Reading at the University of Toronto.

Last night I read two passages from Disassociation at the Hart House at the U of T. It could've gone better, it could've gone worse, but I was still comfortable nonetheless.

Social Problem photos.

Social Problem is a rare book of paintings by Mark Gonzales. It also contains his first-ever published poetry. It was published in Japan by Little More. When I met Gonz last year at an art show he had, he signed my copy for me, which is shown in the top photo. I took photos of the show as well, but I'm saving that for later. This post and a few future ones will be comprised of photos I've taken of random pages of Social Problem.

Two years and counting.

Two documents of material, all of it going towards my next novel. Three books planned after I finally finish this one. But this novel I'm writing now deserves the appropriate amount of time and energy required to make it the best I can make it. I don't know when it'll be done - most likely a little while after I receive my degree - but I've been working on it for the past two years and will be for years to come.

Dinosaur Jr. concert June 2007

Random photos.

My current workspace - the kitchen of my apartment. I cut off/shaved my beard three days ago.



Powerful graffiti on the streets of New York in Manhattan, when I was there last summer.



Photo of a burning apartment building I took, from the window of my previous apartment building. I was living in Ottawa at the time. Strange days.

Sure, go ahead.

This is exactly what I don't need to see at this point in my life. I want to share my work but quotes like this only add more stress to my already decrepit idea of my future. But what do I know? Sure, I'll go ahead and share more of my writing. Then people who are better connected than I am will happily copy me and will not give me credit. I've always held originality to be one of the most important details of any artistic endeavor. Of course there's the idea of intertextuality, but that should have its place. Intertextuality is different from blatantly stealing fresh ideas from other people. And in this world, where it feels like everything's been done before (so there's no need to try and create new boundaries and ideas), if you're going to MAKE IT as an artist you need to be ruthless, survival of the fittest, crush anyone and everyone you can and make it to the top of the heap.
As for me? "Sorry buddy, you were too trusting, it's dog eat dog out here. Too bad you don't have an agent or any connections. Too bad you thought that exposing your work to the public would actually amount to something positive. Life isn't fair. Go do something else. Forget about your talents, dreams, ambitions and efforts. We need to live too."