Video of Besame

Made a video for Besa Me. The audio is a little dicey at times but you can get the jist (if anyone knows how I can get that audio to 100%  please let me know)

(Also I just got Crapalachia by Scott Mclanahan, If I wanted to be happy I'd be happy already by Jordan Castro and a shit load of other books from April Festival which I'll be reviewing soon)

Proust quote

News and a Request

So I finished the first draft of Basic Analysis a few days ago. It happened suddenly and without much fanfare. I figured it was going to be a more momentous event but i suppose with the heavy amount of editing that will be coming my way over the next month(s) the true end is a long way off. I've already begun to recruit readers but I'd really like as many as possible. If you are interested in getting a chance to read the work please let me know (thisis.fryou@gmail.com). It's only 230 pages. I'd ask a few pages of thoughtful notes/suggestion/reflections on the thing. Line edits (typos, misspellings et c.) would not be needed so much as comments on the feelings the novel elicited in you, your thoughts on the characters, the themes you got out of it, comments on level complexity and so on. I can't really offer any incentives other than the knowledge that you got to have a say in this. A disclaimer: it's pretty rough, the dialogue is choppy, and I'm sure there are major unaddressed plot holes. Anyways if you'd like to take a look let me know and I'll shoot it your way.

Video: Basic Analysis Excerpt

The prologue to Basic Analysis

18 March 2013

      I feel like I want to do something important. like this drive is the single thing that drives me the most. I feel like I haven't done anything important so far but I would like to direct my energies (all my energies and time) to doing something important. It's agonizingly vague, but then I've been feeling this for years so,what do I do? I also know when I am doing something important and when I am not. It is a very stark feeling. I felt for a time that the best avenue to do something important would be science. Like that in science one has the greatest chance (and I consider most work that is directed towards discoveries and advancement to be, in large part, pure luck) at making an improvement for the world, the greatest chance at making an impact in the lives of others, the world. This pull toward science (after three years no less, two of those in a neuroscience lab) was tempered toward the end there by a disillusionment with the entirely tedious grant/money situation, a realization at the gigantic gap between basic and applied research (I wanted to do the latter but was firmly on track to work in the former), a realization at my lack of self-direction, and a particularly strong feeling that (and this is just my opinion so no desire to piss others off here) a certain ivory tower narcissism and navel gazing in many areas of biology (and I'm sure other areas) research.
          Also i get bored reading academic research papers,
                                                                                        it's really unfortunate.
          I had, for six months, what would have been a really nice job that was related to my field right out of school. A job that would have been really nice if the CEO hadn't been hiding how bad the company had been doing and decided to resign and take a few of us down with him (yo but I'm not bitter though).
          While I won't be so audacious to call myself a writer (not only is this, ultimately, up to others to decide, but it seems that the only people that identify as writers are eternally stuck in YA-SF writing groups, et c.) I have found that, in the two tiny months I've been writing, I've had more flow and felt vastly more productive than during five years of school or working. Of course it is impossible to predict how long this will last. I may get bored with writing just as quickly as science, who knows.

A piece received from Peterbd

<peterbd99@gmail.com>                   12/16/12

but ms. leroy said timmy why exactly do we celebrate sam moss day? ms. leroy tried to find the right words to answer timmy's question. she needed the right words. 

right now sam moss is doing something. he might be eating. he might be having sex. he might be reading a novel. he might be writing a novel. he might be sleeping. he might be getting probed by aliens. he might be watching nbc. he could be up to anything right now. 

the funny thing about sam moss is that he's unaware of the shit that he's going to do and is in the dark about how that shit will affect humanity. right now he doesn't know any of this shit. he doesn't know that the shit he's doing now will affect the shit that everyone is doing later. there's a cause and effect for all this shit.

sam moss was born in a place. he was born to a man and a woman. he went to school like other kids. he grew up like we all grew up. he's on the internet like how we're all on the internet. he hates fox news like we all hate fox news. he lives somewhere. he talks to people. these are the things he does. 

in 5 years, sam moss will be doing something completely different than what he's doing today. sam moss might be a doctor. he might be a world famous tap dancer. he might write the next great american novel. he might be a world class porn director. he might be the male version of beyonce. he might be an anarchist. he might work on wall street. he might make delicious cakes, open his own bakery, and be known as 'the guy who makes those good ass cakes.

he can do anything. that's the great thing about being sam moss. he can do anything or be anything and reach any height. does he know this? he probably doesn't know this. smh

well, maybe it's good that he doesn't know this. humble iconoclasts are few and far between these days 

so yea, on december 16, 2019, a catastrophic asteroid is going to do its best to destroy earth. it's headed for earth right now actually. this asteroid is going to attack new york city just like it does in the movies because asteroids love attacking new york city. everything that happens in asteroid movies is going to happen to earth on december 16, 2019. people are going to fall to their knees and pray, people are going to be panicking in the streets, morgan freeman will most likely be president.

sam moss is going to be one of the most well known figures in the world. he did that thing that he did. he said those famous words that everyone can quote. he is the person that he was destined to be. 

sam moss may or may not feel good about the world ending. but he will most likely feel good about his contributions as an artist. he will definitely feel good about the stuff he created. 

the asteroid will destroy the majority of earth and its human population. only 2 million humans will survive. 99% of people considered celebrities will perish. the white house will no longer exist. any sign of music or film or books will be nowhere in sight. sam moss may or may not survive. only time will tell 

it is the year 3000. earth is still somehow intact. ms. leroy is taking her class on a field trip to the local park. this park is in the section of earth that was not hurt by the asteroid: the pacific northwest. after her class finishes their vegan lunches, ms. leroy takes them to the iconic sam moss statue. it was built in the year 2789 and is the most famous statue in the world. michelangelo's statue of david was ripped to shreds by the asteroid 

but ms. leroy said timmy why exactly do we celebrate sam moss day? it took ms. leroy a long time to respond to timmy's question. she wanted to honor sam moss' legacy by responding properly, she wanted to sum up why sam moss was so important to the world at large, she wanted her class to feel the love she felt for sam moss, she wanted her class to be inspired by him because that's what sam moss did. he was walking inspiration.

so ms. leroy looked timmy right in the eye and said every december 16th we celebrate sam moss day because he was, and still is the shit. her students, as well as a couple of aliens who were playing badminton in the park, gave her a round of applause

         When I first heard about Peterbd a few month ago from Frances Dinger I wasn't sure what to think of the whole phenomena, and definitely didn't think I would ever get a piece from zim...it...this force of nature. When I did receive a piece from Peterbd in December it was an exhilarating moment but I wasn't sure what the 'peterbd etiquette' was in terms of posting. It seemed very personal and I wanted to keep it to myself but then this it what Peterbd does and I'm honored to get a chance to present a piece on my blog.

I also sent Peterbd a review in reply as follows:

My Review of peterbd's short story "Statue of Moss":
peterbd's short story "Statue of Moss" is a really good story. The story talks about a guy. That guy is Sam Moss. I am that guy. "Statue of Moss" is very accurate in it's facts and is also very factual. All in all it was a very good short story and I would recommend it to anybody who likes reading.
Thank you

If you like this check out his tumblr

I made a list

I made a list