Nick Harkaway sighs and scratches his stubble as he waits for the washing machine to finish, a round of wool on standby. Fatally, he's squatting impatiently next to the machine while it's juddering its utmost, and the shape of his cognition, still stretching into the late morning and clouded with pre-Brexit anxieties, cannot make room for … Continue reading I am Gnomon and I will now review myself (with spoilers)
Freedom Isn’t An Absence
It's not enough to quit your job. It's not enough to quit abusive relationships. It's not even enough to quit smoking. Cast off your fetters if you can, but it's only the yang of negative freedom. Creating an opening for the Master to grow his next form. Listening about free-for-all artist flats in Spain and … Continue reading Freedom Isn’t An Absence
on Medium: How come US works?
But enough second-hand Zizek. It doesn’t matter so much, in the end, that you don’t know the specifics (well, the generics, even) of the Tethered project (chief question: what’s the Donald’s Tethered like?). As “the movies”, you’ve seen it all elaborated, somewhere, sometime (somewhat). You’re willing to concede that because, on one hand, the branching … Continue reading on Medium: How come US works?
In Praise of the Imperative
The imperative mood gets a bad rap. “Turn off the lights” comes off impolite, lacking the interrogative curtsy of “could you turn off the lights?” Append “comma please” to the latter and you get gentility, append it to the former and you get an angry schoolteacher. But when we build familiarity with someone we tend … Continue reading In Praise of the Imperative
Sarajevo
In praise of my favorite of all the cities I've visited, our tattered Balkan freak flag, our cross-marrying hidden heart, our indomitable secret capital of Europe. The medieval against the modern, the bombed-out against the glass-metal sheen, the neighborhoods where they serve no pork or alcohol. Everything juxtaposes, everything marries. Here's to you, Sarajevo.
Book takeaway: THE BYZANTINE ECONOMY, by Angeliki E. Laiou and Cecile Morisson
Laiou and Morrison's The Byzantine Economy is a study, not a story. I read it as an outsider struggling to keep up with the endless silks, vineyards, pottery, glassware, legislation, special taxes and shipwrecks so the conclusions make sense and there is gist to take away. The book covers almost the entirety of the empire's … Continue reading Book takeaway: THE BYZANTINE ECONOMY, by Angeliki E. Laiou and Cecile Morisson
The Tracker
True Detective is prestige pulp; we all know that. Like the Alan Moore comics that inspired him, Nic Pizzolato pairs the unserious with literary aims and structures. It works. His season arcs end redemptively, with his hard-boiled men (they'd be funny if they weren't so well-acted) finding their soft spot and sticking with it, for … Continue reading The Tracker
BLDGBLOG interviews on authors v. cities
Today I discovered the esteemed BLDGBLOG has a veritable treasure trove of interviews with acclaimed authors centered around their urban themes and then merrily peregrinating to places like Utopian narrative, allegory vs. metaphor, and the things that mushrooms eat. (You know, like a city stroll. You get it.) Mentions of Calvino and Ballard and psychogeography … Continue reading BLDGBLOG interviews on authors v. cities
Pocket Monsters (I Wanna Be The Very Best) | a remix
Gary extends his hand and his fingers dance absently over the head of his Zapagochi, between its long yellow ears. Small electric charges tickle him, making him smile. The Zapagochi was his first monster. He remembers how he would hear his parents scream at each other as a small boy with toy robots in his … Continue reading Pocket Monsters (I Wanna Be The Very Best) | a remix
The Batmen Came | a mash-up; after Gil-Scott Heron
The batmen came and kicked us while we were already down. They hit us with billy clubs and loosed the dogs on us. We heard their capes spread on the night breeze, heard the jackboots hit the concrete. And we said the batmen are coming, the batmen are here. Caught glimpse of leather glisten in the … Continue reading The Batmen Came | a mash-up; after Gil-Scott Heron
the Budafoki amended 