5/21/22> «You see a watering hole. Reprieve from the old dusty path.» > s0 B-gins every chapter in Collected Voices in the Expanded Field, by 34 authors affili8ed w/ 11:11 press ... a literary compiL8ion volume/mixtape of sorts, ≈ what indie music labels used 2 put out 2 introduce U 2 bands on their label (± in that genre), remember? > Let Them Eat Jellybeans! comes 2 mind, from Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label, w/ classics U might naught have udderwise herd of, such as «Jesus Entering from the Rear» by The Feederz + «Isotope Soap» by Geza X

¶▶ U (a/non Ǝnd User) went out + bot albums by almost every b& on Let Them Eat Jellybeans, iF U didn't have 'M already > U don't have 2 w/ Collected Voices in the Expanded Field b/c th kind folks @ 11:11 sent U a package w/ 15 – 20 b∞ks in X-change 4 ∫um d-zine work + U also reciproc8ed w/ ∫um Calamari > th 11:11 compiL8ion = more ≈ 1 of the This Mortal Coil albums in dat it's more of a collaborative f-fort (each piece is a «chapter» in th b∞k, as o-posed 2 st&alone track) > st&outs sew far = Mónica Belevan + Germán Sierra

¶▶ iT ≈ 95°F out 2 day s0 rite now U blog down in th kitschen where it = nice + cool ... 5till not hot enough 2 resort 2 AC > mayB U wd iF Ur bedder-½ was here, but they'R out of town > U din't go b/c day b4 flight on 2sday U still testid positiv 4 covid-19 ... even th0 U din't have symptoms seemed irresponsible of U, no? altho rest of U.S. doesn't seem 2 give 1 shit... we got iT b/c sum 1 from upst8 NY hopped a plane w/ what they thought was a commun cold but ended up was covid ... they probly infected th Ntire plane, including person sitting next 2 'em, who gave iT 2 us ... ⊕ mayB they onely gave iT 2 Ur bedder-½ who then gave iT 2 U b/c U dint test positive til abt 1 week after them > @ N-R r8, U weren't s0 keen 2 sit for 5-6 hrs in domestic economy w/ covidiots who refuse 2 wear masks (bedder-½ said 95% of th flight weren't wearing masks), specially sin¢e we got th last 2 tickets + they were mid-L seats naught sitting next 2 Ur bedder-½... NO FUN > th0 U miss Ur bedder-½ + wish U cd B hanging in C-@-L 4 change of pace, rite now they'R on i-L& in Puget Sound > 1st time 5in¢e the p&emic U've bin away from bedder-½, 2-3 yrs since U've 5lept alone, no fun > they were actually sposed 2 go 2 Italy th week b4 but din't go b/c they had covid ... real-E hard 2 plan N-E thing in this day + age + bedder-½ has 5abbatical coming up next month + we 5till don't know where we're going...

spotted on resent walk

¶▶ getting work done on iSBN, working on th 2nd «BiN» (of 8), witch has abt 52 pgs, so @ this r8 th b∞k will have ~400+ pgs ... here's sumping U worked on 2day, a «Dog's i» made from pop-sickle sticks + cassette tape dat became unravelled (dat's the back story)...

¶▶ U made an altern8 octagonal version, naught sure witch U will Use... mayB neither, unless U find a way 2 fit them in2 th tXt w/o 4cing iT > th onely images in iSBN = geometric line drawings, no phot0s

¶▶ U dropped B-low 165 lbs this week 4 th 1st time 5in¢e perhaps b4 th p&emic ... in January U weighed 177, sew 10+ lbs sew far in 2022 > + 4 weeks sober, naught 1 drop of hooch 5in¢e April 23 > U've bin 5leeping a lot th past few weeks, knot sure what's going on... th last few nites has naught bin so restful th0, waking up groggy + dizzy, feeling az iF U drank a bottle of red wine... a bit ≈ Mineareyes d-zzz, but allergies haven't bin so bad s0 knot sure what's causing iT... perhaps long-term FX of covid? ⊕ fasting all day then pigging out + U can't help yourself from eating these chocoL8 chips in the cupboard + also lemony cough drops dat probly have a lot of sugar ... ⊕ mayB pressure drops, who nose

¶▶ movies sceen this past week include:

• Killing of a Chinese Bookie (★★★) beautifully filmed Cassavetes flick, but a bit slow
• Solaris (★★★)—the Russian 1974 version, also a bit slow
• Anon (★★★)—mostly watched it b/c of the titeL...
• 2001: A Space Odyssey (★★★★★)—rewatched 4 mayB th 10th time

¶▶ these = sort of geeky things U watch when bedder-½ = away, 2morrow U'll probably watch HER > + did U mention U've bin rewatching all of Seinfeld, usually when U're on th stationary bike ⊕ elliptical... 2day watched the 100th episode, almost done w/ 6th season... they just don't make 'em like they used 2

¶▶ sum other b∞ks U've recently glossed over 2 make a dent in yr 2-read list

• Drifter by David Leo Rice—1 of the 11:11 books, U're having a hard time reading «stories» in 3rd person, specially when they are collections
• What About Tomorrow—book about punk in Russia that was a bit scattered
• Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas—U actually ended up reading most of this b/c it was ez 2 read + sort of sucked U in... mostly b/c Vargas went to Mountain View High sew U cd reL8 ... tho he calls El Camino Real th dividing line of class/race... saying those living East of El Camino were on the «lower end of the economic ring» ... hell, U lived east of the train tracks! over a decade b4 Vargas (U gradu8'd from Mtn View high in '85) > U thought th area just east of Camino Royal (now occupied by Google campus) was comparatively nice, used 2 hang out @ that public liebury all th time + on Castro st. (which in the mid-80s was crap, save 4 sum great Chinese restraunts) > then Vargas L8r says he hadn't meet the types of white ppl that «put you in your place» til he moved 2 D.C... intresting perspective
• Ravelstein by Saul Bellow—naught th 1st time U've tried 2 C what th hype was abt Bellow ... naught that U're giving up on him just yet, but U just dont think Ravelstein is the book 2 start on (N-E recs?)