The Day of Auto-nement-Fun. 10-9-2008.

[i took photos]
Every now and then, I recruit my friends to participate in some brilliant blog post idea I have and then I harass them about getting me the 2-3 sentences I asked for until they do, and then once they do, I take like a week to put my idea into action and write said post. This is one of those weeks.

But when in doubt, auto-fun. Can I just say? That I actually hate the word 'auto-fun,' like it sounds kinda dumb, and everyone knows reading isn't fun. But I sort of invented it and now I have to stick to it. You guys seem to like it. Or maybe you're just pretending to like it. That's fine. Everyone loves a good game of pretend.

When I was a kid, my Mom had us do this thing she called "nightlight time." At 8:30 I'd have to go to my room, sit at the desk underneath my loftbed, turn on my nightlight and read or write or draw until 9. Then it was time for bed I think. I have to go to bed early 'cause I have a date tomorrow morning with Time Warner. He's about as sexy as a tampon.

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quote: "I think what it shows us is the limits of tolerance, that it's not enough to be tolerated, because when the shit hits the fan you find out how much tolerance is worth. Nothing. And underneath all the tolerance is intense, passionate hatred ... power is the object, not being tolerated." (Tony Kushner, Angels in America)

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links:
1) Please. Please. Please for the love of whomever you love the most please read this article, and please forward it to anyone you know who is still thinking of voting for four more years of an entitled, underachieving brat:

Make-Believe Maverick: A closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty. (@rolling stone)

I ask of you that you please read that article for me. The rest of these links will not address the presidential elections -- after all, we've spent all day reading/watching Dowd, HuffPo, Frank Rich, Sarah Silverman, Keith Olberman, Rachel Maddow, feministing, gawker, jezebel, that blonde lady with the curly hair who's always on CNN or MSNBC, talking points memo, Hardball, the new yorker, wonkette, truthdig, and on and on and on -- so I don't need to tell you what's being said today.

So please -- concentrate your full political attention to that article there, "1." Thank you.

2) Twitter Zero: "Attention is a precious resource. Twitter is a distraction. Email is a distraction. This blog is a distraction. Pretty much everything is a distraction on the Internet, either designed to capture an eyeball or rewire a neuron or to short circuit the brain to wallet function. And sometimes the only reasonable response to a thoroughly enjoyable distraction is to make a very visible, very annoying, very painful decision to skip this particular distraction and move on." (@vacuum)
3) ANTM recap: Clark, Barred. (@fourfour)
4) Presidential Debate Mistakes: The Biggest Blunders in Debate History] [Video & Text] (@esquire)
5) Rachael Yamagata Day: New album out at last (@achtung baby)
6) Good For Art: "As her book makes clear, no perfect patronage exists, certainly not in the arts, which offer special problems to any patron and not a few to artists. Patronage in the arts tends to illustrate the cynical proverb that holds no good deed goes unpunished." (@the weekly standard)

"Once artists take federal or state--that is, taxpayers'--money, they are under an obligation to be, at a minimum, not directly insulting. If they feel the need for their art to go on the attack--against the customs and institutions of their country--then logic and decent manners suggest they are under the obligation to create it on their own nickel."

7) Ideally, I'm only the second or third person to tell you about this: Stop sending mail you later regret. If I'm the 9th or 10th person to tell you this, you have a problem. I learned all about problems on the teevee, it's called Intervention. (@google blog)
8) Lesbian Poetry: A Retrospective. (@afterellen)
10) In Conversation: Richard Price and Junot Dìaz from Autowin Book Club #1 interviewed by Sam Anderson. (@nymag)
10a) Algorithm & Blues: The wonder and terror of Google, by Sam Anderson. (@nymag)
11). Sixteen Candles is up in this recording's series about Films Of The 1980s (@this recording)
12) A Brief History of the 21st Century by Chuck Klosterman (@esquire)
13) The Banned Books Quiz (@the guardian uk) I scored 3 out of 12, clearly I'm an idiot.
14) This is the "365 Portraits" project, done by the guy that shot our Hot Blogger Calendar on Sunday.
If you want to experience something lovely that might give you faith that there's something to be said for humanity just because it like, IS -- I suggest looking at all 365 from January to December while listening to music you like. Wash, rinse, repeat. (@bill waldman) (look, that's me up there!)

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[feedback love]p.s. I feel like I should say, if you're new to autowin, I'm not serious when I write these poems. They are jokes. My first poem was inspired by a box of Nerds or mixed nuts. One was the first and one was the second. I plan to one day come full circle and write my last poem also about Nerds. Or possibly about mixed nuts. Subtitle: "People I've Loved, More or Less."

"insomnia" poem #15

I read somewhere
that mice can't handle peppermint
so i've oiled my apartment in it
it turns out neither can i

my eyes burn,
girls yearn
old souls cry

and underneath the floorboard
i've hidden all the parts of me
that need to eat death's edges
to thrive

and i'm telling you neither can i
and i'm inhaling fresh through my eyes
my eyeballs are whiter than teeth, the roof can fly
and i'm telling you it's been days since i've cried
and i'm telling you, in order to live
well you know.
all the dirty feisty things
underneath my skin

well

they've sniffed the air,
and squealing,
died.
*