new york city and burning man and now los angeles

I went to New York City for the NO COLONY launch party. I had fun. I met many internet people, too many to name. They were all nice and funny and weird in a fun way and some said many interesting words (ZZZZdzszszszssz)

Then I went to the desert for three days for Burning Man. It was overwhelming. I'm happy I went. I had fun.

I'm really happy to be back in my quiet empty house in Los Angeles.

some words:

qualms

moving in reverse

belief system

i just licked a spoon i wasn't supposed to

UPDATE: I didn't miss the internet. OH NO.

on jereme dean

Brandon Scott Gorrell has organized this: a time in space where many internet people blog about other internet people. Most of the people are writers. Jereme Dean is one of them. I was assigned to write about Jereme. I'm glad I was. Here is what I've learned about Jereme based on a long email conversation:

1. Jereme would recommend that all humans read You Get So Alone At Times That It Just Makes Sense by Charles Bukowski. I haven't read this book. Jereme says it has caused deep emotion in him. He has read a lot of Bukowski.
2. Jereme taught me that Shel Silverstein wrote A Boy Named Sue. He thinks that Dr. Suess would beat Silverstein in a clean fist-fight. I disagree.
3. Jereme likes many internet people, and mentioned many of the people I have linked to on the right side of this blog. GOOD JOB INTERNET WRITERS.
4. We agree: Writers are not precious. Words are not precious. Once you've written them, let go, they're not yours, they are 'ours'.
5. Jereme has many posts on his blog I've enjoyed reading and agreed with. This is one of them, this is another.
6. My favorite Jereme Dean quote: LOVE IS OUTWARD
7. We talked about arbitrary differences between the nature of 'scene' and 'community'. We disagreed, a little. I don't want to write about it here, sldfkjdklsjflsd
8. Jereme has dealt drugs, been a drug addict, been arrested, been homeless many times, been gang affiliated, shoplifted for a year to survive, and slept on a couch for a year. He has overcome all of this 'on his own'. GOOD JOB JEREME DEAN, SERIOUSLY
9. Jereme has extensive movie knowledge, but I stumped him with Michael Haneke. Watch those movies, Jereme.
10. Jereme's Two Minute Mind
    
11. We agree on politics: NO
12. Where Jereme sees himself in 10 years (answered with a YouTube video):

Chris Killen asked me that final question for his thing about me.

I have tried to keep this post short. I like shorter blocks of words on the internet.

Thanks Jereme. Thanks everyone. Thanks Internet. THANKS BRAIN.

Here is a list of everyone's thing, I like them all and read them all:

Blake Butler writes about Mike Bushnell
Brandon Gorrell writes about Colin Bassett
Chris Killen writes about Ken Baumann
Colin Bassett writes about Chris Killen
Connor O'Brien writes about Tao Lin
Gena Mohwish writes about Sam Pink
Gene Morgan writes about Noah Cicero
Jereme Dean writes about Blake Butler
Jillian Clark writes about Kathryn Regina
Justin Rands writes about Matthew Savoca
Kathryn Regina writes about Kendra Malone
Kendra Malone writes about Brandon Gorrell
Matthew Savoca writes about Gena Mohwish
Mike Bushnell writes about Zachary German
Noah Cicero writes about Shane Jones
Sam Pink writes about Justin Rands
Shane Jones writes about Jillian Clark
Stephen Daniel Lewis writes about Two Tears Boy
Tao Lin writes about Gene Morgan
Two Tears Boy writes about Connor O'Brien
Zachary German writes about Stephen Daniel Lewis

here explodes something

Go here to read a poem I wrote and watch me stare at the camera.

Also, go here to find links about psychology, stuff like the Milgram Experiment, people having strokes, manic depression, and the Standford Prison Experiment. This video about the Milgram Experiment is interesting.

i turn 19 tomorrow

I feel young and dumb. I think that I'm doing things right if I feel that way. I hope everyone feels that way until they die. Right? (!)

I would say my 18th year was my happiest year, my most exciting year, my most productive year.

Hmm. I like pretending to be depressed about getting older when, in reality, I don't care.

Age is nothing to be concerned about, right? (?)

literature!

new technology, limbo

I am micro-blogging now. It is okay that I say 'micro-blogging', do not be judgmental. I have a definitive idea of how to use this form of blogging to my advantage. All angles considered. Domination.

I haven't written a short story or poem in a couple of weeks. This feels okay. I've been swimming, almost every day for two or three hours a go. It feels good. Someone needs to write an 862 page novel about a professional swimmer. NYT Book Review: "Shockingly candid... we glide through, as if cutting across a wide swath of water... definitive."

I like this post by Jereme. My favorite sentence form the post: 'love is outward.'

I've submitted something to HERE EXPLODES MY GIANT FACE. I care more about this submission's acceptance than I do about 95% of previous submissions. Daniel: LIKE IT. If you don't, I will not be mad or upset.

I read God Jr. by Dennis Cooper. Blake said my novel reminded him of Dennis Cooper, but still not exactly. I liked God Jr. alot. Thank you Blake. $12k INTERNET DOLLARS.

New ebook from Lamination Colony. It threw me against a wall with smoke hands. Grab it before it's gone. I think it could not look any better.

I've redesigned this blog. I really like the current design. It will probably stay like this for 3-10 months.

I edited kenbaumann.com

Here is a letter I wrote.

ON UPDATING YOUR BLOG

I feel like I haven't updated this blog in awhile. I feel guilty.

Songs I've been listening to:

• Acceptable In the 80's - Calvin Harris
• Needles and Pins - The Searchers
• Nobody Cares - Para One
• Midnight Train to Georgia - Gladys Knight & The Pips
• Gobblidegook - Sigur Ros
• Kids Doing Drugs In The Park - Monster! Killer! Slug!
  

WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS PICTURE

TREATISE BY NOAH CICERO

You can now buy Treatise by Noah Cicero on Amazon.com

I really like this book/recommend people buy and read it.

LOOK

2001, PROMOTIONAL LINKS

2001: A Space Odyssey on the big screen was good. It's going to be hard watching it on a DVD, now. The sounds in the theater were so loud. When the monolith screeched, everyone covered their ears. Good job, Kubrick.

Bear Creek Feed by Colin Bassett. He's doing a good job with this.

Blake Butler talks about Kafka On The Shore. I'm reading the book now, but I'm only 90 pages in. I haven't reached the parts that make Blake angry. I'm sad and surprised the book doesn't keep going with it's weird energy.

I'm going to start looking at my book Tuesday. I'm excited.

Shane Jones interviewed Jesse Ball here. I really like this interview. If you haven't already, GO. The first question and subsequent answer is key. Good job Jesse and Shane.

NPVOL2 INFORMATION, NO COLONY INFORMATION, INFORMATION

Many people looked at NPVOL2. Good job, everyone. VOL3 will come mid-June.

I'm getting more and more excited about NO COLONY. I really like everything we have accepted. I think it will be read by many people. Good job Blake, me, and writers who've submitted. Keep submitting.

I've redesigned kenbaumann.com
It looks like Matthew Derby's site. Good job, Matthew Derby and I.

LINKS

WHAT I THINK OF MY OWN WRITING

I like about 4 of 5 things I write. Making that ratio higher is a goal.

EDIT: I don't really want to train myself to spend more time editing stories and poetry.

What do other people do? Do they write things they hate and do twenty drafts? Do they love everything they write and look at it once?

Give me answers.

MORE THOUGHTS: This story was edited using suggestions from the editor. I liked his suggestions. I like the 'Titular version' of the story. I think sometimes a second voice can help.

HEALED

I feel happy and excited now. I'm not thinking about my novel. I'm going to swim tomorrow and do some physical labor.

BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE

WRITING NOVEL

I am writing a novel this weekend. I started seven hours ago. I'm going to try and sleep as little as possible. I'm using RedBull and 81% dark chocolate to keep me awake. Daylight is coming now.

I have around 4700 words. I would say that the first 1/4, maybe 1/5 of the novel is done. It will be short, but not too short, because of some things I'm doing with space and layout. I'm trying not to worry about length. I feel like I'm leaving things out, maybe 'big' things, on purpose, to leave a void. I like voids.

I want to finish the first draft by Monday morning. I want to finish the final draft by June 31st. I want to get the book published by June 31st, 2009.

We'll see.

UPDATE: I'm eating a carrot. I slept for 4 and 1/2 hours. I need more caffeine.

UPDATE 2: I finished. I didn't drink any more caffeine. I should maybe call this post WRITING BOOK or WRITING NOVELLA. The book should be about 140 paperback pages. It feels like a prose poem. Writing and finishing was cathartic.

I plan on waiting two weeks then coming back to it and working some more.

UPDATE 3: Catharsis combined with 90 degree weather is bad for me. I feel alone and unhappy. I'm probably grieving the loss of the book. I don't have it inside me anymore. Ignore this update.

HOUSE OF LEAVES

I reread House of Leaves today. Danielewski wrote the book for 10 years.

The book scares me. It makes me feel crazy. I keep checking my walls.

It felt more like a love story this time.

It has inspired me to start outlining my next novel. I'm going to work on that this weekend. I want to tell the story in a different way, with experimental form, but I'm not sure how it will work best. I have an idea, hopefully it will float.

MULHOLLAND DR.

I watched Mulholland Dr. the other night. This is one of my favorite scenes of all time:



Blake Butler has re-obsessed me with Lynch.

THANKS NOAH

Noah Cicero inspired me to start planting things in my backyard.

Today I bought a peach tree, compost, and some flowers. I planted it all. It took two hours at the most. Nothing was expensive, really. I liked digging holes, mixing dirt and compost with my hands. I felt really happy doing all of this.

I'm going to buy vegetables like broccoli and carrots and artichokes tomorrow. I'll plant them in large containers filled with peat-based mixes and compost.

Thanks for the inspiration, Noah.

MAKE AN UPSLOPE, AHHH

People are reading NPVOL2. I track them using Google. Join.

I got this as a gift. I was skeptical. I started using it. I really like using it, now. I will still use BookMooch to swap books. I will use the machine to buy new books that are hardcover, I will use it to buy books that are from major presses like Random House so they make less money, I will only buy 'real' books from friends and small presses. I think I am helping the environment. I don't know.

I'm reading In Defense Of Food. I read it on the machine. I really like it so far. I would recommend lots of people read it. It talks about the industrialization of food, Western diet and Western disease, how nutritionisim is an ideology that has ruined people's health, and other things.

I hope people like this blog's 'look.'

READ NO POSIT VOLUME 2

NPVOL2
NPVOL2
NPVOL2
NPVOL2
NPVOL2
NPVOL2
NPVOL2
NPVOL2

TODAY

I woke went to Malibu Canyon Park. I climbed a small mountain. I watched a mother and father goose lead three goose babies down a path. I watched this from the mountain. I sat on top of a waterfall. I climbed a fence. I sat underneath a large tree. I looked at a field of weeds. They were red and eye-level to me. The wind made them rustle together. The noise was nice. I watched ants carry bits of rock in a line back and forth. I walked by a lake and river. I saw a large snake, ants, birds, white butterflies, other butterflies, beetles, flies, and lizards. Nature was otherwise very still.

I felt calm.