David G. Cookson's Blog, page 19
April 17, 2018
What I'm working on...notes for the next Davezine...
Maybe I'm aiming for that kind of Cometbus vibe where I'm non-specific and philosophical when I talk about my past...
In high school I fell in with some guys that changed my life. We formed a band, watched it fall apart, formed another band, who played for a little while and then was done and then we went our separate ways and yet still stayed friends. And later in that life when we were all a little bit older, we got back together and did one last show for a crowd of people who had never had the chance to see us while we were “playing out.” And it was all I needed to realize how much I missed the whole thing.
This was the year 2000.
I’ve been writing forever. But as we do not live in a society where poets have much influence, I found another way to express myself through my words and occupying a stage to command attention: through music.
There was just one problem: I wasn’t a musician.
Sure, I could play the drums, the trumpet, and maybe I could carry a tune and can KIND OF play by ear…but I was not a musician.
But I am still a performer. I just wasn’t sure how.
It was about this time that my brother moved into my house on Maryland Avenue with a big pile of crap, on the top of which was my destiny….
In high school I fell in with some guys that changed my life. We formed a band, watched it fall apart, formed another band, who played for a little while and then was done and then we went our separate ways and yet still stayed friends. And later in that life when we were all a little bit older, we got back together and did one last show for a crowd of people who had never had the chance to see us while we were “playing out.” And it was all I needed to realize how much I missed the whole thing.
This was the year 2000.
I’ve been writing forever. But as we do not live in a society where poets have much influence, I found another way to express myself through my words and occupying a stage to command attention: through music.
There was just one problem: I wasn’t a musician.
Sure, I could play the drums, the trumpet, and maybe I could carry a tune and can KIND OF play by ear…but I was not a musician.
But I am still a performer. I just wasn’t sure how.
It was about this time that my brother moved into my house on Maryland Avenue with a big pile of crap, on the top of which was my destiny….
April 13, 2018
Deep Thoughts on What is next...
As I think about recent success of a three-fer selling out my Pain Center book at my three very favorite stores (thank you!), and now putting out a long awaited 14th edition of the Davezine (1st in 10 years!), my mind is already turning to what is next…
Well, first off, The Bad Roommates Issue of Davezine does not have to be a stand-alone project. Many people have their stories, and intimated a desire to share their stories with me. Short of you actually doing your own zine (which I encourage! Seriously, I do not own the topic of bad roommates), I would love to collect some of these and put them in a more community centric version of the zine. I don’t often do that, but I really think this subject is bigger than me. If you feel like sharing your story and want to drop me a line, we can work it out.
I have a few ideas for the next Davezine. I want to revisit the feature article in the edition of the zine that I shelved in favor of the bad roommates thing, all about a blog I used to do which was called The Parochialist. But that got me to thinking that this subject was part of the much more complicated story of my solo musical career, which spanned over ten years in Baltimore. I have this thought of doing a deeper dive into my thoughts in performing and the reasons why I hung it up 8 years ago. I’d like to think this is interesting and maybe full of that whole honest personal zine goodness that the kids like…
Then there is NanoWrimo 2018 in November. I have an idea, loosely formed and hopefully brilliant and fun enough to get me through the 50 thousand words. My working title is “the Times of Clouds and Sun,” which I took from a recent weather report. While I do that for fun and writerly community, it also provides me with raw material to work on through the long months after the baseball season.
Anyway, this is all just a roundabout way of plugging the zine that I have just put out and the book that I am continuing to sell, both of which are available on two sites that are for some reason not connected to one another. Enjoy!
Davezine number 14: the Bad Roommates Issue
http://davecookson.tripod.com/Davezin...
Pain Center: the Novel! I am running out of copies! Help me to run out of the rest!!!
http://davecookson.tripod.com/PainCen...
Well, first off, The Bad Roommates Issue of Davezine does not have to be a stand-alone project. Many people have their stories, and intimated a desire to share their stories with me. Short of you actually doing your own zine (which I encourage! Seriously, I do not own the topic of bad roommates), I would love to collect some of these and put them in a more community centric version of the zine. I don’t often do that, but I really think this subject is bigger than me. If you feel like sharing your story and want to drop me a line, we can work it out.
I have a few ideas for the next Davezine. I want to revisit the feature article in the edition of the zine that I shelved in favor of the bad roommates thing, all about a blog I used to do which was called The Parochialist. But that got me to thinking that this subject was part of the much more complicated story of my solo musical career, which spanned over ten years in Baltimore. I have this thought of doing a deeper dive into my thoughts in performing and the reasons why I hung it up 8 years ago. I’d like to think this is interesting and maybe full of that whole honest personal zine goodness that the kids like…
Then there is NanoWrimo 2018 in November. I have an idea, loosely formed and hopefully brilliant and fun enough to get me through the 50 thousand words. My working title is “the Times of Clouds and Sun,” which I took from a recent weather report. While I do that for fun and writerly community, it also provides me with raw material to work on through the long months after the baseball season.
Anyway, this is all just a roundabout way of plugging the zine that I have just put out and the book that I am continuing to sell, both of which are available on two sites that are for some reason not connected to one another. Enjoy!
Davezine number 14: the Bad Roommates Issue
http://davecookson.tripod.com/Davezin...
Pain Center: the Novel! I am running out of copies! Help me to run out of the rest!!!
http://davecookson.tripod.com/PainCen...
April 9, 2018
What I could do with that sweet, sweet writer's cash...
I have decided to take whatever money I have made from my work and put it toward making a book of some sort.
I just don’t know exactly what that would be, though I have many delightful suggestions which I will gladly share with you. There are pros and cons to all.
Beer Club/The Beer Club Trilogy.
Believe it or not, I’ve written a whole trilogy about an organization that is trying to manipulate the world through man’s love of beer. I put the first book of the trilogy, Beer Club: the Elephant Mascot, through a very, very small run, which less than a dozen people have read. It’s a fun story which I love that might be the easiest thing to fix up and put into a book.
Pain Center: the Novel!
The book that I put out in 2017 and been hammering away at, which has its own Facebook page, has had more exposure than anything I have ever written, reaching thousands of eyes and garnering a respectable 3.06 average rating on Goodreads. Maybe a reprint in perfect binding might be just the thing for this. But is it too soon to try this sort of thing?
http://davecookson.tripod.com/PainCen...
Best of Davezine/Davezine Omnibus.
Davezine is my long running project that I have kept going since the early 90’s. It’s basically short fiction mixed with some travel and some personal history. Someone suggested I do this, so that’s why I’m putting it out there. Might be a good way to introduce new readers (and maybe a few hardcore fans…they are out there…) in something nice that would actually fit comfortably on a shelf. Of course, it could also be terribly self-indulgent (kind of like this blog post????)
A future Novel as yet to be written.
When I was writing Pain Center, it was always with the intent of putting it out there. I felt good about it from beginning to end, and I can make a fine argument for how the energy I felt about the story made it easy for me to promote it. I could hope that I could do that with my next one (I have a pretty good idea for it that I’ve been working with since the beginning of the year.) If I have another Pain Center-like writing experience, maybe THAT could be my new nice, perfect bound book.
A bonus possibility: One of my unpublished and unshared works.
Of my 10 or so first drafts of novels, there might be 3 or 4 that could be worth revisiting to make that push into respectability, whatever that is.
Of course, a lot of what I have is probably crap. And I accept that. But will you?
Meanwhile, buy my zine. It's called Davezine Number 14: the Bad Roommates Issue. People like it and it’s fun.
http://davecookson.tripod.com/Davezin...
I just don’t know exactly what that would be, though I have many delightful suggestions which I will gladly share with you. There are pros and cons to all.
Beer Club/The Beer Club Trilogy.
Believe it or not, I’ve written a whole trilogy about an organization that is trying to manipulate the world through man’s love of beer. I put the first book of the trilogy, Beer Club: the Elephant Mascot, through a very, very small run, which less than a dozen people have read. It’s a fun story which I love that might be the easiest thing to fix up and put into a book.
Pain Center: the Novel!
The book that I put out in 2017 and been hammering away at, which has its own Facebook page, has had more exposure than anything I have ever written, reaching thousands of eyes and garnering a respectable 3.06 average rating on Goodreads. Maybe a reprint in perfect binding might be just the thing for this. But is it too soon to try this sort of thing?
http://davecookson.tripod.com/PainCen...
Best of Davezine/Davezine Omnibus.
Davezine is my long running project that I have kept going since the early 90’s. It’s basically short fiction mixed with some travel and some personal history. Someone suggested I do this, so that’s why I’m putting it out there. Might be a good way to introduce new readers (and maybe a few hardcore fans…they are out there…) in something nice that would actually fit comfortably on a shelf. Of course, it could also be terribly self-indulgent (kind of like this blog post????)
A future Novel as yet to be written.
When I was writing Pain Center, it was always with the intent of putting it out there. I felt good about it from beginning to end, and I can make a fine argument for how the energy I felt about the story made it easy for me to promote it. I could hope that I could do that with my next one (I have a pretty good idea for it that I’ve been working with since the beginning of the year.) If I have another Pain Center-like writing experience, maybe THAT could be my new nice, perfect bound book.
A bonus possibility: One of my unpublished and unshared works.
Of my 10 or so first drafts of novels, there might be 3 or 4 that could be worth revisiting to make that push into respectability, whatever that is.
Of course, a lot of what I have is probably crap. And I accept that. But will you?
Meanwhile, buy my zine. It's called Davezine Number 14: the Bad Roommates Issue. People like it and it’s fun.
http://davecookson.tripod.com/Davezin...
April 3, 2018
Collusion
Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win by Luke HardingMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Collusion is a wonderful layout out of all the connections Donald Trump has had with Russia over the years, and how his Presidency is a wet dream for Vladimir Putin. In fact, Harding explains, Trump’s initial campaign team and ensuing government might has well have been picked by the Russians:
“Wherever you looked, there was a Russian trace…secretary of state? Rex Tillerson, a figure known and trusted in Moscow and recipient of the Order of Friendship. National Security Adviser? Michael Flynn, Putin’s dinner companion and a beneficiary of undeclared Russian fees (Fox in the henhouse, anyone?) Campaign Manager? Paul Manafort, longtime confidant to ex-Soviet oligarchs. Foreign Policy adviser? Carter Page, an alleged Moscow asset who gave documents to Putin’s spies. Commerce Secretary? Wilbur Ross, and entrepreneur with Russia connected investments. Personal Lawyer? Michael Cohen, who sent emails to Putin’s press secretary. Business partner? Felix Sater, son of a Russian American Mafia boss.” Page 326
I quoted this last section at length because it gives a pretty good summation of the way Harding lays out the case that his research and interviews have brought him to.
In reviewing this, I’m just trying to think about how someone who disagrees with it would attack it. I guess you would start with the Steele dossier and claim it was all just a hatchet job funded by the Democrats (misleading at best: according to the book, the real story is much more complicated and compelling) If you are of a particular mindset who believes that anything and everything relating to Donald Trump’s collusion with Russia is nothing more than a media witch-hunt and the tired label of “Fake news” then I guess Luke Harding’s well-sourced book with some pretty damning conclusions and connections laid out for the reader…is absolutely worthless….
But for the rest of us…Wow. There is quite a bit here. It is definitely worth a read. Harding writes in a clear connect the dots way that takes care to make sure the reader understands. Personally I appreciated the way he took the care to repeat names and roles of the players at times when in other books I might have been flipping back to remember because, well, sometimes I miss stuff.
For the record, I believe what is in this book. It is a case that is well made. And it explains why it matters, and why it should matter to people.
One day we will know the truth of this administration. And then we will know who is lying. But for now, we have this book.
View all my reviews
April 2, 2018
Roseanne is a performer. Stop taking her so personally.
Allow me to broach the topic of something that I’m pretty sure most of my friends and generally liberal leaning people will probably hate and unfollow and unfriend me immediately because it’s 2018 and we are all very, very sensitive. (Just be aware of these three things: I am creative, I am basically a free thinking moderate/liberal, and like many of you, I also can’t stand the thought of Trump as our President.)
Roseanne.
I am not planning to watch her new revival series. It is not for political reasons. I never did watch her show when it was on in the past. My family never watched when I was growing up, I never bothered to watch and after all these years I can honestly say that I have never even seen one episode. I’m not especially crazy about her comedy, her voice…just her in general. But it’s not political. It never was.
Yeah, I know: she likes Trump. And as much as I also can’t stand Trump (see my above disclaimer), it so happens that I do in fact have a few random friends and family who do. Should I stop talking to them? Have we gotten to that point where someone supporting someone you don’t like is reason enough to not talk to them? Aren’t there other things to talk about? But I am hating something on her behalf, because frankly it wounds me as a writer, performer, and comedic minded person, namely, the inability to separate performance from performer.
Yes, real life Roseanne supports Trump. She’s allowed to. If that is your only reason for hating her, well, that’s your right. Yes, she has done some crass routines in the past (the “Baked Jew” cookies thing has popped up). And I’m not defending her lousy rendition of the National Anthem (though why Trump singles out black football players for kneeling yet says nothing about this speaks volumes. I even tweeted about this recently and got more “likes” than I have ever gotten, so color me hater). But holy fuck, you pick any comic who has been doing his or her thing for as long as she has and you are going to find something off color or crude or questionable. It’s called having a career. I have done songs and stories in the past that were questionable that I probably would not be doing today. I shudder to think if I somehow came out on the wrong side of any one of you and you brought these up in your attempt to ruin me. But I own every bad piece of writing and music I have ever done. Without them, I would not have learned how to do better.
I’m sorry if this sounds like a cop out, but it happens. You try stuff, you try to push the limits, push the boundaries, and sometimes you push too far, sometimes you piss off groups of people and if you really go too far, you apologize. I understand your view that supporting Trump is supporting racism, xenophobia, sexual assault, homophobia, and whole host of other terrible things. And as I always say whenever I post something like this, I hate him, too. But also realize that the people who voted for him are also Americans. And somewhere in there is someone you love.
Be a bigger person. It starts with thinking for yourself, and separating real life from the performance. I know it’s hard. But we have to. We already let Trump ruin football. Let’s not let Roseanne ruin everything else.
Roseanne.
I am not planning to watch her new revival series. It is not for political reasons. I never did watch her show when it was on in the past. My family never watched when I was growing up, I never bothered to watch and after all these years I can honestly say that I have never even seen one episode. I’m not especially crazy about her comedy, her voice…just her in general. But it’s not political. It never was.
Yeah, I know: she likes Trump. And as much as I also can’t stand Trump (see my above disclaimer), it so happens that I do in fact have a few random friends and family who do. Should I stop talking to them? Have we gotten to that point where someone supporting someone you don’t like is reason enough to not talk to them? Aren’t there other things to talk about? But I am hating something on her behalf, because frankly it wounds me as a writer, performer, and comedic minded person, namely, the inability to separate performance from performer.
Yes, real life Roseanne supports Trump. She’s allowed to. If that is your only reason for hating her, well, that’s your right. Yes, she has done some crass routines in the past (the “Baked Jew” cookies thing has popped up). And I’m not defending her lousy rendition of the National Anthem (though why Trump singles out black football players for kneeling yet says nothing about this speaks volumes. I even tweeted about this recently and got more “likes” than I have ever gotten, so color me hater). But holy fuck, you pick any comic who has been doing his or her thing for as long as she has and you are going to find something off color or crude or questionable. It’s called having a career. I have done songs and stories in the past that were questionable that I probably would not be doing today. I shudder to think if I somehow came out on the wrong side of any one of you and you brought these up in your attempt to ruin me. But I own every bad piece of writing and music I have ever done. Without them, I would not have learned how to do better.
I’m sorry if this sounds like a cop out, but it happens. You try stuff, you try to push the limits, push the boundaries, and sometimes you push too far, sometimes you piss off groups of people and if you really go too far, you apologize. I understand your view that supporting Trump is supporting racism, xenophobia, sexual assault, homophobia, and whole host of other terrible things. And as I always say whenever I post something like this, I hate him, too. But also realize that the people who voted for him are also Americans. And somewhere in there is someone you love.
Be a bigger person. It starts with thinking for yourself, and separating real life from the performance. I know it’s hard. But we have to. We already let Trump ruin football. Let’s not let Roseanne ruin everything else.
March 27, 2018
Insomniughhh…A zine about Living with a Circadian Rhythm Disorder, issues one and two.
Over the last 6 months I have gotten into live tweeting TV shows late into the night, along with a small but loyal community of on-line tweeters, specifically the Saturday night lineup of bad horror, old sci-fi, Batman, Star Trek, and (what I feel is the crown jewel of the lineup) Battlestar Galactica. I have become online friends with the author of the Insomniughhh zine who is a huge Galactica fan and goes by the online name of “Ashleystar Galactica.”
Ashely sent me issues one and two, both of which deal with her insomnia.
I have a passing familiarity with insomnia, having gone through a serious bout of it in my 20’s (I’m not really ready to get too deeply into that yet). But Ashley has a chronic condition that she lives with and shares about in a way that hit home on a few levels, especially the bits about people trying to suggest things when you have already tried everything.
Insomniughhh is a half-sized, hand printed and tightly focused publication that in many ways, is exactly why God invented zines. Issue One introduces the subject, laying out the difference between Larks (morning people) and Owls (night people.) She explores the many things that people say will help but don't, and she shares the things that she tries that only kind of help.
Issue two is a direct continuation of what she started in the first, a litany of pills mixed in with a few personal touches about how this affects her life. I have to admit, my favorite part was one sentence that fills the whole page saying simply
“Everything is Horrible.”
This is a pretty quick read that nonetheless offers quite a bit of good info and insight on insomnia and Circadian Rhythm disorder.
Insomniughhh is a free zine and I believe the author is open to trades. You can find it on this site:
https://sites.google.com/view/insomniugh
Ashely sent me issues one and two, both of which deal with her insomnia.
I have a passing familiarity with insomnia, having gone through a serious bout of it in my 20’s (I’m not really ready to get too deeply into that yet). But Ashley has a chronic condition that she lives with and shares about in a way that hit home on a few levels, especially the bits about people trying to suggest things when you have already tried everything.
Insomniughhh is a half-sized, hand printed and tightly focused publication that in many ways, is exactly why God invented zines. Issue One introduces the subject, laying out the difference between Larks (morning people) and Owls (night people.) She explores the many things that people say will help but don't, and she shares the things that she tries that only kind of help.
Issue two is a direct continuation of what she started in the first, a litany of pills mixed in with a few personal touches about how this affects her life. I have to admit, my favorite part was one sentence that fills the whole page saying simply
“Everything is Horrible.”
This is a pretty quick read that nonetheless offers quite a bit of good info and insight on insomnia and Circadian Rhythm disorder.
Insomniughhh is a free zine and I believe the author is open to trades. You can find it on this site:
https://sites.google.com/view/insomniugh
March 21, 2018
The Bad Roommates Issue is Available!
After many months of teasing, Davezine Number Fourteen: The Bad Roommates Issue is ready to go!
A subject that many of us can relate to, for the first time ever I have shared tales of the worst people I’ve lived with.
Believe me, I had to narrow this down.
Davezine Number 14 is the result of a lot of hard work and self-research: I have kept journals and notebooks for over 25 years and was pulling them down throughout the writing process. I believe it helped tremendously. In my humble opinion, I think it is a very solid issue. And for the price (4 dollar cover, 5 through the mail) I think you are getting a really good value.
Anyway, that’s my pitch. Here’s the site. We’ll talk more later!
http://davecookson.tripod.com/Davezin...
---David G. Cookson.
A subject that many of us can relate to, for the first time ever I have shared tales of the worst people I’ve lived with.
Believe me, I had to narrow this down.
Davezine Number 14 is the result of a lot of hard work and self-research: I have kept journals and notebooks for over 25 years and was pulling them down throughout the writing process. I believe it helped tremendously. In my humble opinion, I think it is a very solid issue. And for the price (4 dollar cover, 5 through the mail) I think you are getting a really good value.
Anyway, that’s my pitch. Here’s the site. We’ll talk more later!
http://davecookson.tripod.com/Davezin...
---David G. Cookson.
March 20, 2018
The Original 1982
The Original 1982 by Lori CarsonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Singer/songwriter Lori Carson, of the Golden Palominos (a band I was not familiar with until now---they are worth checking out, good music for writing or working at the laptop, etc.) has written a piece of speculative memoir.
In The Original 1982, musician protagonist Lisa is in a relationship with another musician, Gabriel, and from one moment in that year she makes a decision that affects the rest of her life. (And I’m sorry if that tells you next to nothing but if the book jacket didn’t give it away they I won’t either.)
This was very enjoyable, a work that I feel seems close to the bone here. The trials of performing and trying to achieve success in the music world are relatable, the wisdom of having lived through many choices, both bad and good, is a wisdom that one can appreciate after being on the planet a few years longer. I don’t know that I would have understood the themes of this when I was a younger person.
I flipped back and forth with how I felt about this. I never hated it or anything, but I wasn’t really sure what to make of it. I thought maybe it was supposed to have a sci-fi component to it (it doesn’t) and then I found myself wishing that this had been more straight-up, as in, more like a fictionalized memoir rather than a “what-if?”. But by the end I understood why it was done this way. And I appreciated the wisdom and the short chapters and the realism of it all.
View all my reviews
March 12, 2018
Mindhunter
Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit by John E. DouglasMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
John Douglas, who was a pioneer in the art of criminal profiling, shares his wisdom and insight over 25 years with the Investigative Support Unit of the FBI in the book Mindhunter, upon which the Netflix series is based.
Let me just get this out of the way early:
This is a terrific book.
I would say that I think everyone should read it, but for the fact that it is about some very awful things and probably isn’t so good for the faint-hearted or overly sensitive. But for those who are not squeamish and want to get a unique view into the darkness of the minds of serial killers, and thus taking the darkest view of humanity and better understanding the nature of so-called bad people, I can think of no better book.
There’s just something very gratifying about using science and logic to go about the task of solving horrible murders. That’s one of the things that made the Netflix series so good. The methodical way that the agents approach their work and draw accurate conclusions is nothing short of phenomenal…and at the same time it just seems so simple and so obvious…
With over 400 pages worth of stories and observations, Mindhunter is never dull. It is an absorbing read that is well organized and well-thought out, no doubt the result of a great collaboration between Douglas and co-writer Mark Olshaker.
There were two things I considered surprising about this book. One was that Douglas admits to liking Ed Kemper, one of the main serial killers Douglas references quite a bit. It is interesting because he spends time tracking down some of the lowest and sickest forms of human beings, which ought to destroy his faith in humanity, yet a very basic part of him actually manages to enjoy the company of a man who has done horrible things.
The other thing I found surprising was a scientifically minded individual such as John Douglas does not dismiss the validity of psychics. While he does not specifically advocate their use, he does give them credit for their skill in picking up on many of the same clues that he does.
The Netflix series is great, and it touches upon the major points in the book, dramatizing and changing things here and there to move the story along. I highly recommend it.
But the book is really something special.
View all my reviews
March 5, 2018
A River in Darkness
A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea by Masaji IshikawaMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Just finished this last night. This is quite a read. This Japanese man was taken with his family to live in North Korea in the '60s as part of a "repatriation." North Korea, according to this memoir, is every bit as bad as we think. His harrowing ordeal included starvation and excessive military presence. It is a place where people eat dogs.
Ultimately, the man escapes. How he manages it is quite a tale.
View all my reviews
