Ben Tanzer's Blog, page 130
October 31, 2012
New joint. Answers. At THE2NDHAND.
Very geeked we are. And big thanks to the THE2NDHAND crew for that. Excerpt? Cool."He knows.
It doesn’t matter that he’s little, and doesn’t seem to know anything.
He knows she’s different, that her family is different, different than us certainly, and just different, period.
She is the queen of the playground, with her long hair blowing in the wind and her flip-flops scattered among the detritus as she walks barefoot along the top of the monkey bars.
He is mesmerized, you are mesmerized. She is a vision, and she is nothing like him. She is fearless and free to be whatever it is she wants to be.
You wonder if her awesomeness has something to do with the fact that she has two dads, but you do not know. You don’t even know what you don’t know.
What you do know is that the dad who doesn’t stay at home tends to be in the playground at night like you when the workday is over. And that he smiles a lot.
What you also know is that your kid thinks he knows something about some part of this, and he wants, even needs, answers about all of it.
So he asks." [image error]
October 30, 2012
We are Dreadful. And Cure. Part One.
October 29, 2012
October 28, 2012
So this has been happening.
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October 27, 2012
The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. All Personal. And full of Goosey.
The new edition of This Zine Will Change Your Life is live. We have a new poem, Taking A Personal Day from old friend Joseph Goosey, which we are way excited about, and, (almost) as always, photo action from Adam Lawrence, music curation from Jason Behrends and undecided prose love from Pete Anderson. We hope you enjoy this edition and we appreciate all shout-outs and links. Finally, please note, we are hoping more of you will submit comix, and music, novel excerpts, and art, and video, yes, video, and combinations there of. And most finally, holy Zito, love that.[image error]
October 26, 2012
October 25, 2012
This Book Will Change Your Life - Nine Months by Paula Bomer.
Associations. Massive and rampant. We are reading Nine Months as we are leaving a plane and there is a scene where the protagonist is so happy to see her children as they just wake-up and then so immediately unhappy when they jump on her and her coffee spills, and as we read this, we are excited to see our children as well, but know that someone will quickly be teasing someone else and the moment will pass, and that's not their fault, but it will suck. We are at the dentist and the hygienist is talking about her children and her man-boy husband and her mother watching the kids, and getting away, and so on. The words are descriptive, but not embellished. The affect is declarative, like little karate chops, and as she speaks, we think who does that sound like, and then think how she's speaking the language of Nine Months, which we now think of as at least somewhat influenced by Bomer's Mid-West roots. We are reading with Paula Bomer, we are eating with Paula Bomer, we are drinking with Paula Bomer, buying cigarettes, taking a cab, and on and on, and we know that she will be off soon to her next stop, and we wonder for a moment, whether like Sonia in Nine Months, Bomer is at least a little on the run from her family, as aren't we always wanting to be a little on the run from our family, staying up late, hanging out in bars, sleeping in hotels, and not wiping anyone's nose? Which isn't to say Sonia is Paula, or that we are trying to read into anything, as much as the book has wrapped-itself around our brain at this point, and everything, especially Bomer herself, feels like an association, or reference, and the book captures so much of the struggle of being in the middle of parenting, and being married, that's it's almost like reporting, but sexier, and funnier, and sadder. The fact is, no one cares that parenting is hard, and no one feels sorry for anyone who's able to conceive children with relative ease in a country where healthcare and education is readily available for those who have the means to access it. But if you love to read and you want words thrown at you like daggers, then you want to read Nine Months because Bomer's voice is so distinctly her, and her observations are so spot-on and knowing, that no one even has to care that its raw, or honest. It is that, yes, but does that matter, maybe, possibly, but not as much as the wondering about what will come next, and the dread about actually finding out, even as the experience of doing so is sure to change your life. [image error]
October 24, 2012
New joint. Lies. At the Hobart.
Very geeked we are. And big thanks to the whole Hobart crew for that. Excerpt? Cool."Can I speak to you for a moment?
It’s your son’s teacher and so this can’t be good. Now not good, doesn’t have to mean bad, but it means something, and you are too tired for something. You just want to do pick-up and get home.
The teacher tells you that your son lied in class. Stood up in front of everyone and told them how your family’s dog died after a classmate of his had shared that her dog had died.
But you don’t have a dog do you, the teacher says?
No we don’t you say, and you wonder why your son would do that?"[image error]
