…the almost right word

Inspired by my recent viewing of “The Source,” I present The Beat Edition: Beat Books. Enjoy. Or should I say, Dig it (and I don’t mean Digg it).

Selected Poems 1947-1995 – Allen Ginsberg
The first book of Ginsberg’s poetry that I ever bought. It sat by my bedside for years. Its pages have been thumbed and turned in endless repetition. Selected Poems was published later in his career as a kind of anthology. It covers a vast period of time and seems to be the most comprehensive collection of his poetry. I have loved “Sunflower Sutra,” the infamous “Howl,” “America,” “Mind Breaths,” and “A Supermarket in California.” Ginsberg was significantly influenced by Walt Whitman, T.S. Eliot, and William Blake, among many others. He was the first “Beat” I discovered and remains a favorite.

Memoirs of a Beatnik — Diane DiPrima
She was the Chick-Beat. She is the Chick-Beat. Her works are not as widely acknowledged as some of the other Beat writers, but she has written powerful descriptions of her time with “the gang.” She began writing as a child, publishing her first book of poetry (with Totem Press: Leroi Jones aka Amiri Baraka’s short-lived publishing company), This Kind of Bird Flies Backward, in her late teenage years. Memoirs of a Beatnik is a novel, but it is based on the Beat days: memories of getting high with Ginsberg, Kerouac, Burroughs; casual sex; all writing; all reading; all day-dreaming. I met her at a Book Festival years ago. She was a small, aged, gentle woman with a commanding presence.

The Dharma Bums — Jack Kerouac
Everyone knows of On the Road. The Dharma Bums is, in my opinion, far superior. Kerouac was one of those writers who carried a notebook with him everywhere. Nonetheless, he attempted to be anything but a writer: “He was a sports reporter for The Lowell Sun; a temporary worker in construction and food service; a United States Merchant Marine and he joined the United States Navy twice.” His first book, The Town and the City (originally published in 1950 under the pseydonym “John Kerouac”), went nowhere. On the Road was his second book and, clearly, the one that put him on the map. The Dharma Bums was written later in his short career. By then, he had become a Buddhist, in one way or another. The Dharma Bums was presented as a sequel of sorts: On the Road chronicled his cross-country drive with Neal Cassady, The Dharma Bums chronicled his experience with Buddhism, Gary Snyder and other Bay-Area Beat poets. I have always found this novel to be more engaging, and better written, than his earlier work.

Turtle Island – Gary Snyder
Some argue that Snyder is not a Beat poet. In my opinion, anyone who frequented that scene, and wrote, is Beat. His best-known book of poetry, Turtle Island, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. The title references a Native American term for North America. While studying Asian Culture at UC Berkeley, Snyder was introduced to Ginsberg. The two connected easily — Snyder quickly melted into the crowd of writers. In fact, he was the inspiration for The Dharma Bums‘ main character Japhy Ryder (just like Neal Cassady was the inspiration for Dean Moriarty — the main character in On the Road). He has been known for his environmental activism and Buddhism.

When it comes to celebrity buzz blogs, What Would Tyler Durden Do is the way to go. We all know the name comes from Brad Pitt’s Fight Club character. The man behind WWTDD is actually on MySpace, though his profile picture is questionable. His description of the site, however, is right on: “”What Would Tyler Durden Do” is a blog focused on bringing you the latest gossip and news about rich and famous celebrities.  And then making fun of them.  Why?  Because fuck them, that’s why.” Perez Hilton has got nothin’ on this guy.

I’m going to jump on the band-wagon and tell you about “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” (be forewarned: that is only the beginning of this post’s extensive linkage). You may or may not already be familiar with this latest craze in web-series — It’s a Joss Whedon project. Whedon is most well-known for his role as Writer, Producer, and Director on the hit series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” As a much-deserved side note, I would like to mention that I laughed heartily while mocking this show before I finally gave in to watching it. It is, as many claim, genius, whether you’d like to admit it or not. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is more than just a story of a badass, blonde, SoCal chick who uses the word “like” in every sentence. The series is thought-provoking, smart and hilarious.

But back to Dr. Horrible.

Whedon began this project during the recent Writer’s Strike. Despite the trend of unsuccessful web-series, the Whedon family stood by Dr. Horrible:

“Dr. Horrible,” you see, has the Internet cooked into its DNA. Rather than being a top-down, studio controlled production, it began earlier this year as a kind of dinner table brainstorm between Whedon, his brothers Zack and Jed, and Jed’s fiancée Maurissa Tancharoen…“We’re family, and we’re sitting here doing nothing,” recalled Tancharoen. “So let’s get together and write something, whether it’s for $100 or whatever it turns into.”

Little did they know that Dr. Horrible’s premier would crash the server, leaving people across the country impatient and disappointed. Fortunately, the series can also be seen on Hulu, as well as iTunes. But hey, Hulu is free.

As I’ve mentioned before, I have great disdain for spoilers, so I’ll make this quick — “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” begins with a video blog featuring Neil Patrick Harris. Harris is cast as Dr. Horrible himself, singing his woes away. Nathan Fillion is Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible’s nemisis. Harris’ character struggles to be evil, to be a menace to society. However, his heart clearly belongs elsewhere — Penny, a long time crush, becomes Dr. Horrible’s laundry buddy. One can say that she clouds his judgement in the fight for evil. “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” is wacky, silly, and near perfect. My only complaint? It’s too short.

The New York Times has been interviewing actors and posting these videos on The Moment. Screen Test is a series of black and white shorts — We never see or hear the interviewer, just the answers to their questions. Thus far, Screen Test interviews include Peter Sarsgaard, James Franco, Tyra Banks, Seth Rogen, Matthew Goode, Anna Faris and Will Ferrel. Each is uniquely entertaining: Goode sips from a glass of wine while laughing and discussing his experience with Woody Allen (Match Point), Rogen talks about his upcoming “Stoner Flick,” and Tyra Banks displays an array of “smiling techniques.” My personal favorite is the Matthew Goode interview, but I’m fairly certain it’s simply because he’s drinking a glass of wine.

Editorial Addendum: Latest Screen Tests feature Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Penelope Cruz. In addition, I somehow missed an older Screen Test with Elizabeth Banks.

Contrariwise.org was originally a website used for the owner’s high school photography assignment. Today, she maintains a series of literary tattoo photographs — “tattoos based on books, poems, lyrics, and many other things.” It appears that many tattoo fans like Kurt Vonnegut, The Little Prince, E.E. Cummings and Walt Whitman. This site is literally tattoo inspiration for the literary.

♦ On the subject of tattoos and blogs, check out The Tattooed Mama’s All Things Cupcake blog which features a page of cupcake tattoos!

Editorial Postscript: Apparently I am not the only one noticing this blog! Paper Cuts, a NYTimes book blog, just published a post about it, as did the London Telegraph and Gawker.

Ramble John Krohn goes by the pseudonym RJD2 and he’s badass. Clearly influenced by DJ Shadow, RJD2’s first solo album was released in 2002. Dead Ringer is a genius mix of samples, hip hop, electronic and ambient music. The New York Times called Dead Ringer an “extraordinarily fluid, meticulous disc of instrumental hip-hop.” RJD2’s second album, Since We Last Spoke (2004), incorporated more of a rock flavor, and The Third Hand (2007) departed from sample-based hip hop/rock to feature RJD2’s own singing and musicianship. Originally, RJD2 was signed to Definitive Jux, an independent record label that hosts artists like Aesop Rock, Mr. Lif, El-P, Del the Funkee Homosapien and more. Recently however, he has joined forces with XL Recordings (Beck, Radiohead, M.I.A, and then some) to create a more poppy sound.

Places you may have heard RJD2? Prime, Wimbledon, CSI, and various skateboarding/snowboarding videos.

Specific tracks to check out? Ghostwriter, The Gentle Rain, and De l’alouette.

According to wikipedia, RJD2 currently resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

i have great respect for websites that highlight quality writing on the internet. indie bloggers (r.i.p.) was about just that. it appears fray does the same. the site has recently morphed into a quarterly series of independently published books. the website states: Fray is the web’s original storytelling magazine, telling true stories online and off since 1996. the first quarterly was titled busted! true stories of getting caught in the act. the website offers a few of the published stories for your sampling pleasure. i particularly enjoyed how i blew it in the 80s and ropeswing season. it appears that their second issue is titled geek: stories of people taking things too seriously which sounds rather intriguing. plus, the artwork on the site is really unusual.

death cab for cutie’s most recent album is a wonderful surprise. personally, i have only connected with a few of their past tracks. narrow stairs, however, is full of artistic talent and “lot’s of blood,” as ben gibbard (vocalist, guitarist and mastermind of our friends, the postal service) stated. in fact, this album (their sixth) is their first to reach the number one spot on the billboard charts. rolling stone:

Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard is the poet of a particular purgatory — the holding cell in your head that’s filled with failed relationships and wrong roads taken. Death Cab’s most memorable songs contain snapshots from its walls: Gibbard has sung about an incriminating kiss in a photo booth, discovering forgotten pictures of an ex in his glove compartment, and an especially bleak Kodak moment from a doomed marriage. On “Cath . . . ,” from the band’s new Narrow Stairs, he finds a girl “in a hand-me-down wedding dress,” and the details feel like knife twists: “As the flashbulbs burst, she holds a smile/Like someone would hold a crying child.” That sort of heartbreak defines Narrow Stairs. But where Death Cab’s past records made it easy to empathize with Gibbard’s narrators, the group’s second major-label release zeros in on characters who are often more creepy than cuddly. The result is a dark, strangely compelling record that trades the group’s bright melancholy for something nearer to despair.

thus far, “cath…” is my favorite track and “grapevine fires” is a close second. but hey, i also swooned over the song about “an incriminating kiss in a photo booth” as well as the one about “discovering forgotten pictures of an ex in his glove compartment.” while postal service may be gone for good, it looks like death cab will keep me satiated.

deb talan: topanga canyon resident and a member of artists for literacy, talan’s music is soothing and simultaneously stirring. when i got in my car at seven this morning, “unraveling” appeared on my ipod. i think i melted a little, over and over again, as i drove through the light blues and grays of the new mexico morning, playing her voice on repeat. talan and her husband are the weepies (chances are you’ve heard their music before). indie-music.com wrote, “While Deb can steal your heart with her voice alone, her pen has created some masterpieces that, if turned into paintings, would grace the halls of mansions and castles and sell for millions.”

ben and jerry’s organic strawberry ice cream
i just picked up a carton of this orgasmic wonder. honestly, what took me so long to realize that strawberry ice cream is uniquely amazing? i’ve always been a ben and jerry’s fan, a hardcore fan actually. i’ve gone through my share of favorite flavors. this one may take the cake. or the cone, as the case may be.

basil
best. herb. ever. considering the fact that i’m prone to crave italian food (specifically spaghetti), basil happens to be my favorite herb. now, don’t get me wrong — cilantro is the key to quality guacamole, and baked potatoes are nothing without chives, but basil is the main herb i’d want to grow at home.

goat cheese
a friend recently wrote an entire blog post about this particularly wonderful food. being that i’ve waited tables in an italian restaurant, and now a spanish restaurant, i’ve experienced a wide range of goat cheeses. last night i was fortunate enough to recieve an “herbed catalan goat cheese drop” that was just heaven in my mouth. especially with our spanish olive oil and fresh bread.

just desserts black tie cupcakes
this san francisco-based company makes the best desserts, and you can find them almost anywhere (anywhere there is a whole foods). i’ve sampled quite a few of their quality products. i recommend them all, but especially the mocha single serve cake and the black tie cupcakes.

there is a new phrase that has been buzzing around like a mad, honey-crazed bee…..”quarterlife crisis.” being that i am literally in the midst of my own “quarterlife crisis,” i feel particularly adept at writing about it. although i wonder, every day, if i am actually just suffering from my own conditioning. i am not depressed. in fact, i may not even be in need of medication. and so, i begin to consider the possibility that this is, indeed, a “quarterlife crisis.” the rumors are true, dear reader, it exists.

so, what do we actually do in a quarterlife crisis? do we turn to our blog, determined to “make something?” do we enroll in classes and pursue a master’s degree? do we get a good-paying-job-that-isn’t-all-that-enjoyable until we figure out what we really want?

i have no idea what i really want.

on that note, the a.r.w. recommends a semi-new web-series, from the guys that brought you my so-called life (marshall herskovitz and edward zwick): quarterlife. originally, the “show” was released in thirty-six “episodes” — each episode was anywhere from seven to ten minutes long. there was even a regular “time slot” — new episodes aired once a week. eventually, the show got picked up by nbc. it was canceled after one episode. now i’m not saying that you can compare quarterlife to my so-called life. but i watched all thrity-six episodes. go figure.

vienna (for mac users)
it’s an apple-friendly program that acts as a blog reader — way better than google, in my humble opinion. just discovered it, through a friend, this morning. what a handy way to see new blog posts, without having to check websites multiple times a day (which i was previously doing).

laura veirs
currently listening to a shuffle of two albums: saltbreakers and year of meteors. she’s very chick-rocky, but not in that ‘yeah yeah yeah‘ sorta way. the a.r.w. specifically recommends the track ‘galaxies’ on year of meteors — this was the song that won me over. she’s been touring, so check her out and give her some love.

indiebloggers.org
this site features a different blog post everyday, from talented bloggers around the interwebs. the a.r.w is now an ‘editorial assistant’ for indiebloggers, so you know what that means — it must be good! in all honesty, i’ve been very impressed by the quality of writing on this site, and i really look forward to contributing and searching for new content. founder and editrix: jurgennation.

though i was extremely hungover yesterday, i did manage to do one wonderful thing — i discovered new music (via old grey’s anatomy episodes): the album leaf — it’s a solo project from a san diego, california artist, and very worth a listen. spin magazine says: On his fourth album, he gently eases you into his mostly instrumental world, where shimmering keyboards float around sweeping strings and understated beats.

the a.r.w. recommends
writing on the wall a track off of into the blue again
(also a song featured in episode 6, season 3 of grey’s anatomy, f.y.i.)
if you like pinback (also from san diego), you’ll like the album leaf

other blogs for possible perusal and enjoyment:

robert walker online
“where people go when they want that certain je ne c’est quoi. and lots of it.”
this is a new blog on the block. he’s already got quite a bit to say, mostly about the publishing industry. his voice is strong and his writing sparks laughter. we also recommend reading the short stories he’s posted, as well as the first chapter of his novel.

s.y.i.
he calls it “a guide for heroes: daily reviews on design, architecture, art, music, fashion, furniture, film, photography, homes, dining, beauty, men, women, & all things which inspire better living.”
sean’s been blogging it up lately, discussing anything from the recent death of yves saint laurent, to los angeles sun blocker walls. he adds a ton of pictures, an occasional piece of music, and artistic inspiration galore.

i am fuel, you are friends
she’s a california native who has turned her blog into a an essential destination for music-related news and discussion. her blog is extensive, and she’s had the lucky opportunity to conduct interviews with amazing musicians. her most recent adventure was coachella, which she covered in a few separate posts combined with a series of awesome close-up shots of practically every performance — not to be missed.

the unreliable narrator
we simply cannot recommend blogs without mentioning this one. in fact, we’re pretty sure this is the first blog that we ever read on a regular basis. she’s been around for quite awhile, and though she will go days without giving us even one little taste of her humorous musings, we continue to check her site daily (sometimes multi-daily). she’s done it all: film critic, zen student, poet, teacher…her life experiences make for a good read, and she’s got that whole good-writer thing going on too.

paying off your taxes, especially when they’re $1500
so yes, as a waitress, my taxes are particularly troublesome (even as a part-time waitress!). in fact, this is the first year that i’ve been able to pay them off in full (usually i’m reduced to requesting a payment installation plan)! my bank account may not be the happiest, but i’m frackin relieved. and so is the irs. yay for them.

the apple mighty mouse
these little suckers cost $50 and are really quite handy when it comes to the imac. however, that scrolly ball thingy is a pain in the butt. granted, i use mine while i eat spaghetti, quesadillas and other oily goodness (which has probably led to the majority of my scrolly ball problems). but really people, should the scrolly ball be so sensitive? mine has gone completely kaput. no scrolly ball action for me. so the question becomes, do i buy another mighty mouse? they are so handy and pretty looking next to the imac. and aesthetics are quite important to the a.r.w.

any advice out there on other mice with more advanced scrolly ball action?

don julio reposado
i discovered this to be the smoothest tequila ever. expensive, yes. but oh so good.

(and she’s back with a vengeance, ladies and gentlemen)

pumpkin ravioli
if you ever have the great opportunity to find this on a menu, try it. it may well be the best thing your mouth has ever tasted. on a recent trip to california, we sampled this very dish at mi piace — quite possibly the best recipe ever.

granola, plain yogurt & fruit
a great breakfast, a great combination. a.r.w. specifically recommends super nutty granola, which can be found at whole foods, and trader joe’s plain yogurt. add strawberries or blackberries or blueberries, or whatever. it’s quite wonderful.

buffalo burgers
the cowgirl serves locally raised, nicely treated buffalo. and the best fries in town.

buffalo burgers + tequila
it keeps you patient while you wait for your burger.
it makes you even happier when you’re full.

(a la mcsweeney’s, because they are just so damn clever)

paying off your credit card
it’s liberating and wonderful.

dr. bronner’s magic soaps
organic, fair trade soaps for all purposes. the lavendar is my favorite.

trader joe’s frozen organic spinach pizza
add fresh basil and some feta. easy and delicious!

‘cannonball’ by the breeders
a song that never loses it’s umph!

…more to come.