Thursday, February 4, 2010

Thieves Jargon 197



Dan Scannel made it made it worth the wait. Adam Rothstein has a bone infection. Quentin Collier has something different growing on the inside. We also have Joe Goosey, who I think is one of the more interesting poets in current operation. If you like his poem, I recommend you check out his chapbook A Comfortable Place with Regular Sunshine. In adddition, Drew Jackson's short short Sisyphus of Anacostia ends on a rare high note. And Sean Jackson's Not Even Jail take the bold move (for the online writers) of actually covering a large amount of ground.

I do hope you'll enjoy. And when you're done here, there's always Madore's Lit Dispatch, which just dropped Issue 19.

And how about a little trip through the archives, because Madore dragged me out to Amherst to hang out with Mike Young, editor of Noo Journal, where we drank beers with Mel Bosworth, and these two fellows:

Ben Kopel, whose Poem strapped to the radiator for making too much racket is one of my absolute favortes.

Gabe Durham, whose Eight Times in the Everywhere set the stage for my late-summer, 2008.

Madore left a hat in my car, which I've been wearing around. I'd like to tip that hat to Andy Riverbed, whose blog I'd be happy to shamelessly rip off any old day. Hope you make it up to Boston, even though the winters would destroy you.

In the meantime, Joel Van Noord's book "Surf Music Travel Sex" should secure agency representation in the next few months, and Kenneth Mulvey's new poetry manuscriupt is sitting on my desk as well. Plenty to do, plenty to get done...

42 comments:

Mel Bosworth said...

stroszek is awesome. finally saw miracle mile. also awesome.

hi matt. i like your news.

Matt DiGangi said...

Hi Mel, thanks for stopping by. Glad you liked Miracle Mile, it's probably the best B-movie of all time. Great haircut on the leading lady there.

Mel Bosworth said...

that haircut was more terrifying than the missiles.

TheodorePuertoriquez said...

Queef's Jargon is the new online journal that me and Mather are starting. Please submit Alvin & The Chipmunks fan fiction under 2,000 words. All stories must have a strong emphasis on how hot Jeanette the Chipette is with her sexy librarian look.

corner stone said...

the story 'sisyphus of anacostia' is a good example of a story having a completely different meaning (to me) given the title vs. the actual content. with the title, you think of camus, without, i say, hm. big girl. but big girl is a rock. hilarious.

mather said...

Regarding "sysyphus of anacostia", I love a story title where there are only 3 words and I don't know what 2 of them mean and the other word is a preposition. Awesome! I was just thinking the other day, "I wish I could see a good example of a 3 word story title where I don't know what 2 of the words mean and the other is a preposition. If that title could also be completely misleading regarding the story it is attached to, well that would just be a bonus. We'll call that irony. What the hell." Dreams do come true on Thieves Jargon, every 1-3 months or so.

Big Girls Unite!

starfucker said...

i love to be ignorant and remain that way too, mather. to not bettering ourselves!

Evil Mather said...

Oh, so I'm ignorant now! Just because I don't 'know' things! Real nice Starfucker. Sorry I'm not on the MFA track, laughing into my sleeves at real people. Everyone is so afraid of being unpleasant. I'm not afraid to be unpleasant! Buy my book!

mather said...

I looked the words up. The parallels between the ancient myth and this poet are uncanny! I sure feel embettered. Somehow I still get the feeling he's just a juvenile making fun of a fat chick, but hey, I'm sure the deeper meaning will surface when I am ready for it.

crackerstone said...

I never said the poem was good. After first reading it without looking at the title I just thought it was about some fat chick, and ultimately, no matter what the title, it'll still be about a fat chick. All I was trying to say with the title was that there was some additional thought forced there, to remember Camus essay about forever being forced to push a rock up a hill and down.

Just getting a little discussion started. I don't and still don't know what the Anacostia reference was to. I figured it was the name of the street he lives on.

are the parallels supposed to be between the ancient myth and the poet? i.e., the author? i.e., drew jackson? I don't think that's the correct interpretation, Mather. maybe that's just an issue with your wording. and i understand (or think) that's just sarcasm from you, but, whatever.

mather said...

Doesn't seem like there was much "additional thought forced there" on your part, because Camus didn't invent Sisyphus, it's from Greek mythology. See, I'm bettering myself. The big girl is the rock, the author (or narrator) is Sisyphus. Anacostia is a town near Washington DC. It's still just a story about a fat chick. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Fat chicks are like mopeds: fun to ride but you wouldn't want your friends to see you on one.

TheodorePuertoriquez said...

I have to disagree with your observation on fat chicks. I just can't maintain an erection with one unless I keep my eyes closed and pretend it is my ex-wife or Katy Perry or someone else like Anne Hathaway. Having to waste all that creative energy just annoys me so I'd rather just masturbate to pictures of Leighton Meester. The other day I was reading a collection of Rod Serling stories and one was about a guy imprisoned on an asteroid who is given a female android named Alicia to prevent his lonliness from driving him insane. I think that is my ideal situation as far as romance goes.

starfucker said...

fat chicks are not fun in anyway. I also can't maintain an erection while with them.

i didn't say I was forcing additional thought. I said the title gave me more to think about in terms of the piece.

and i'm glad you were able to get those cells turning up there, understanding how a fat girl can be likened to a big rock and the narrator as sisy. but remember, it's unfair to say the author is a certain character in a piece, although a part of him might be in every character. camus said that too.

I'm pretty sure i never said Camus invented Sisyphus. I said he wrote an essay on it, that essay was the exposure to the myth for me so i typically associate the two.

learned you some shit though eh? or at least encouraged you to use that google search bar to upgrade your gray matter.

Nathan said...

I feel gross saying this, but in my experience, larger girls are better at certain oral things. Maybe because they're hungry?

Detector, who would win in a fiught, Katy Perry or Anne Hathaway?

Anonymous said...

i guess fat girls want to please more?

mather said...

starfucker, I'm aware that the author of a piece is often not the "I". That is why I specified "or narrator". I write many things with the "I" pronoun about things that never happened to me. Do you think I thought the author really pushed a Big Girl up a hill to fuck her?

boogerfuck said...

you wrote, "The parallels between the ancient myth and this poet are uncanny!"

i didn't know what that meant. and i'm still not sure i do. do you mean the work by this poet? it's just not accurate writing... or precise. cause i don't know what you mean. and the point of writing is communication, correct?

mather said...

I was being sarcastic, I was kidding, joking, fooling... What the hell! How could you take a statement like that seriously?

This must be Steve Barker.

Steve Barker said...

Why must that be me? I made no such comment. Mather's got a huge hardon for me. It might even be bigger than the hardon he has for himself.

mather said...

Oh, sorry...

Anonymous said...

excuse me for assuming your sarcastic remarks would make sense.

TheodorePuertoriquez said...

I think Katy Perry would probably win in a fight only because she is a dancer, and also has to have the endurance to go on tour and play tons of shows. I think she is probably in somewhat better shape than Anne Hathaway.

mather said...

Hey, Andy Riverbed's got a new column at Girls With Insurance. See I ain't no hater, just grumpy as hell. By the way, I liked your story about getting dismissed from the student newspaper. Funny stuff.

Major Bummer said...

Damn y'all is some ign'nt folk, and sorry. Fat chicks are the best in bed, especially if they are short fat chicks. It's like fucking a happy little ball of baloney. Keep jerking off alone thinking of Katie Perry, Detector, and send all the cute little tubby females my way so I can circumnavigate that ass before plunging to the center. Hee'yah!

TheodorePuertoriquez said...

Major Bummer I got plenty of girlfriends that are cute and I don't need to resort to fat chicks.

Anonymous said...

i do

creak said...

Will LeBron stay in Cleveland? Orlando would be his best move. He and Dwight Howard would get four rings minimum. what do you think Mather?

Mather said...

Go to espn you queer.

mather said...

Have I ever given you any indication that I'm a basketball fan? I don't give a fuck where Lebron goes...

Nathan said...

If Lebron has a soul, he'll stay in Cleveland. If not, he'll go wherever Wade ends up.

#1 Fan said...

Detector,true or false: who would you rather have sex with, a fat girl, or a mentally challenged girl? Or both?

gre said...

mather is a man of the people. he likes nascar.

http://motherjones.com/media/2010/01/death-of-literary-fiction-magazines-journals

mather said...

I like the high jump.

mather said...

I mean, you see that bar way up there and you think, no way. Eight fucking feet! And then they kind of glide toward it and slide right over. Backwards! Amazing. The triple jump, that just seems like pure muscle and speed and anyone could do that or kind of do that. Running, sure. But the high jump, that is something altogether different. It's like art.

Matt DiGangi said...

Howza bout ze pole vault?

http://www.thievesjargon.com/workview.php?work=819

poop said...

don't be scared thieves jargon, don't be scared.

Anonymous said...

Is Thieves Jargon going to die?

Matt DiGangi said...

We have a new issue and a new site design coming on Monday, so I'd say decidedly not dead.

Anonymous said...

new site design?! dang. very cool. can't wait to see.

mather said...

The Ives poem was interesting...not too good but interesting...I liked the line "Perfection is a dark skill." His bio was pretty fucking annoying. Wow, look at all the grants he's got. Neat.

mather said...

New format is easy to read and negotiate.

TheodorePuertoriquez said...

The new format is cool.