NOW OFFICIALLY, A SOMETIMES BLOGGER

I will be contributing, when the inspiration comes, to the following blog:

http://www.dissentmagazine.org/atw.php

FEELIN' OPTIMISTIC?

Yours truly appears in this story about the never-ending, perpetual optimism machine of America:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-02-16-optimistic-decade-americans_N.htm

BUSTER, R.I.P., 1994-2010

I don't do this often, but in this case I will. Our cat, Buster, passed away last night in his sleep. I got him when I lived alone in New Jersey in 1995 (he was one year old, or so the guess went). He had been being fed by a man with Alzheimer's who kept forgetting that he had to feed the twelve cats that hung around his house. Buster was taken to a shelter, where I adopted him. He was a very cool cat, more friendly than most, the constant hunter for a lap to sit on. My wife and kid came to love him immensely, for good reason. In any case, his death prompted me to search out a poem that I used to love by Charles Bukowski (I'm not usually a fan). I link to the poem here. Those lines about the influence of Celine and all are just fantastic. And so in memory of Buster:

http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/10781-Charles-Bukowski-The-History-Of-One-Tough-Motherfucker-wbr-

MORE ON JIMMY...

Here's a recent interview done about "What the Heck?":

http://www.rorotoko.com/

THE HORROR, THE HORROR

A longer essay in which I describe my experience of reading Going Rogue by the lady who's now at Fox and who knows absolutely nothing about everything... Palinology in Mattson form.

http://www.dissentmagazine.org/online.php?id=323

FOR THOSE WHO READ DISSENT...

I have a review of Morris Dickstein's recent book about Depression-era culture.

http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=2042

THE LEFT AT WAR...

Here's a recent review I did of Michael Berube's book on the left at war. You might have to scroll down a bit to get to the actual review.

http://www.bookforum.com/inprint/016_04/4694