NEWSFLASH: CONTEST #3 ANNOUNCEMENT!!! Contest #3 is this: MY CRUMMY JOB. Inspired by a play of the same name by by L.A. playwright John Steppling, and by the many different jobs I've held, and lost, and triumphed over, or been humiliated by, or what have you -- and by the stories of your jobs that I've heard in bits and pieces -- again I'm looking for short-shorts. More details to come on new contest site. But it's afternoon on June the 1st and I have a reading tonite at UCLA Publication Party (UCLA Extension annex in Santa Monica on 3rd St. Promenade right next to fabulous bookstore Midnight Special) so will be working on this next day and weekend...but start writing now! 1,000 word limit, per usual.
Below some more info on the play, and perhaps some stimulation.
Steppling's "My Crummy Job" is the story of three discontented and disconnected people who come together and talk during their breaks from their low paying, dead-end jobs. Ike, a shoe salesman who has knocked around the country in various low-end sales jobs, enjoys confiding in Paige, a young, divorced waitress.
Paige has become involved with Junior, an angry man who works with Ike. Here, referring to her ex-husband, Deak, Paige talks about driving past the homes of the wealthy in Brentwood.
PAIGE: Deak used to say, "Bite the scorpion," you know -- if you're gonna get down -- you "bite the scorpion" -- you don't just talk -- talk is cheap. Conversation, there is nothing cheaper than conversation.
(Pause. Paige looks at him, then turns away.)
I just want to pay the rent. Simple things. I'd like to just know the rent will be there. (Pause.) If you work, that things will get better. That's all, that's all. (Pause.) You ever drive through Beverly Hills, Brentwood, and wonder where did all these people get money -- how did they all get so much money? There's a LOT of nice houses we're talking about. A lot. (END of monologue)
So there you have it. I will find more provocative items to prod you in your Crummy Job tales -- can't wait to get your submissions. Use same guidelines as contests before. Check previous contests over on Pick-Of-The-Litter and peruse other winners. Maybe you will get posted too!
MUSIC!: So that cool Brit musician (who at fifty's snagged a 19-yr.old gal, bless him) Dave Dale, whom I mentioned ages ago in an earlier update -- finished his wild new CD, "Heads or Tales" by Audiomatic -- and there's a track featuring Yours Truly if you want to check it out. It falls under the category Experimental/Post Rock (?!) and has instrumental/spoken word. He lured me down into Colin Hay's (of Men At Work fame) studio, plastered these monster headphones on my ears, told me to just wing it and read, so I did, trying to imagine an audience there, minus their undies of course -- and I read from a nasty little piece called "Bangluck" which was not in GO WEST...but did appear in The Ohio Review #55 -- and then after I winged it -- Dave futzed around with the recording for months, chopping up my words and sentences just like the Asiatic chop-chop I referred to in the piece -- and spliced them together with his trippy music, added Cecilia Noel (of rockin' band Cecilia Noel & The Wild Clams) vocals to background and, presto! I contributed to my first recorded music! Just go to www.mp3.com and put in AUDIOMATIC, then scroll down to find "Pressure Suit" -- that's the track I'm on. Let me know what you think!
LA TIMES PIC & THE MYSTERY MAN IN PSYCHEDELIC WOODBLOCK PRINT: I have two winners!!! Announcement coming shortly.
POLITICAL DIGRESSION: to come --
UPCOMING EVENTS: Tonite, Friday June 1st, the annual UCLA Publication Party on 3rd Street Promenade, including instructors Lou Mathews, Aimee Bender, me, Michael Datcher, and others (twenty total!). And on June 15th another hot reading at Track 16 Gallery at Bergamot Station. Click on Calendar to get more info!
Friday, June 1, 2001
To come: Recounting of recent "Evening of Firsts" wildass reading over at Track 16 Gallery with Jerry Stahl, Anne Heche, Aimee Bender, Bernard Cooper, Joe Donnelly, Arty Nelson, and yours truly -- I heard a mention of it might appear in a forthcoming column one LA Times story about Track 16, with possible mention of Anne Heche digging on my reading (which was also an excerpt from the book-in-progress called, for that evening, "My First Thai Whore".) Also, My Dinner With Karen Black. (True! True! Those fantastic crossed eyes mine for a whole dinner! Those ballistic fake lashes!) Visions of Topanga Days and Topanga May Day. Upcoming course A Touch of Evil: Writing Unflinching Fiction at UCLA Extension in fall. Progress on the book -- tentatively titled EDUCATION OF A CUNT. Upcoming private workshops. Publication of an excerpt in forthcoming BEST WOMEN'S BISEXUAL EROTIC anthology (Cleis Press) along with standout San Francisco poet Jan Richman whose BECAUSE THE BRAIN CAN BE TALKED IN TO ANYTHING was chosen by Robert Pinsky for a national poetry publication prize, and local writers including Shawna Kenney (I WAS A TEENAGE DOMINATRIX). Forthcoming eatery write-ups in HUNGRY? 2 (Really Great Books) end of July. And plenny more!!! So stay cyber-tuned.
Click to get back issues of updates -- more gossip, ranting!
April/May 2001: Second Pick-of-the-Litter Winners! plus Snap and trash from Tin House bash
December/January 2001: Happy Kwanzaa Send-Off, Holidazing
November 2000 Update: Seven Deadly Sins Contest! Plus Bonus Political Rant
June 2000 Update: Hell's Angels, Rocking the Tin House, and More!
February 2000 Update: My Bloody Valentine