August 2010
1 post
In front of Unnameable Books
On my rush hour bike ride from midtown east to Bed Stuy to Boerum Hill I listened to Fresh Air about the Koch brothers, a review of the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and a zencast about our 5 capacities: Mindfulness, Faith, Discernment, Effort, and something else. I passed community gardens in full bloom, terriers being lifted by their leashes, and a sedan’s sideview mirror hit my left...
February 2010
3 posts
Found in free bin at internship
TOO MUCH MEMORY by Keith Reddin and Meg Gibson (a play)
I intended to mail it straightaway to a recently rediscovered old friend, an actor, but read it first. Actually, I still haven’t sent it. I wrote an email detailing my experience with the 40 pages of dramatic literature.
Are books in a “free bin” at a (basically) unpaid internship free? That’s a tough call.
hey...
December 2009
1 post
Found in Bushwick Public Library
On Saturday, Misha and I visited Princeton, New Jersey, home to a well regarded bookstore: Labyrinth. On the remainders table were two copies of The Collected Stories of Leonard Michaels for $7.98. Coincidentally, I had a copy waiting for me at the library, but it’s such a big book and of such valuable content that I thought I might just want to have it permanently. In the end, I opted not...
November 2009
7 posts
Found in Boulevard Cafe
“Wintering” by Anastasia Kolendo is about a Ukrainian high schooler who goes to live with her grandfather in the Ural mountains. She befriends a goose who she calls Derrida and a boy named Nikifor.
My knowledge of WW2 history was refreshed. The cranky Grandpa says,
“You little snot! I marched two thousand kilometers to Moscow and then another two thousand to Berlin for you....
1 tag
Found in Sylvia by Michaels
on reading the newspaper in his parents’ apartment after dropping out of a PhD program:
“There were really no large meanings, only cries of the phenomena. I read assiduously. I kept in touch with my species.” “Our room, just off the kitchen, was noisy with refrigerator traffic and running water.”
1 tag
Stolen at Jefferson Market Regional Branch of NYPL
Line 2 of page 2 of Diane Johnson’s introduction to this slim book gives away the ending, robbing me of surprise. Something was stolen from me, not the library.
2 tags
Found in Cafe Orwell
BASHO
Even in Kyoto Hearing the cukoos cry I long for Kyoto
A snowy morning by myself, chewing on dried salmon
A group of them gazing at the moon not one face beautiful
They don’t live long though you’d never know it the cicadas cry
There is now a bookshelf of books (DON’T TAKE THESE it says) and they have a copy of The Essential Haiku.
Found on bench at Bedford L Platform Wednesday...
We met Das Racist.
Found in Greenpoint in a trash bag next to a man...
Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages by Anne Mendelson (worth $15.99)
Reviewed by Misha.
Clam Chowder prepared by Misha and Sam.
Tasted by Misha and Sam.
It’s a great short history of the peoples of the world’s relationship with milk from the prehistoric nomadic and agrarian cultures to the industrialized present. While Mendelson is certainly critical of the modern...
Found on Bushwick last week at Night
Misha found SIX MORAL TALES by Eric Rohmer (English translation, 1980) in a pile of booty coming home at night near Millenium Mart. Someone must have been cleaning house, having just acquired a new title and finally decided to clear out the shit they never look at anymore.
The best of the batch is this book, which are the bases of Rohmer’s movies. It is out of print, and worth $15!
So...
October 2009
1 post
San Francisco Alcoholics Anonymous
Approximately 3 single spaced pages “about me [Tao Lin]” will get me a book, which is valued at 10 dollars on Amazon. If I write this in less than an hour, I have exceeded my average rate of revenue of 10 dollars per hour. Once I receive the novella, I will read it (after which I might not be inclined to write about it or Lin ever again) in the course of a couple hours, which will not be...