OK folks...

...I'm making the move. I've given into the the hip-side. I am moving to Tumblr. This move has a simple explanation: I don't have the time to blog, and while, I still want to, my time/attention span has shortened. So, Tumblr, because of its short-form vibe, allows me to keep blogging. HOWEVER, if I want to do some longer blogs, I will use this blog and link it from Tumblr.

Oh, and this is my author page as well...you'll see when you see it.

So, check out my Tumblr, follow me, and I'll see you over there.

Later dudes and dudettes,

Joshua

It's Friday Night

I started reading Drop City. I'm still on Chapter 2. I'd rather watch TV sometimes.

Also, I'm grading papers. Why do students refuse to listen to advice. I basically told them how to get an A. I walked them through proper citation sandwiches (thanks Hellsea), wrote them a pseudo introduction of my own about a fake paper focusing on Mexican Cinema (that made me want to actually write the paper), and gave notes on two drafts before their final, yet, many of them didn't even follow my notes. Some of them turned in the same draft three times!! UGH. AND HALF MY CLASS (80% of my Wednesday class) didn't even meet the page requirement. Fucking Kids/Adults. There was one kid who turned in a 14 page paper. He rocked. Though, it was hard to reign him in. He cared so much about the issue, I constantly had to remind him to step back and look at his arguments objectively. Many papers, though, we enjoyable to read, so that's something.

My Dad turns 50 on St. Paddy's Day. I remember when he turned 30. His church folk threw him a surprise party, and kept calling him "Mike Old." I could tell he didn't like many of those people, but he shined it on for as long as he could. This is to you, Dad: "Happy 50th, Mike Old."

I'm watching Criminal Minds, and Em and Sir-Smells-A-Lot are in bed. We just had our friends Barry and Valari over. They are old friends of mine from back in my early twenties. Barry is a musician (he's scored all of our films) and we've been helping with, watching him, and listening to him and his music for years. The guy is brilliant. His latest venture (besides video game, commercial, and film scoring) is his rock-psych-rag time band, Brother Bear. They played their first show a couple weeks back. I've been listening to different versions of these Brother Bear songs for a long time, and tonight he gave me a CD with new "finished" tracks. This project is a story about a town called Wretched Knob. Basically, it's a book (in the style of Edward Gorey) with rhyming prose focusing on certain characters in this town. Each character has a song and a story, and they all meet somewhere in the grand scheme of things. I wish that I could print and release the project (I've been editing and helping Barry with it for many years now). Right now he's working on the art-work, and recording the music. I'm excited to listen to the tunes in the morning, and excited to see what kind of artist he gets to do the work.

Tonight, we just ate Indian Food, watched Pirate Radio and The Wedding Singer and talked about life, the past, new shit, music, and films. I gave Barry a copy of The Dream Songs by John Berryman, a copy of 24 Hour Party People, Quiet City, and Buffalo '66. He had already scene Mutual Appreciation and Puffy Chair (which he hated...HA, the least fav Mumblecore film!), and when I said, "Ah, you've seen Mumblecore films." He was like, "Mumble-what?" And had to explain it--the short version. Em said, "Movies about Emo Kids, who like to whine about girls and boredom." Someone I don't know once posted a line about Mumblecore that went something like, "Mumblecore: Rich Kids complaining about being bored." Or something like that. I think I'm gonna watch a couple of those films coming up, when I get some time.

Chas and I have been emailing about our project. I've been writing a lot more. And I made some rules for the project. I'll post them when I actually type them up. Oh, we're also doing footnotes in our collection. I'm STOKED.

OK. Back to Criminal Minds. But I'll leave you with a picture:

He's saying, "Come Visit Me Fools!" He's mainly speaking to Chelsea and Matt, though the rest of you are also included.

LOOK AT HOW CHUnKY HE IS!!

Albums

Everyone know that in high school I discovered Jeremy Enigk and Sunny Day Real Estate. I don't know how many days in a row I listen to Diary, but I can tell you that the only time I don't remember listening to it was when I was listening to Built to Spill's There's Nothing Wrong with Love, or the (now sadly disappointingly) first Pedro the Lion record Whole EP. I also remember driving to early morning runs for Cross Country listening to Mineral as a Senior. I'm pretty sure I got a month's worth out of Diary. OK. Though that record was my go-to for years, the first thing I heard Enigk ever sing was Return of the Frog Queen. If you haven't heard this record, YOU NEED TO. It's probably one of the best solo records to come out of the 90s. I"M NOT KIDDING. So, years passed, SDRE broke up, (then Enigk released Frog Queen), then they got back together and recorded How It Feels to Be Something On (which was totally different, but amazing), then they put out a shit record, then Dan Horner recorded an Dashboard EP, then The Fire Theft came (which was pretty awesome, but just not the same), then Enigk started actaully making solo records again.

Segue-way. Enigk had a solo song he used to play while SDRE was still together, whenever he played solo shows, called "Asleep Under Last Week's News" and he didn't record it till like 2006 or 07. It was a limited EP release that I never got my hands on. Another Segue-way. I saw Enigk play a show in Mountlake Terrace (that's right, Terrace represent!) with Damien Jurado and Paul Mumaw. He played that song, three Sunny Day songs, songs from Frog Queen, and a bunch of others I've never heard (that ended up on the limited EP). Probably one of the coolest shows I've been to. Intimate, quite. We all sat on the floor while he played.

OK. back to what I was talking about. After my disappointed with SDRE's latest work, and a disappointing first listen to The World Waits, I stopped listening. His sound had mutated into something kind of boring and "meh." But I just got my hands on his latest release: OK Bear. It's fantastic. It's simple, and while it sounds like newer Enigk, there are brushstrokes of the old, and pepperings of newness I haven't heard from him. I read somewhere (But can't remember where) that he wrote the songs, handed them over to the musicians and let them arrange, revise, and jam with. Then they recorded it. It feels very organic in many ways, yet very subdued, while still full of energy. Its simplicity is was struck me. He isn't trying too hard. He's just playing songs (or his band is and he's singing). I think he went back to his roots a little and made something stripped down and old fashioned. It's a great little record and I recommend picking it up, or streaming a couple songs and giving it a gander.

*

Other "YESes"

Gaslight Anthem - American Slang

Bright Eyes - The People's Keys (really good, really different, yet still BE)

Lemura - The new one?

Bishop Allen - S/t (the singer is in mumblecore flicks!)

The Head and the Heart - The Head and the Heart

The New Pornographers - Twin Cinemas

Some "OK, not bad, moments of awesome."

The Hold Steady - Stay Positive

Fences - Fences

Rejections and Acceptences

I've been receiving a few rejections alongside a few acceptances. The rejections are getting steadily nicer, some even downright complimentary, and all of them always want more.

It's nice after years of "Thank you for submitting to SO&SO. But your submission isn't right for us." So, now even though I receive a rejection, many times, their notes tell me exactly what I need to submit next time (or an idea). Sometimes, they're basically saying, this is good, but it didn't quite knock our socks off, though parts did, so keep throwing your stuff our way and eventually we may find something we like. My submissions become feelers. And I think I'm starting to get a grasp on the kinds of poems/stories I am writing, and what certain kind of journals like.

Assignment idea (this would be an ongoing thing every couple weeks). Read a journal. Compose a piece that would fit with the journals taste. Submit what you write. Examples: Mud Luscious, Poetry, kill author, Ninth Letter, Pank. Not all journals have anything in mind, but they publish what strikes them. Kill Author publishes things that make their jaws drop or kick them in the gut, or both. I can't remember the quote with the editors, but it was pretty cool. Anyway. That's the assignment. Learn your markets. So many of us (ME) just submit to anything that sounds good...read a poem or two...part of a story...submit. Everything is scattered shot. Sure I know what goes to Ninth Letter, Puerto del Sol, Jeopardy (just kidding), all has to fit with that I think they publish (though I'm unsuccessful so far...except for Jeopardy). But it's a long process. I think that's one thing I'll tell my students one day. Submit till you drop, but know your journals. Sure, there is always scatter-shot, but that's how you learn.

Here are some examples of nice rejection letters:

Thank you for sending us “Afterwards”. We appreciate the chance to read it. We regret that we must decline it for the anthology, however.

This is nicely observed and feels more meaningful than its content, which is good. My issues resolve around the use of “false” mystery to sustain tension and the lack of traditional story elements. My reading notes, in case they help, are at http://wp.me/pBZsd-jU Story 117. It's a good story, just not for us, I'm afraid.

We would certainly consider other stories from you.

Thanks again. Best of luck with this.

(Triangulation)

Dear Joshua Young,

Thank you for sending us “A Woman Under Ice.” We appreciate the chance to read it. Unfortunately, the piece is not for us.Our editors like the eerie quality of the woman who emerges from the ice and her dialogue. We like the mysteriousness of never quite finding out what she is and why she is so disconnected to the city. We like the mysteriousness because it keeps us from asking logical questions about her being human and able to breath underwater. Her explananation, (true, anybody could drown, but not me), has a confident delivery, but we're not sure if it's enough to keep our questions at bay. The writing is clean and casual feeling,but could stand to be a little sharper.

Thanks again. Best of luck with this. Please try us again next year.

(Ghost Town)

Dark Sky loves you and wants you to keep trying, but this submission wasn't quite us.

All the best, and good luck taking over the world.

(Dark Sky Magazine)

Joshua:

This one's not right for us, but I certainly enjoyed reading it. Thanks for the look.

(Johnny America)

Dear Mr. Young,

Thank you for sending us “We Came from Railroad Men and Shadows”. We appreciate the chance to read your work. There were many things we liked about it. In particular, we thought your sentences were crisp and interesting. The lyric poem format worked well. What didn't work for us, though, was the ending. We weren't sure what to take away from it. There is an expectation of the unexpected that isn't fulfilled. We know about your family now, but what else? If you would like to revise and resubmit, we would be happy to look at it again.

Best of luck with this.

(Beechers)

Joshua:

Thanks for sending this our way, but we are going to pass. You're getting closer though, so please keep us in mind for others. You may want to try this one at PANK or Smokelong.

(Mud Luscious)

Dear Joshua Young,

Thank you for sending these poems. We appreciate the chance to read them. Unfortunately, they're not the right fit for us, but I enjoyed the energy of the voice. Please feel free to send more work in the future.

Thanks again.

Sincerely,

Mike Young (yeah, Ian, yeah)

(NOÖ Journal)

Dear Joshua,

Thanks for sending “How We Started Bumping” for LITnIMAGE's consideration.

We've decided to pass on this one, but I really liked the style and tone of the piece, as well as some of the details--for instance, the items given to Micah after his parents were killed. But the story seemed a bit unfinished, as though it were an excerpt rather a complete narrative in and of itself.

In any case, I'd enjoy seeing more of your work and invite you to submit again anytime.

(LITnIMAGE)

OK. I didn't post these to brag (even though, Em insists that this is what I'm doing...). I posted these because many of them provided details that I can use. If I don't use them for my stories that they are referring to, at least I know, what kind of stuff they don't like. The point is (going back to the assignment) that I after I get this, I continue to read the journal, then I resubmit with what I've learned in mind.

God, two years ago (hell, maybe a year ago), I would've shit a brick for reading that editors like my stuff but not enough. If you like it publish it bitches! But this is good. I like rejections of this kind--sure a pub would be better--because I know where to go from there. Even form rejections, I use to my betterment. If they don't like my aggressive shit, I send more personal shit, and sometimes, I'll go from a form letter to a personal one (New Madrid is one example--they hated my personal stuff, but enjoyed by prosey stuff).

Anyway, there's my blog.

Wait, no, I have so much new music on my ipod...but I'll blog about that soon. I promise.

Love and Vegan Cupcakes,

J.