Heads Up! (pun intended). Warning: Sexual Content

An AOA cautionary tale:     For his 75th birthday, a man received a gift certificate from his wife. The certificate paid for a visit to a shaman living on a nearby reservation who was rumored to have a wonderful cure for erectile dysfunction.     He drove to the reservation, handed his certificate to the medicine man and wondered what he was in for.     The old shaman slowly, methodically produced a potion, handed it to him, and with a grip on his shoulder, warned, "This is powerful medicine and it must be respected. You take only a teaspoonful and then say '1-2-3'. When you do that, you will become more manly than you have ever been in your life and you can perform as long as you want."     The man was encouraged.   As he walked away, he turned and asked,  "How do I stop the medicine from working?"     "Your partner must say: '1-2-3-4', but when she does, the medicine will not work again until the next full moon."     The old gent was very eager to see if it worked, so he went home, showered, shaved, took a spoonful of the medicine and then invited his wife to join him in the bedroom. When she came in, he took off his clothes and said, "1-2-3!" Immediately, he was the manliest of men.     His wife, excited, began throwing off her clothes. Then she asked, "What was the 1-2-3 for?"   And that is why we should never end our sentences with a preposition: we could end up with a dangling participle. Thanks to CS.

 

Now I Choose?

So after all the late-night web browsing for author's sites, hypertext narratives, and online 'zines, not to mention the unnecessary forays to YouTube and facebook, I'm supposed to choose one online site or project I'd be interested in learning how to do. @#%*#*! How about: any of the good stuff?

Takes me back to my Jimi Hendrix days.

But honestly, there are two sites that I really love, even though they're almost polar opposites. One is Saul Wiliam's website, an incredible amalgam of poetry, art, music and video presented through a shuffling of opaque images that link viewers to one imaginative sight after another (along with the requisite Amazon link).

A Monson circuit

Another site where I can lose myself for an hour or two is Ander Monson's webpage. Monson's page is stark, with links to links to links, like a circuit diagram (you should read his awesome book Other Electricities to appreciate the idea behind the design). Even without the having read the book, the site will engage you. The links include poetry, essays, and some stuff that's just Ander Monson being Ander Monson. 


My dream project is to combine the two concepts into an artsy, link to link to link site of my writing and art and/or video and or music, from yet-to-be-determined sources, to create the "Cate Experience." Really, if I'm going to dream, I may as well dream big.

Are YOU experienced?

For the ADD among us

After many, many hours trolling the dregs of online literary magazines (and yes, they are often as overblown as the phrase "online literary magazines"), I stumbled upon this small jewel of a site. La Petite Zine has a crisp, modern look with an eclectic collection of short poetry and prose (1000 words or fewer). 

La Petite's format and content is especially well suited to an online publication. It's literary Twitter on steroids. I love the ability to read a well-written short (which takes me a few minutes) and then skip my overly-loaded brain on to another 1000 word gem. My ADD side is satisfied by the variety and wit available in one edition. Be sure to read the "Dear Readers" letter; it sets the tone for the magazine. 


Somehow, when I'm on line with La Petite Zine, I feel like a hipster (almost), if I could just pin down what that means... I feel a hipster cartoon in my blog future! 

He is the man I need to meet.

A Secret Surveillance

Camp Hulen, Texas, where the author began.

Revelations of a Secret Surveillance is a fictional history based on author Judy Malloy's family. This is not a choose-your-own adventure hypertext narrative. Rather, it is, as the author writes, "a hybrid of informational accretion and poetic fragmentation."


In other words, hypertext is used in a non-linear way that allows readers to follow a story that unfolds in eight "Cantos" while exploring Malloy's poetic tangents, for example: " butter sliced and spread on warm bread," or "looking at paintings."


Malloy uses hypertext to achieve a more sophisticated effect than the more common 'this way or that way' story. You are not led down dead-end paths; you are submersed in the written work. Try it, at least once.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics

A friend recommended this book by first-time novelist Marisha Pessl, and one look at her website hooked me. The main page is a detailed interactive drawing, with mystery music, where you click various items to open links about the author and her novel.

The site contains the usual author info, reviews, links to buy the book, and upcoming events, but you have to play on the site to find them. The best thing about the site is that it contains a slew of unusual tidbits that augment the printed novel. Click around and you'll find maps, notes, chapter titles, a cast of characters and more. Be sure to click on the Cliff Notes. And turn off the light to see who's watching you.


I love this website because it is not an author tribute, but a glimpse into Marisha Pessl's style and sense of humor. You want to buy the book because the author presents it as a fun and quirky read. It's not all about Marisha; it's about the writing. 

Cartoons!

Really, after this we'll leave crazy alone for a while.

bat-shit crazy

Okay, so this adding links thing is not going so well. If you want to know the etymology of bat-shit crazy, go to the NY Times health link on the right and type Disseminated Histoplasmosis in the Search box and you will end up at the proper place. The big thing is that this disease, caused by a fungus found in bat (and pigeon) shit can cause changes in mental status. Thus bat-shit crazy. Pigeon-shit crazy just doesn't have the same punch. I guess that's why it never caught on. Plus bats are much more scary than pigeons.