Plots and Oaths

What is the proper way for an essay to begin? What if it’s short, without sources, and on a blog? What if it has a lede? Clement Greenberg was an art critic and thinker working in the Unites States in the middle twentieth century, and I bring his name up because of the idea he [...]

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Nick Demske by Nick Demske My rating: 5 of 5 stars Fantastic exploration of the profane, abject, and vulgar via forced sonnets that feel rather like a corpse being stuffed back into a live body. One of the best displays of the excising of language, based on language cliches, ephemera (advertising, phone messages, etc), and [...]

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I was hoping to do a post about some recent conversations I’ve had about the curatorial work our contemporary condition requires of us, and I hope to do that, perhaps next, but this other issue has been frequenting my lunches with Jay, and I feel closest to them now and would like to share a [...]

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Popping in after awhile for a short review: Chronic: Poems by D.A. Powell My rating: 3 of 5 stars I really wanted to like this, and I did at first. His talent is irrefutable, and when I felt him in more designy shoes, as in the more formalist poems in the opening pages, I connected [...]

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So I have been working out this poem, which is part of a series of lyrics, where the speaker’s central concern is a desire to become a monster. It’s slightly off territory for me, not so much that it is macabre or sci-fi or anything like that, but that the speaker must, in order to [...]

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Hello hello! I know–totally cliche, this absence. But listen, promises are like water; and many things have been happening out there among the parked cars and trees and things. I hope this still finds you, in whatever place you are. Let me tell you, I got married. Twas lovely and deep and long, and I’ve [...]

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Alright, let’s talk about Lost. Like you, friend, I’m in the shit deep, and while I’ve hitherto forgone any mention of this television show here at P&O, I’ve good reason these days and wanted to engage you with a few brief questions. This largely comes on the heels of David Foster Wallace’s very excellent essay, [...]

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So are you guys sick of decade reviews? Yeah, me too. But suck it up! Put on some Radiohead and switch out your Vans for a pair of New Balances, cause this ride ain’t over. Don’t expect any lists here, no best bands or great assassinations, best George Clooney movies. Leave that to the professionals. [...]

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Darlings! I suppose I never really said I wouldn’t post more than once a week, but I’m trying to take care of a few things and wanted to let you know about stuff that’s happening. 1. Check out the blogroll. I’m going to be adding a number of things there shortly. 2. Got poems in [...]

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O I have so many things to tell you since we were apart, and most of them have to do with it getting dark out earlier and how incredibly unprepared I feel for this holiday season. Can we just skip this year? It seems the older I get the less enthusiastic I am for these [...]

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