Stephen Paul Martin "Changing the Subject"

This is an interesting concept for a group of short stories: somewhere in each one of them Martin buries the line "changing the subject." The contexts vary, but in each story they appear.

As usual, these Martin stories are hilarious, philosophically rich, absorbing, and just plain fun. As he contineues in his career, it seems to me, Martin is developing the ability to make his philosophically complex stories more and more accessible (and that's a compliment). He has created quite an oeuvre of books like this, and a selected stories by him would be an absolute killer. He is at the forefront of American storytellers.

Pat MacDonald's "Purgatory Hill"

If you have  any interest in the following buy this album: americana, Captain Beefheart, Hound Dog Taylor, Howling Wolf. He uses this new, primitive sounding instrument in which you slide down on two thick dowels, with two strings a piece on each. See a picture of it here. He also plays his lonely harmonica.

MacDonald is best known for his hilarious mid-80s  anti-nuclear hit "The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades"with the group he led, Timbuk 3.

Going to Have to Take a Break

I've taken a job working writing for a couple SEO, so I won't have a lot of energy for the blog until I get habituated to writing stuff like "What is the Best Bike for Teenagers." It wears you out. I always wanted to get paid to write, but I never pictured that it would be like this (moment of bitterness.)  I will try to continue the blog with little entries, then go back to longer ones when I get acclimated to my new job.

Louis Armstrong and His Typewriter

Fascinating post over at the Blood and Gutstein blog: Daniel Gutstein is doing an analysis of Louis Armstrong's unique punctuation  in his letters, found in Louis Armstrong in His Own Words: Selected Writings (Oxford UP, 2001). To me, at least, Gutstein's analysis clearly shows that Armstrong is a poet with a unique take on the language. Check it out.