All I Want Is Everything

Required Reading. One of the poems in one of the collections I am working on in my dissertation (assuming the dissertation becomes something real and not another failed project, for if I collect anything at all it is failed projects and this one is starting to seem like it may be another piece for my collection) is “The Heart” by Souvankham Thammavongsa, from Found. This poem is particularly striking. I don’t know what to do with it yet, but it resonates with me. I’ve tried to replicate it here as best I can, but you should really pick up the book itself. It’s beautiful.   THE HEART,   the real   heart,…

Required Reading. McSweeney’s is so frequently spot on with their content, and this piece is no exception. I cannot quite explain how accurate I find this article. And I so enjoy the names for the various panic attacks. Broti Gupta’s “My Panic Attacks: A Performance Review“. WORK PRODUCT In Q1, Broti’s panic attacks were timely, well-organized, and produced outstanding work, including Making Broti Cry During a Charmin Commercial and Broti Asking a FedEx Employee If He Was Mad at Her. After Zoloft was brought on there were a few bumps in the road (Broti Breathes Deeply and Counts to Ten, and Broti Chooses Not to Eat the Cheez-Its She Found in Bed), but recently the drug has been…

Required Reading. I came across this story a few weeks ago. It’s quiet and heartbreaking and powerful. “Winter of Departures” by Susanna Kwan. Recently, at a neighbor’s memorial, I saw a young man in uniform press a button inside the barrel of his bugle, his white gloves bright against the polished yellow metal, before bringing the instrument to his lips and filling the cemetery with the sound of “Taps.” During the minute the song played, the muscles in his cheeks and neck did not move. No one else seemed to notice it was a recording. Another man in uniform presented the family with a flag folded into a soft-cornered triangle…