Whatever I once had as a writer appears irretrievably lost. Maybe it was all an illusion. Regardless, everyone I grew up with and everyone I met when I was younger and first considering what it meant to write has given art up. They all appear happier after doing so.

I’m tired of toiling alone. I’m tired of being the invisible man. It’s time for television and happy hour. It’s time to figure out what to do "after." The path I’ve been on has brought me nothing but loneliness and disconnection from other writers and other people. I fit into no group. The only people I feel a connection to prefer someone else. One from the past who moved on and away, one from the present who continues to choose an admittedly loveless relationship.  So be it.

I’m not in danger. Something in my head has always been broken. I’m just finally accepting it and moving on.

• Can You Become a Creature of New Habits? - New York Times

• The Gazebo: Call for Submissions — Opportunities abound– a forum

• Birthdays of Poets — An interesting blog *and* a useful reference resource in one.

• Poets, put up your fists and fight — A writers’ spat is not the sole preserve of the big names - the most exciting and vicious scraps are to be found in the poetry blogosphere

No one will ever talk me out of my love for the Big American triad of Faulkner, Fitzgerald and (yes) Hemingway. By now I’ve probably heard all the criticisms and they are irrelevant in the face of the work itself.

Anyway, anyone who has spent much time with either of the latter two will have come across the remarkable scholarship of Matthew Bruccoli, who died a few days ago.  When it came to Fitzgerald, Bruccoli had no equal… and his writing about Hemingway was very influential on my thinking as well. He was also– and I didn’t know this until today despite using it all my life– a founder of the Dictionary of Literary Biography.

An amazing scholar and, by all accounts, a generous man. I wish I’d written him a note of thanks while he was still alive.

mmmm, simple and tasty. Just ordered a set– and a few of the others.

• Thou May’st in Me Behold » Linebreak — David’s on a roll!

• DFW Motivational Poster Comp — A contest for David Foster Wallace inspired motivational posters… make yours today!

Remove Garfield from the picture (literally) and you turn a bland comic into one that is strange, delusional, desperate, lonely, and often hilarious.

Kudos to Jon Davis, creator of Garfield, for being cool with the idea and saying so.

[subconscious linktribution: CogDogBlog]

Some photographers

have just got

the eye. Kenny Weng is one.

Check out more from his wide variety of photographs… these little bite-sized versions don’t do them justice.

• SeeqPod Playable Search — Very cool online music search, discover, play. via Brian Lamb (of course!)

• Art History Tote Bag — The ultimate in concision and precision…