POETRY WEDNESDAY: Traditional. I tried making it look all Spanish-y with accent marks and upside-down exclamation points, but for some reason they were all mangled except the accents over the “e”s. Sorry about that…. Anyway, this is a fitting song for the first day of October. Salias del templo un dia, Llorona, cuando al pasar yo vi, Salias del templo un dia, Llorona, cuando al pasar yo vi. Hermoso huipil llevabas, Llorona, que la Virgen te crei, Hermoso huipil llevabas,... Read more

BOND GIRL NAME GENERATOR. Via Dave Tepper. Read more

TOMORROW: I’ve got quite a bit to say, but no time to say it in. Tomorrow after four I should have time to post; expect a review of Founding Brothers, mad same-sex marriage stuff, and the end of “What You Can Do for Your Country.” Read more

NATURE IS A LANGUAGE, CAN’T ANYBODY READ? Second-to-last part of “What You Can Do for Your Country.” Last part will be posted Wednesday-ish. You can read the whole thing in order here or just get the latest chapter here. As usual, I am really sorry about how awful that page looks. Try to go all ascetic and “the beauty of this world means nothing to me!”-ish. Well no, don’t; but still, try to ignore my hideous fiction-blog template. I’ll fix... Read more

YOU WOULDN’T RECOGNIZE A CUNNING PLOT IF IT PAINTED ITSELF BLUE AND DANCED ON THE TABLE SINGING “CUNNING PLOTS ARE HERE AGAIN!” Hilarious what-not-to-do “Batman” takedown by Sean Collins. Plot-oriented writers should read this one. In other comicsy news, that Lying in the Gutters link below has “New X-Men” rumors that intrigue me. Scott Summers is by far my favorite X-character, and I got into NXM in large part because so far Grant Morrison has totally had Scott’s number but... Read more

DEATH AND THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER. Characteristically powerful post from Dappled Things. This (death) will be the subject of the next short story I blog. I’m not sure which one it will be–there are two I’m choosing between–but both of them are about a) mortality and b) death. (Not quite the same things–a condition and an experience.) I would say I don’t know why this subject came up twice in the stuff I’ve been working on lately, except that I kind... Read more

ARE YOU IN OR NEAR TAMPA, FLORIDA? Have you got bones? (Like, your own?) Via Lying in the Gutters, ultimately via Journalista!: “A young child needs bone marrow transplant urgently, and it’s been very difficult to find a match. … “Maybe you can help. The full press release is reprinted below. Find out more about the crisis at www.fbsblood.org. E-mail Tony at [email protected]. And if you’re in the area, there’s a drive for marrow donors scheduled for Tuesday the 30th... Read more

I SHOULD READ THE FREE COPIES OF THE WASHINGTON POST LYING AROUND IN THE COFFEESHOP MORE OFTEN. Those “Iraqis want to love us and hug us and squeeze us and name us George” polls aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. And North Carolina is paying reparations to the “unfit” people sterilized at the command of the state up through the 1970s. Read more

Blogwatch on the streets of London, Blogwatch on the streets of Humberside… Riverbend Blog: Anybody got more info on this?: “This media free-for-all [in Iraq] lasted for about two months. Then, some newspapers were ‘warned’ that some of their political content was unacceptable- especially when discussing occupation forces. One or two papers were actually shut down, while others were made to retract some of what they had written. The news channels followed suit. The CPA came out with a list... Read more

“WHAT IF THERE IS SOMETHING GOING ON IN THERE?”: “Daniel Rios is 24 years old, with wavy black hair, a thick mustache and a glassy stare that seems to look both at you and through you. One day almost four years ago, while he was taking a shower, a blood vessel ruptured in his brain, and he collapsed on the bathroom floor. After emergency surgery, he lay in a coma for three weeks. When he finally opened his eyes, he... Read more