don't suppose you can somehow work the very odd clothes-drying contraptions in your neighborhood into that. :-) Actually, they deserve their own damn column.

I have no idea yet how to describe that contraption. Think I must meditate on the subject.

I honestly can't think of anyway to improve on what you've written so far. I come away feeling that it hasn't gotten to the end, FWIW.

It hasn't. I hit a natural breaking point, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it, so I shared. I imagine the full product will be 2,000 to 4,000 words, which I'll probably shop as an essay. I then think it might be the introduction to a larger work. We'll see.

I was looking through some old poetry the other night, back from the early 80s. It's all still true, but I know so much more about writing now than I did then. I can't think of any way to polish it without losing the feel. And putting that much post-adolescent, possibly-pretentious writerly stuff out in public makes me more anxious than posting my first smut.

And putting that much post-adolescent, possibly-pretentious writerly stuff out in public makes me more anxious than posting my first smut.

If it's any consolation, I get that feeling when I see a copy of my first book, or even the "Selected Early Poems" that came out a couple years ago. Just can't even read it, and it horrifies me that it's still in print.

Still in print means there's still interest, right? That's not enough to overwhelm the cringing "what was I thinking?" feeling? Damn. Or is it "I could do that so much better now, really!"

Still in print means there's still interest, right? That's not enough to overwhelm the cringing "what was I thinking?" feeling? Damn. Or is it "I could do that so much better now, really!"

"Still in Print" in this case means the publisher hasn't run out of the third edition yet. I know it sells once in awhile, and I think I only have a couple copies of it left myself. I have no idea if the publisher would even consider printing more in the future, without some weird upswell of demand. Like if I were on Oprah or something.

I self-published my last chapbook, "Invisible Ghetto," and I think it's ten times better than anything I did previously. I'm also still fond of the book "Inevitable Press" published for me a few years back, but it is long gone.

Third edition. Did you get shivers up your spine when they went to a third edition? I got some vicarious thrills in your honor.

Truth to tell, I didn't find out until much later, so it was kind of like, "Oh. Really. Cool.". I also toured pretty extensively for that book, so I think I may have personally met everyone who bought it. It did well in Claifornia, New England and the Southwest, where I toured the most, and I know from the publisher that some copies were shipped out to New York and the UK, where I've also spent a good deal of time.

From time to time, I try to keep up on what's still out there of each book. As far I can tell, it's something like:

• Stale Cigarettes & Guiness (1994, Intuit Press) GONE.
• The Price of Getting What You Want... (1995, Inevitable Press) Evidently available on (sorry BHP!) Amazon Used and at a couple bookstores in Arizona. Maybe at Beyond Baroque in Venice, CA and Midnight Special, in Santa Monica.
• Upstart (1997, Doublebunny Presss) GONE
• God's Country (1998, Inevitable Press) GONE, unless there's one or kicking around Beyond Baroque. Have also heard there's some in the Barnes & Noble & Borders Systems, but I've never seen real proof of this.
• Cancer (1999, self-published, limited edition) GONE.
• Learning to Speak: Selected Early Poems (1999, FarStarFire Press) Still pretty available.
• Invisible Ghetto (2001, Self-Published) Still abvailable from the author, and maybe at Beyond Baroque.

In point of fact, you can't get TPoGWYW on Amazon.

You can, however, find it on MXBF.

[link]

Wow. I'm down to $3.50! That USED to retail for $5!

Of course, it's the slimmest chapbook I've put out. It's only a handful of poems. Kind of cool that you can still get it. I'd have problems turning up a copy, although I'm sure I've got one in a box somewhere.

EDIT: BHP, I am completely in love with this site.

Victor, love the new tag!