My trip to Chicago was pretty wild. Most of the birds are on the ground there, and the fat people are impossibly so. Rather than prattle on about every detail though I’ll only mention a few highlights. Nick lost his hair drunk. Myopic Books is one of the finer bookstores I’ve ever entered. Deep dish pizza kind of sucks. Goodmaster is hilarious. The architecture is awesome. I would never live there for fear of a -10 winter day. I am from California.

It’s been hard to find time to read or write of late (especially last month in the wake of a thousand visitors), but stealing away moments in transit have allowed me to put away some shorter reads aside my slow plod through The Rosy Crucifixion, which I really only crack during rare spells home alone.

HUNGER- Is a masterpiece of fiction. I’ll admit that I’m a total sucker for humiliating tales of the downtrodden, but seriously, this is one of the best. Scarier and more psychological than most.

THE HOT BREATH OF WAR- I met the author of this comic at a Denny’s in Santa Rosa back in ‘02. We talked comic for a minute and he gave me a zine. Over the years I’ve periodically ‘rediscovered’ him (I believe I mention him in an earlier post) by stumbling across his work somewhere. I found this book in Chicago and I have to say that I think it’s the best piece he’s put out to date. Surreal themes of war and social interaction.

BIG HANDS #7- Big Hands is one of those zines that I read and think “man, I could do this.” The thing is is that I don’t (that is to say, at least not with any regularity) so I pick up Big Hands instead. It’s a great short travel read, and I have to agree with a lot of his opinions on American commodity. Also he lives in a part of the country that I want to visit, so I take what I can get.

More messes to come. Hope to finish another zine before Keiko gets sent back to Japan (two months left – sad?). Remind me to develop my film, pick up my pens and sit down at the keyboard a bit more often.

Top to bottom:
- A bird, Chicago IL.
- Nick’s haircut and my reaction.
- Myopic Books, Chicago IL.
- A lesbian couple that kept making out in front of me at the most recent Vitamin Piss Show (only when I would put my camera down of course).
- Me lounging on Arguello (AeRi took it).