Category Archives: Uncategorized

I’m not much of an “urban explorer” these days–sure, I like finding things in the city, and even climbing around in abandoned industrial parks, etc., but urban areas feel increasingly familiar to me, so unless I’m in some bizarre foreign … Continue reading →

Dan Copenbarger is one of my oldest friends. We’ve known each other since sixth grade, during which I gave him the name “Booger,” by which he was widely known until his late teenage years. I have expressed my apologies many … Continue reading →

Dear Everybody, As you may have noticed, this blog is no longer being updated. Check out my new project, Room 220, an online source for all things book- and lit.-related in New Orleans, supported by the literary arts nonprofit Press … Continue reading →

I’ve launched a new blog along with photographer Akasha Rabut. It will document the blossoming of our new life in New Orleans. It’s called PEASANTS.

What follows is the third of a four-part series comprised of an essay I found interesting and two responses to it by my friends. This is the first response, by Lee Wharf, as he sent it to me in an … Continue reading →

On my first jaunt out into Cairo alone I made it relatively near to my destination after an only slightly awkward and opaque exchange with a cabbie. I didn’t really know where I was going, and wouldn’t have known exactly … Continue reading →

Total time spent on the Megabus between midnight Friday night and 10:30pm Sunday night: 20 hours Total time spent in Lawrence, Kan., during that same time: 25.5 hours My Megabus experience: great, save the theater dorks making noise next to … Continue reading →

For the second installment of my infrequently installed series of posts about things my friends are up to that I think are cool, I present to you a surreal video my friend Ben helped produce for VBS (Vice TV) about … Continue reading →

Dear Melinda J. Nevarez, The following is a letter of disclaimer I suggest you present to future guests to your home based on my experience of staying at your house last night. While I appreciate your hospitality immensely, something like … Continue reading →

The following originally appeared as part of a cross-promotion between STOP SMILING and Quimby’s Bookstore. Quimby’s Bookstore is a haven for the literate eclectic. Comic book enthusiasts and fiction aficionados feel equally at home among the scattered racks and tables … Continue reading →