Deborah Rose Reeves · Storify

Towel Day is Coming (Soon, not quite yet). Down boy.

Deborah Rose Reeves — Fri, 13 May 2011 00:44:16 GMT

Towel Day is May 25th. Not today. Not yesterday. And not for the rest of your life. May 25th. Don't panic.

Storified by Deborah Rose Reeves · Thu, Oct 27 2011 01:46:47

Towel Day 2011 · kylacovert

As news broke of the impending "Towel Day", the mood around the world was somber. But hopeful. Oblivious. And displaying a rigid observance of the rules of the holiday:

While it is sad that Douglas Adams died ten years ago today, it does mean that Towel Day is coming. On May 25th, carry a towel!
— szTheSquid · Wed, May 11 2011 07:53:01

@Wolven Ah. I was unaware of Towel Day until this moment. I am now terry-aware.
— Cigfran_Lwyd · Wed, May 11 2011 08:48:35

"And if you don't know the significance of the towel, you probably shouldn't be celebrating Towel Day." #towelday
— kryntree · Wed, May 11 2011 08:42:11

I personally got caught up in the countdown frenzy at T-13 days (jours, días, tage, whatevs - the whole universe is invited, huzzah!!!).

J-13 Avant le Towel day !
— GChristophe · Thu, May 12 2011 06:40:39

Buenos días. Faltan 14 días para Towel Day.
— Yggdrasil95 · Thu, May 12 2011 04:07:47

RT @bafh666: Nicht vergessen: Am 25.05. ist wieder "Towel Day" http://t.co/GWDDn6m #towelday #douglasadams #2505
— hgill · Thu, May 12 2011 04:07:15

13 days until Towel Day. Know where your towel is. It is the most infinitely useful thing a hitchhiker can possibly have.
— theoscman · Wed, May 11 2011 21:01:53

Um... isn't some other major event supposed to happen this month...?

I'll be pissed if the world ends on May 21st. I mean, come on! That's right before Towel Day!
— EasilyCrazyHat · Wed, May 11 2011 19:49:34

@hypocritter The world wouldn't dare end before towel day on the 25/5/11 anyway!
— grayhamjam · Wed, May 11 2011 22:10:32

Douglas Adams trendingreminds me that my final deadline is Towel Day, which also happens to be the Glorious 25th and the Miracle of Istanbul
— SpoonyBardEsq · Wed, May 11 2011 10:36:02

@aleatoire0 @Kid_P_ "Le jour du Towel Day coïncide avec le Geek Pride Day et le Universal Day of the Jedi." Ah bah ouais, forcement.
— Monsieurmeuble · Wed, May 11 2011 16:53:59

Wait... Are you sure it hasn't happened already?

Happy Towel Day Everyone!! :)
— quesorasora · Wed, May 11 2011 07:41:42

ah,Kenan and Kel is trending....those were the days! ooh and Douglas Adams...HE IS THE MAN.... is it Towel Day already?
— DanaholicsAnony · Wed, May 11 2011 07:08:28

I feel so dumb. I almost forgot this is towel day> RIP DNA I miss ya.
— cystorm · Wed, May 11 2011 16:09:12

@vmperella did I miss towel day? Damn my distracted mind.
— IrishGamingNerd · Wed, May 11 2011 23:38:09

Watership Down by Richard Adams.

Deborah Rose Reeves — Thu, 19 May 2011 01:53:37 GMT

Watership Down is about bunnies but it's not cute and fuzzy. It's genocidal futility and nerds love it.

Storified by Deborah Rose Reeves · Thu, Oct 27 2011 01:46:36

first they must catch you · er_code_blue

Enjoying the discussion on the merits of rabbits and Watership Down between @petersagal and @paulapoundstone. My nerdiness strikes again!
— dbcollies · Thu, May 12 2011 11:02:38

RT @petersagal: The question from @Fontia_Sprocket: Is "Watership Down" part of the nerd canon? I say yes. Questing rabbits = hobbits.
— FalloutPictures · Thu, May 12 2011 12:41:51

@petersagal I didn't know Watership Down was considered in the realm of nerdery. I guess it's kind of 1984, distopianish sci-fi in a way...
— Fontia_Sprocket · Thu, May 12 2011 08:32:57

@petersagal @wordboydave But is Tad Williams' "Tailchaser's Song," which is basically "Watership Down" made of cats, part of the nerd canon?
— tracyvwilson · Thu, May 12 2011 08:56:31

@petersagal have not heard of this "watership down". 18th century brit navy costume-heavy oscar-season remake of "black hawk down"?
— machinehum · Thu, May 12 2011 08:06:35

RT @jacques_aih: As this room of weeping children will attest, Black Hawk Down is NOT the sequel to Watership Down.
— DanielCotton · Sun, May 15 2011 06:29:05

Rember the Lord of the rings the animation and Watership down! Oldskool!
— Michael_Kyei · Wed, May 11 2011 03:37:04

i just woke up from the weirdest dream. it was kinda like watership down but with moose. the scenery was nice though.
— rullaaa · Sun, May 15 2011 00:07:48

I'm reading Watership Down. There haven't been any space ships so far and I doubt anything will even explode, but it's still quite good!
— Dagostar · Sun, May 15 2011 13:13:11

Wow, The opening of the 1st ep of the new My Little Pony show is a mix of the opening of Watership Down and Dune. wtf.
— wedgex · Fri, May 13 2011 17:44:28

why are important people called Big Wigs? all it does is reminder me of rabbits (watership down reference of the day +1)
— lustyreader · Wed, May 11 2011 10:15:04

@DaftLimmy watership down filled me with how futile life is from a very early age.
— kaisersossy1 · Tue, May 10 2011 10:52:44

I hate all of the rabbits in Watership Down.
— puke_ · Mon, May 16 2011 14:52:29

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

Deborah Rose Reeves — Wed, 11 May 2011 04:33:56 GMT

The Bell Jar is depressing. The Bell Jar is eminently quotable. Hipsters read The Bell Jar. Hipsters have The Bell Jar quotes tattooed on their bodies. Sylvia Plath is not dead, she's on Twitter.

Storified by Deborah Rose Reeves · Thu, Oct 27 2011 01:48:45

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath · fleurology

The Bell Jar is depressing:

Gotcha.Next book to read : The Bell Jar. Go straight to the deep hole of depression shall we?
— rintachos · Sun, May 08 2011 06:17:43

"The Bell Jar" Sylvia Plath The first 9 chapters, I almost gave up. Chapter 10-20 Couldn't put it down until it was done. Depressing though.
— KeroRocks · Sat, May 07 2011 10:04:02

@FirdausAzhar im reading her book 'the bell jar'. it's making me depressed.
— taniarahman · Mon, May 09 2011 08:58:58

@Wigglebury WHY ARE YOU DYING? I'm reading The Bell Jar, that's making me feel like dying to be honest
— GeoChrPar · Sun, May 08 2011 16:38:05

The Bell Jar is eminently quotable:

"Let me live, love and say it well in good sentences." — Sylvia Plath (The Bell Jar)
— DyuDyu · Tue, May 10 2011 05:45:30

There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them. ~Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
— NetaCroy · Sun, May 08 2011 00:59:58

" Don't let the wicked city get you down" - The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
— clairherwitz · Tue, May 10 2011 06:23:52

If you expect nothing from anybody, you’re never disappointed — Sylvia Plath (The Bell Jar)
— ichaav · Sat, May 07 2011 20:22:23

If you expect nothing from anybody, you’re never disappointed — Sylvia Plath (The Bell Jar)
— Cesaaaaaa · Sat, May 07 2011 20:31:14

If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed - the bell jar
— vivianrsoto · Mon, May 09 2011 10:25:18

Hipsters read The Bell Jar:

Hipster girl reading the Bell Jar on the uptown 4 out of Brooklyn #judging
— skoc211 · Sat, May 07 2011 13:12:20

I definitely just bonded with a hipster at the library over The Bell Jar :3
— distortedsounds · Tue, May 10 2011 07:49:26

Hipsters have The Bell Jar quotes tattooed on their bodies. Especially the "I am I am I am" part. They love that part:

The Bell Jar -- Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos

Jun 20, 2008 ... The Bell Jar tattoo . From The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath . (source). Share and Enjoy: Digg · StumbleUpon · del.icio.us · Twitter ...

day001 · rainflies

body art.

poppy tattoo. @megangillory poppies and gladiolas are papa's birth flowers. dear amanda, i think i love you. i love the juxtaposition here of the femininity of her shape, the natural landscape and the harsh black lines of the wolf. beautiful photo. amanda wachob. wow. her work is AMAZING. Sylvia Plath tattoo.

Flarf

Deborah Rose Reeves — Tue, 17 May 2011 02:32:01 GMT

What is Flarf? / I don't know. / I'd like to find out. / This story will probably not answer that question but it gave me something to do for about an hour and twenty-five minutes this evening. / Wait... Is that Flarf?

Storified by Deborah Rose Reeves · Thu, Oct 27 2011 01:48:51

flarf

Flarf: A quality of intentional or unintentional "flarfiness." A kind of corrosive, cute, or cloying, awfulness. Wrong. Un-P.C. Out of control. "Not okay." Flarf (2): The work of a community of poets dedicated to exploration of "flarfiness." Heavy usage of Google search results in the creation of poems, plays, etc., though not exclusively Google-based.

Flarf

A novel form of digitally-inspired poetry, often generated from the results of Internet search engines. Reporting in The Wall Street Journal on the increasing recognition of "flarf " poetry, Gautam Naik explained the origins of the trend: Flarf is a creature of the electronic age.

Flarf poetry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Flarf poetry can be characterized as an avant garde poetry movement of the late 20th century and the early 21st century. Its first practitioners used an aesthetic dedicated to the exploration of "the inappropriate" in all of its guises.

Flarf is Dionysus. Conceptual Writing is Apollo. by Kenneth Goldsmith [article/magazine]

Start making sense. Disjunction is dead. The fragment, which ruled poetry for the past one hundred years, has left the building. Subjectivity, emotion, the body, and desire, as expressed in whole units of plain English with normative syntax, has returned. But not in ways you would imagine.

"flarf" definition from Double-Tongued Dictionary

Editorial Note: The word history given in the site linked by the first citation is believed to be more or less correct.

Flarf

Flarf is a form of poetry made by combining together phrases from random web searches. Here's an early example: "Yeah, mm-hmm, it's truebig birds makebig doo! I got fire insidemy 'huppa'-chimp(TM)gonna be agreessive, greasy aw yeah godwanna DOOT! DOOT!Pffffffffffffffffffffffffft! hey!"

Flarf Poetry | Radio Open Source with Christopher Lydon

"Flarf" is a collage-based method which employs Google searches, specifically the partial quotes which Google "captures" from websites.

Flarf-ku

Yea.. Ah yea… Agh yea this one's dedicated to all the ladies in the front , the back How About Libya, isn't that a beauty?" China, Holla!address this laughingstock to the tune of billions of dollars Warren Buffet being number threeI was one of the greatest, like Lee Dorseyisn't that a beauty?

On "Flarf" poetry & its whimsical cut-up dadaism: http://tiny.cc/3rcg0
— vulgarmarsala · Sun, May 15 2011 17:37:38

flarf is a well established tendency in contemporary poetry.
— HaveJoe · Sun, May 15 2011 12:17:40

Ohhh.... Thanks @HaveJoe

Flarf: highfalutin word for spam/wordjunque poetry - Boing Boing

Flarf came about a couple of years ago when Gary Sullivan submitted a deliberately bad poem to Poetry.com, one of those vanity companies that lures the unsuspecting with lavish praise of their poetry and then offers to "publish" it for an exorbitant fee.

not even nietzsche could anticipate the cultural impact flarf would have on society today
— SpencerMadsen · Sun, May 15 2011 15:57:57

I only know of one person who Flarfs. Unless... is Tao Lin a Flarfer?

I don't really know.

All I know is they're writers who just want to flarf and live their lief.

"lief" flarf poem · Lost in Transit [Keep St Joe Weird]

veganism in six words: let other animals live their lief.
— steveroggenbuck · Thu, May 12 2011 19:02:58

new image macro on LIVE MY LIEF: http://livemylief.com/post/5525802088
— steveroggenbuck · Sun, May 15 2011 16:02:48

attempted to watch @steveroggenbuck's literary ustream reading but wifi problems are interrupting my lief. Listening to Gwen Stefani instead
— maggie44 · Sun, May 15 2011 18:42:47

@steveroggenbuck live. your. lief. steve.
— kumquatparadise · Fri, May 13 2011 23:42:05

Oh... and that person, in case you hadn't noticed by now, is Steve Roggenbuck.

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn.

Deborah Rose Reeves — Wed, 11 May 2011 01:49:28 GMT

A curious amalgam of thoughts, reviews and perspectives on the novel from around the world wide ether.

Storified by Deborah Rose Reeves · Thu, Oct 27 2011 01:49:31

"When your mama was the geek, my dreamlets,' Papa would say, "she made the nipping off of noggins such a crystal mystery that the hens themselves yearned for her, waltzing around her, hypnotized with longing. 'Spread your lips, sweet Lil,' they'd cluck, 'and show us your choppers!'"

Geek Love, p 3.

Geek Love for Picturebook Report · featherbed

Geek - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to be overly intellectual".[1] This word comes from English dialect geek, geck: fool, freak; from Low German geck, from Middle Low German.

The people you pick on in high school and wind up working for as an adult

Urban Dictionary.

Geek Love · bronwynlundberg

"It’s like a strange little club – those of us who have read the book. It’s a bit of a litmus test. If someone says, “I loved Geek Love” … I am immediately drawn to that person, like a moth to the flame … who are you, it says something about you that THAT would be your favorite …"

from The Sheila Variations.

@CircusBoy1 Have you read Geek Love by Katherine Dunn? It's about the 1st definition of a geek - original circus geek - Amazing book!
— ariasuka1 · Sun, May 08 2011 15:55:43

@notthatyouasked Geek Love. Oddest, grossest (in a weird way) book ever. And yet, I can't stop reading it.
— Lifeinatinytown · Mon, May 09 2011 11:23:25

"'It was in Oregon, up in Portland, which they call the Rose City... You could see for miles from up there. And there was a big rose garden with arbors and trellises and fountains... "

...The roses started him thinking, how the oddity of them was beautiful and how that oddity contrived to give them value. "It just struck me - clear and complete all at once - no long figuring about it." He realized that children could be designed. "And I thought to myself, now that would be a rose garden worthy of a man's interest."

Geek Love, p 9-10.

'Geek Love' by Katherine Dunn ~ Sideshow Freak Reflects Back on Family

August 24, 2009 07:26 PM EDT (Updated: August 24, 2009 07:40 PM EDT) About two years ago I wrote an article describing some of my favorite books in six word sentences - a la flash fiction style. You know, the way Ernest Hemingway did with the classic flash fiction story; "For sale, baby shoes, never used."

Reading for Writers: Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

Sep 14, 2010 ... And in Geek Love, Katherine Dunn does it masterfully. Her title, her table of contents, her epigraph, and the first two pages of her book ...

Geek Love « Picture Book Report

Oly follows her daughter to the Glass House Club, a private establishment specializing in "Exotic Features". Dancers strip for an enthusiastic crowd who prefer performers who offer something special. Girls like Denise with her knee-length mane of pubic hair, or buxom Paulette whose g-string hides a shriveled penis, and her daughter Miranda who has a tiny tail curling out from the base of her spine.

"Everyone in Portland is living a minimum of three lives," says Katherine Dunn... "Everyone has at least three identities."

Quoted by Chuck Palahniuk in Fugitives and Refugees: a Walk in Portland, Oregon.

Katherine Dunn: Novelist, Voice-Artist... Boxer?

'Geek Love' author fights off purse snatcher in Northwest Portland

Noted Portland writer Katherine Dunn - author of 'Geek Love' and many works on boxing - fought off a purse snatcher nearly 40 years her junior.

Guernica / On the Beauty of Violence

On the twentieth anniversary of Geek Love, Dunn discusses her new book, the cultural value of boxing, and why some sports are superior to the arts. Katherine Dunn has a new book out. That's not something one gets to say terribly often. The book, entitled One Ring Circus, is a collection of her musings on boxing.

Katherine Dunn, Carnival Love, 02/08 · elliotedizioni

Geek Love, The Movie?

I first met Katherine Dunn back in the day when she was writing her column, The Slice, for Willamette Week newspaper. It was the first thing most people read when they picked up WW unless there was a cover story about someone well-known having sex with someone else who was either gay, young, male or female.

Geek Love Author Recognizes the Monsters Inside of Us, but Still Can't Forgive Disney for Old Yeller" style="display: block; width: 100px;" />Geek Love Author Recognizes the Monsters Inside of Us, but Still Can't Forgive Disney for Old Yeller

It's been twenty years since Katherine Dunn's novel, Geek Love -- about a sideshow family that manufactures its own freaks in pursuit of fame and fortune -- was published, but it remains as vivid as ever. And thanks to the movies she saw as a child, Dunn has her own traumatic memories.

IMG_0022 · karenbee_

House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski.

Deborah Rose Reeves — Tue, 17 May 2011 01:28:06 GMT

A curious amalgam of thoughts about and reviews of the novel from around the world wide ether.

Storified by Deborah Rose Reeves · Thu, Oct 27 2011 01:50:21

House Of Leaves Book Review

House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski is nearly impossible to review for anyone who has not seen the book, or attempted to read it. I say that because:

I've read the Introduction for House of Leaves. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to get mind screw. He's good at atmosphere so far
— HunterEris · Fri, May 06 2011 14:04:41

Friends and family fall into two categories: those you'd recommend House of Leaves to, and those you wouldn't. It's so deliciously effed up.
— debrosereeves · Mon, May 09 2011 10:21:51

@debrosereeves nice to know you recommend the effed up stuff to me. I wouldn't have it any other way.
— e_boyler · Mon, May 09 2011 10:26:46

Starting House of Leaves and holy shit this book is huge.
— tinfoil · Fri, May 06 2011 20:39:15

Flak Magazine: Review of House of Leaves, 05-06-00

Mark Z. DanielewskiPantheon While the jaded, cultural elitist might call Mark Z. Danielewski's "House of Leaves" little more than a gimmick, it's easy to see a skilled scribe tugging on the book's strings. Strip away Danielewski's multiple typefaces, vertical footnotes and color text, and "House of Leaves" remains an original, gripping, frightening debut. The book is a many-layered critique of , a documentary film about a highly unusual house in an unnamed Virginia suburb. Inhabited by the f...

Experimental Use of Text in Modern Novels | Colorcubic

xperimental type as a medium has never gotten old. From expressive Russian posters to the Dada movement, or even going further back to Lewis Carroll, we have a rich history of manipulating the written word to achieve new ways of communication.

House of Leaves · Amber Cantrell

House of Leaves is extremely interesting, but so confusing to read! Footnotes lead to other pages, sideways and backwards reading... AHHH
— SammiLeighM · Mon, May 09 2011 12:57:17

@hitbyapitch It's absolute genius, but brutal to read. Get Danielewski's House of Leaves next. Read it 9 years ago and think about it daily.
— BSidesNarrative · Thu, May 05 2011 20:49:04

RT @JMPerkins: @rolledtaco Hey man, did I ever show you the essay I wrote about How to Read: House of Leaves? http://bit.ly/howhouseofleaves
— debrosereeves · Mon, May 09 2011 10:30:14

this · smart.in

fuck yeah, house of leaves

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danieleweski this House of Leaves appreciation blog is brought to you by Kaleb and Jess.

House of Leaves

House of Leaves has 14,874 ratings and 2,559 reviews. Mickey said: I wish there were someway that a sigh could count as a book review.House of Leaves is a r...

@biznussdragon you should read house of leaves. it really gets into your head.
— iceiceix · Sun, May 08 2011 19:36:13

house of leaves indeed. http://instagr.am/p/EECgS/ · iceiceix

All condescending people should be placed at the bottom of the stairway in the House of Leaves.
— joshlasseter · Fri, May 06 2011 11:55:28

@markdanielewski Just wanted to say that House Of Leaves is the greatest novel I've read to date. You da man!
— Family_Jules · Sat, May 07 2011 01:14:50

House of Leaves Book Review http://bit.ly/lZU8JP
— ToiLeacockTCVW · Sat, May 07 2011 07:26:55

The Labyrinth Librarians: House of Leaves

Apr 14, 2011 ... Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves is not a science fiction of fantasy book. In fact, I'm not sure what to call this book. ...