If you’re around on Sunday afternoon, it’d be great to see you at the 440 Gallery, which is a cool space on 6th Ave in Park Slope. I’m reading with my good friend Dan Groves, which I’m really looking forward to. He just published an excellent book, The Lost Boys. And he’s in my new fantasy baseball league, which is called ‘Dreams vs. Robins.’ (Looks like it’s gonna be a tough league; there are already teams called The Assassins and the Crushers.) Also looking forward to reading with Nadia Kalman, and checking out the new show that the gallery is opening that day.

Facebook invite.

This week, six more atrocities have appeared on the Internet. Three of them are up at a fairly young, but already old favorite magazine, The Collagist. That’s a site worth checking every month. Matt Bell puts a lot of work and precision into his curation, and the result is one of the rare web zines that reads with particular unity. (Matt once, off the top of his head, described his new issue to me piece and piece, and I was shocked he could do that from memory. He said, “I’m sure you could do that with an issue of Action,Yes.” Kind of him to think so, but no way.)

The other three are in a journal which is brand new to me, called Wag’s Revue. Check out the journal’s set up, kind of an online paper journal. The editors seem to have a real ambition for their magazine. I expect this one to grow. Read about them here.

…I did not meet my senator, but I did take some pictures.

Jaded Ibis had toys.

This reading was a lot better than it smelled.Oh, look! It’s the girl from the puzzle!

Justin Sirois explains to Debra Diblasi how RED DEAD REDEMPTION made him “teary.”

“Hey! I’ve got a Publishing Genius of an idea!”

“Wait. You don’t mean we should?”

“That’s right. Let’s stand up on this rock and invite writers to come read at this zoo!”

Mike Young: “I’ve got this thing about food. I could yell it.”Luckily Blake had this thing about goats and James is really into goats.

And here’s Michael Kimball who happened to be doing a reading at the zoo that afternoon.

Amy is more aware of the camera than Sasha.

Now Sasha trumps Lincoln in camera awareness.

Hawking Gigantics.

Great trip for Greg. He got a new job.

Tim prepares to read with me, despite the lurking presence of a mime named “Davis.”

The Hoyas won. By two. Should have been by more.

Adam put Craig’s comic up at Everyday Genius. Craig kept a sketchbook during our door. He assembled it into this short comic narrative. Awesome.

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a week touring the not-so-icy, relatively temperate northern Midwest with Adam Robinson, Joe Young, and our road companion Craig Griffin (who made a dope comic about the tour that hopefully will be up on the web soon). I took some pictures (not enough). Here are the highlights. Thanks to everybody who so kindly hosted us in their galleries, bookshops, bars, guest rooms, and living rooms. Great way to start the new year – like breakin’ out of a chrysalis.

It began in Chicago. A lot of that night is lost. Zach Dodson is a beautiful host. Kathryn Regina is a beautiful reader. She gave us one of her own poems and one from Chelsea Minnis.

DJ A-Rob popped in for a set at Green Gallery in Milwaukee.

Straight TITTERIN’ in Minneapolis.

The goods.

Woodland Pattern…

…pays the Publishing Genius Bills.

Not hard to eat well in Milwaukee.

As always, great to see MC Hyland. She’s made a real home for herself out west. Pocket Lab Series is for real. So is her new book – NEVERAGAINLAND. Got to read it straight through and once more again on the flight home.

We got kicked out of this joint – for wickedly mild manners.

Milwaukee – LUXXXXX – that’s a business hotel!

Adam confronts an audience of more than three in Madison, WI.

Joe scares them away talking about vampires.

Here’s where I do this charming and not slightly irritating thing where I apologize to the audience for what I’m about to read.

Portrait of the artist in repose:

This looked even better laden with Fred’s pizza and pancakes.

The cows are not mythical…

…nor is the snow. (Nor is the fact that Minnesotans spray their front yards with a garden hose to make home-made hockey rinks.)

I’ll remember so many things, but mostly I’ll remember this:

I just did a drawing for Justin Sirois’s Understanding Campaign.

New atrocity is up at EVERYDAY GENIUS. This one’s about a video game arcade that wasn’t.

(Found that tucked away at The Green Gallery in Milwaukee when I visited last week.)

Joe Young, Adam Robinson, and I have finally arranged the stops for our “Bad Freaking Idea Book Tour” through the northern Midwest the first week of January. Right now, the snow drifts in Brooklyn suggest that I may actually be escaping to more navigable climes.

Monday, January 3: Chicago at The Whistler, 6:30pm Facebook
Wednesday, January 5: Milwaukee at Sugar Maple, 8pm
Thursday, January 6: Minneapolis, Pocket Lab Series at Rogue Buddha, 7pm Facebook
Friday, January 7: Madison at Avol’s 7pm
Late show:Fred and Bethany’s house, 9pm

Adam put a page here with all the details and links. Come out. We’ll buy you beers if you ask.

Many, many months (years?) ago, Adam Robinson, Joe Young, and I thought it’d be fun to do some readings together. MC Hyland was kind enough to invite us to her Pocket Lab series in Minneapolis. We tacked on a couple more in Madison and Milwaukee (two cities I’ve yet to visit). So now we’ve got a hat trick of readings in the dead-center of America’s snow belt, scheduled for the first week of January. Smart.

Here’s the flyer for Pocket Lab on January 6th: