It was said of Karmazinov that he valued his connections with influential people and with higher society almost more than his soul. it was said that he would meet you, show you kindness, seduce you, charm you with his ingenuousness, especially if he needed you for some reason, and most certainly if you had been recommended to him before hand... -- Dostoevksy "Demons"
Naomi and I have an argument. It goes like this:
A: What did you think of my story?
N: Yeah, it was good.
A: What "yeah it was good"?
N: Well, you know. I mean it's like I always say...
A: Oh come on!
N: No it's just that...
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Outside the boys and men walk with shirts open to the waist in the middle of the street as the light settles in over the broken building tops and empty cans of beer that stand in attention across the street from the local branch of the Committee for Defense of the Revolution. They walk silently, almost in defiance of the constant thrum of noise and music that erupts from every open doorway and window for miles. It’s Monday morning and music must be played and rum must be drunk and there are white women to impress on the Malecón and there are Estonians swaying to Bésame Mucho on the Prado and every...
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This morning I received an email from Michelle Obama asking me to donate 3$ in order to win a dinner with Barack Obama. This was my reply:
To Whom It May Concern —
I am a staunch supporter of President Obama, having volunteered more than once during the campaign including get out the vote in North Philly on election day.
On more than one occasion I found myself walking into the apartment of a profoundly poor person and asking them to please get in our car so that we can drive them to the polling site to cast their vote. In one such apartment a man with a recently amputated leg’s...
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I took five classes that I can remember at Hampshire college.
1 - “Korean Masked Dance Theater” was actually a class taught at Hampshire College but, through some quirk of the five college registration system, was technically an Amherst College course. On my stubby, but varied, college transcripts I have - in 8 point indelible ink - a four credit “A” from Amherst College. Eat it, preppy!
2 - I mostly fell asleep during “Animal Behavior” but I do recall three pertinent facts: animal shows on TV are “horseshit,” geese fly in V’s to cut down...
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This is the column that I submitted to the McSweeney’s contest. It was to be about things that make me squeamish. Things like: slugs, opossums, American Apparel, etc. The idea was that I’d describe how it makes me feel icky and then learn about the icky thing in hopes of feeling less icky. By the way, now I’m feeling icky about this intro.
THIS WEEK: It Came From The Garden!
About a month after I promised to be true, brave, adventurous, and honest to my wife I found myself—like some hipster Fitzcaraldo—in a rubber plantation in the middle of the Amazon trying to convince my new bride...
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