“The future has a way of arriving unannounced.”
-George Hill

“The most successful people are those who are good at plan B.”
-James Yorke

I love jotting down lines from this and that, and holding on to lines I enjoy. Inevitably, shifts happen and I find myself reminded of a sentence or paragraph I jotted down a long time ago, but that fits a given current situation perfectly, or serves as a reminder in a situation of a solid course of action.

Like right now, for example.

At the end of this month, Fixx Coffee Bar will be closing their doors. I sat with the owners a few nights ago, who have become good friends over all this time, as they told me this news. I know they are the kind of people who land on their feet and in fact, are already planning their next moves, next moves which sound positive and fulfilling, but still, I feel badly about the situation and that the city will loose such a great place and a fine independent coffeeshop.

This also left a reading series homeless.

So, not one to spin my wheels, as of yesterday afternoon, Fixx Reading Series will be held at The Book Cellar bookstore in Lincoln Square starting in August. The July reading will be at Fixx Coffee Bar as usual, one last time. Moving to The Book Cellar is an excellent move, and I know the series will be fun as ever in its new home and I’m glad the series will (hopefully) benefit another independent business.

Today, we have a very special guest here on Bigmouth. Perhaps one of my very favorite things about him, other than the fact that he’s very cool, and very kind, is that in order to Google him and come up with the right guy in your search, you must add the word “Hitler” after his name. No lie. You may know him from when he read at the Fixx Reading Series with Aaron Belz and Nick Ostdick a few weeks ago. Or, maybe you remember the very popular artwork he contributed to Pilcrow Lit Fest’s “Rebuilt Books” event. Or maybe you have read some of his work, like the very, very funny book of poetry, Hitler’s Mustache, which he wrote and designed (please watch this video of him discussing the process of designing the book cover art. It is so very funny). He also edited Poet’s Bookshelf: Contemporary Poets on Books that Shaped Their Art and his poems have appeared in journals such as Court Green, McSweeny’s, La Petite Zine, Octopus, and Mipoesias. His music project, Short Hand, is available through Collectible Escalators Records (listen here.). His wife is sweet (‘tis true, I’ve met her) and his kids are very cute (also true, met them, too) and he lives in Muncie, Indiana and teaches English at Ball State University. No slouch, this guy. So, please welcome today’s special guest, Peter Davis.

Guth: Tell us what you write, what you have written and how you do it? (You guys know I like to ask that because I have such funky and specific writing rituals, myself.)

I write poems, songs, notes to my wife, stuff on my blog, comments on my student’s stuff, and misc. crap like phone numbers and directions. I’ve written all sorts of stuff, most of it was awful, or close to awful. I do it like a stupid group of hands trying to catch a fish. Yucky! I don’t like most of what I write (for instance, I’m not happy with what I’m writing here… I keep thinking, I could say something better than this…). I don’t know exactly why I keep doing it. But I like it lots! I’m always like, yea, rockin! I’ll write something!

AG: What grand things are next for you? What would you, we’re talking dream gigs and adventures here, love to be next for you?

Oh Jesus, I would love to publish another book or two. I’ve got the manuscripts. I’d like to get my kids in a kick-ass school that has really great teachers. I’d like to spend lots of time with them and to enjoy it always. I’d also like to stay married to my wife because I love her so much. I’d like to make friends. I’d like to be a good dad and friend. I want my kids to love and respect me and to always tell me the truth.

AG: What Smiths or Morrissey song or lyric sums it up for you right now?

I wish I could give you something here. What I remember about Morrissey is that he was asexual, or so he claimed, or so I remember he claimed. I never bought it. I was always, like, “I think you look terrific in sideburns, flannel, and jeans, but I don’t buy it.”

And there you have it, dear readers. Peter Davis. Head over to his blog and say hello, pick up a copy of his book, be friends with him on your varius social networky places, and for goodness sake, if you hear that he’ll be reading someplace near you, make a point to attend.

Tomorrow evening, I’m doing a super fun reading series called Quickies! Quickies! is a monthly reading of very short prose. Each reader has five minutes to read a complete work of prose. No excerpts. No cheating. No nonsense. They blow whistles and kazoos and all sorts of stuff at readers if they go over five minutes by even a second. So, I’m practicing today, so make sure my piece fits. Here’s hoping! If you’re free, the Innertown is a darn good bar and I’d just love to see your smiling faces.

Tuesday, July 8 (That’s tomorrow!)

featuring:

Jessi Lee Gaylord
Matt Test

yours truly

Mary Hamilton

Lindsay Hunter

Maria Parrott
and Mary Cross

The details:

QUICKIES!

July 8

7:30 pm

The Innertown Pub

1935 W Thomas

(accessible by the Blue line (Damen or Division stop) #50 Damen bus and #70 Division bus)

quickieschicago.blogspot.com

Also, check out my interview on HellaSound.com about running and writing with HellaSound founder John Frenette.

People, I have been inside the walls of the Sprawling Ramshackle Compound and it is awesome.

That’s right! Last night, Momma’s Boy an I attended a fancy (veg and carnivore!) barbeque at the home of Bubs, Miz Bubs, and their daughters, Dystopia the Zombie Pin-Up and Little Deadly Nightshade, and hung out with many other fine people, as well, including Johnny Yen and his lady, Kim, and their oft-blogged-about Adam. The food was delicious, as was the sangria, and a fireworks display may or may not have occurred and a little girl’s hair may or may not have been singed as a result. And, Dystopia the Zombie Pin-Up treated me to a bit of her way, way impressive make-up skills.

You know a party is awesome if you end up on the floor trying to play dead in front of a yellow tiki bar, no?

Just a sec of your time? Okay. Years ago tonight, I lost a family member to a drunk driver. Please be not only safe tonight, but also aware as you are out and about. I know those are always words to live by, but especially on drinking holidays, be mindful of what you’re doing and of the cars around you.

That’s it.

Thanks.

Well, Monkeybicycle #5, The Dirty Humor Issue finally is out, and one can acquire a copy and read something of mine inside. I say finally because I wrote my included piece around January of 2006, and, to be perfectly honest, I barely remember much of the piece. It seems that Monkeybicycle was turned down by printer after printer because the book what that raunchy. This is a badge of honor in my book, I have to admit. Anyway, I giggled during the re-read last night when my copy arrived. Ouch, I thought. That is pretty filthy. Not filthy like pervy, mind you, but filthy like certainly… offensive material.

On an unrelated note, comedian Mike Doe bestowed a very honorable title upon me yesterday.

Also yesterday, I had a most delightful cup of tea with writer Brianne Farley, who is totally cool and funny, and she introduced me to the world of the ArtShanty and the Andersonville Zombie Pub Crawl. Please, please, someone tell me they want to form a zombie Art Shanty team with me and go built it at next year’s event? No, okay, anyone want to roadtrip up and see the Art Shanties and pub crawl? Possibly while dressed as zombies? Because that would be cool, too. Great.

I got one helluva souvenir in Vegas.

I’ve got my pin-up girl hairdo happenin’, and I’m off to the wilds of Las Vegas to chill for a few days. I’ve left kitty and the plants under the watchful eye of Dystopia, and warned the very sweet landlord he may see a girl covered in stage blood and/or zombie make-up, but not to worry because she’s swell and the cat likes her.

See all of you shortly at the Fixx Reading Series, right? Great! I’m dashing that way myself in a moment, but you guys know my friend Laurel Snyder, no? The Myth of the Simple Machines? Slidy Diner? Yes, well, she and I have been talking about books and stories quite a bit lately and she just gave me a book recommendation I wanted to pass along to you (and not forget, myself!). She has excellent taste, so click, buy and fret not. The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power by Jeff Sharlet. He co-wrote Killing The Buddha, which I thought was rad, so I’m excited to check this other book out. Anyway, I’m going on a little trip for a couple of days tomorrow, so I think I’ll grab a copy for the plane.

In addition to this being an awesome line-up, it’s also the one-year anniversary of the Fixx Reading Series, so do come say celebrate with us. See you there!