End of an Era

Behold the bonfire. And, as this is the last day of the year/decade, behold a few "Top Ten" lists I've thrown together:

Top Ten Books I Enjoyed in 2009

10. The Slave Next Door, by Bales & Soodalter
9. School of the Americas, by Lesley Gill
8. The Great Derangement, by Matt Taibbi
7. The Frank Book, by Jim Woodring
6. Methland, by Nick Reding
5. The Torturer’s Wife, by Thomas Glave
4. Post Office, by Charles Bukowski
3. True Grit, by Charles Portis
2. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, by Tom Wolfe
1. Cosmicomics, by Italo Calvino



The Worst Ten Ailments of 2009

10. Excessive Tartar Buildup
9. Hangover
8. Headache
7. Stomach flu
6. Food poisoning
5. Swine flu
4. Death Anxiety
3. Grief
2. Generalized Fatigue
1. Recurring Stye


Top Ten Annoyances of 2009

10. Leaky Basement
9. Writers & Poets With Low Ego Resilience
8. Meter Maids
7. Shoveling Snow
6. Lazy Students
5. The Little Things (rent, utilities, personal hygiene)
4. Fear of Swine Flu Death
3. The MFA Master’s Exam
2. Fruit Flies
1. Recurring Stye


Best Albums of the Decade (in no particular order)

* The Greatest – Cat Power
* Selmasongs - Bjork
* Stankonia – Outkast
* Stories From the City, Stories From The Sea – PJ Harvey
* Accelerate - REM
* Icky Thump – White Stripes
* Let’s Get Free – Dead Prez
* Ten New Songs – Leonard Cohen
* Blacklisted – Neko Case
* Modern Times – Bob Dylan



Best Film of the Decade

Inland Empire, dir. by David Lynch


Top Ten Lightning Bolts Exploding Across The Luminous Void of My Existence...of the Decade

(1) Paddling into Canada’s pristine Quetico and subsequently getting my shit together.
(2) Careening out West without much of a plan except “to ease the pain of living" and subsequently meeting my future bride under a caterer’s rented tent.
(3) Learning to meditate.
(4) The discovery that my anima has a face, a name, and an actual physical place of residence in Puerto Rico.
(5) Tending to my grandfather and performing basic attendance while he drifted on to the next world.
(6) Easing the pain of living: at Access Counseling, in the ARMC Emergency Room and on the ARMC Psych Unit.
(7) Writing my best poem: Setting a fire hydrant on fire and videotaping it.
(8) Conceiving a love child named Eleanor at 190 Satula Ave., Athens, Ga. & the resultant homebirth.
(9) Getting a little writing done here in Iowa City, U.S.A.
(10) Becoming a better person...in general.