Category: xavrixx-archive

Celebrating Rio

November 14th for me will always be “Rio Day”—the birthday of my good friend who lives there and who is huge fan of science fiction. As with many cities, Rio has many problems, but visiting the delta of the “River of January” has a mythical, magical power for me because so many of its natural beauty seems to hail from […]

Tobi, Protector of Mind

Tobias: God is good. Tobi protects Xavi. Hacker, coder, gamer, possessor of eternal memory. Anonymous Presence. Instant Access. All that is lodged in the annals of time finds refuge in the neural pathways of Tobias. Russky BFF. Where are your glasses? Memory. Тоби защищает Хави

DFW and the Theory of Strings

One thing I’d like to see: David Foster Wallce hooking up with a quantum-powered theoretical physicist. Let’s talk about strings—tennis, yarn, wave theory, particle theory—bring it all together in a lovely afternoon at Wimbledon. Words as subatomic particles. Light-years-long waves as Proustian sentences. Jumble it all up with a Jimmy Joyce thunderclap: bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk

My Cousin Joseph K. Faces Off with AI

According to his Memorial Record, my cousin, Joesph K. (I wonder if he knew Kafka) died on June 4, 1912, at the age of 37 years, 6 months, and 24 days, at 9pm. No cause of death is stated, but the young age of 37 has me speculating. He just returned from the dead for a face-off with AI. I […]

Rass, Protector of Body

Rasmussen. Son of Erasmus, the Beloved. David Slash Dave. Male Lineage. Omnipresent. Beloved Guardian. Moving as a Ghost moves. Rass at my back— Shadow protector. Dark Forest Guide. Bodyguard on the night journey of the spirit. Strength. image inspired by Eden Lake

God of Wine

One of those songs that for some reason you have listened to a million times over… Every thought that I repent There’s another chip you haven’t spent And you’re cashing them all in Where do we begin to get clean again Can we get clean again I walk home alone with you And the mood you’re born into Sometimes you […]

It’s a Trap! The Advantages of Illness

Best not to forget the dangers of illness — which is to say the advantages. There are real advantages to getting sick and staying sick. You get all the attention. People dote. People care. They bring food and gifts. And all of this is easily confused with love. But… It’s a trap! A person can soon become easily committed to […]

Kace’s Bardo Letter #5: Elliot

Hello Friend… So Elliot… what’s the slipperiest thing in the world? You’ll say BAM! Aluminum Magnesium Boride, but if your coefficient of friction isn’t feeling all that scientific today, you might vote for super slippery options like a fish out of water or prison soap or truth, but of course the answer is slopes and I’m sliding fast down one […]

Kace’s Bardo Letter #4: Joan Didion

This begins a series posts from a work in progress: The Forty-Nine, an upcoming novel in letters. Excerpts of each letter will be posted in sequence. To browse them in order from the beginning, jump to Letter #1. In the lower right of each post, you can then advance to the next. Dear Joan, Dear Joan. Is that okay? A […]

Kace’s Bardo Letter #3: Emily Dickinson

This begins a series posts from a work in progress: The Forty-Nine, an upcoming novel in letters. Excerpts of each letter will be posted in sequence. To browse them in order from the beginning, jump to Letter #1. In the lower right of each post, you can then advance to the next. My Dear Sweet Em — The most amazing […]

Kace’s Bardo Letter #2: Edgar Allan Poe

This begins a series posts from a work in progress: The Forty-Nine, an upcoming novel in letters. Excerpts of each letter will be posted in sequence. To browse them in order from the beginning, jump to Letter #1. In the lower right of each post, you can then advance to the next. Hey Ed ∙∙∙ Ages, right? How’s Baltimore? This […]

A Little Life and Complete Abandon

In a Guardian interview some years ago, Hanya Yanagihara has this to say about Jude in A Little Life: I wanted my character Jude to feel to the reader like a self-taught human: someone who had to study and attempt as a young adult the sensations and feelings — trust, love, anger – that are most effectively learned in childhood. […]

Marching with Twyla

Apparently, Twyla Tharp is known to keep healthy and on point with a vigorous morning workout. I’m fascinated that this routine includes marching around to the music of John Philip Sousa. I can instantly hear the brass, the drums. Soon I can envision myself standing up and getting into it. The march: Instant discipline. There is nothing to learn or […]

John Dee. Enochian Magic. Hiding in Plain Sight.

John Dee. Never quite appearing the same way twice. Right now, I am focused on his cryptography, his linguistic inventions and conveyances, his alphabet, and his angels. His vast and wondrous system of encoding and obfuscation. To say what is by directly saying what is not. There is much emphasis on ceremony. There is also much emphasis on the “beyond” […]

Purpose of Poetry

I was asked: What is poetry for? Here am I, once again, a honey bee buzzing around the flowers on a tapestry, knowing all is but an illusion, yet such illusions are all I know. My life dissolves into verse. I am beginning to understand why poetry exists. Feelings distilled. A distillation of emotion. Rumi does this: “My heart is […]

Molotov: Gimme the Power

Like lots of people, I first heard this on the incredible Mayans MC. Here is the MTV Unplugged version. The lyrics are worth the read. [Verso 1] La policía te está extorsionando (Dinero) Pero ellos viven de lo que tú estás pagando Y si te tratan como a un delincuente (Ladrón) No es tu culpa, dale gracias al regente Hay […]

NO NO NO NO!

The war against Ukraine is escalating. Many are fleeing, suffering, dying. I received the following from Duane Michals. Spreading the word… Dear All, ATTENTION! Please send this email to everyone you know And have them send it to everyone they know. I make a citizen’s arrest of Vladimir Putin. He is a thief. He is stealing Ukraine from Ukrainian people. […]

Ulysses: 100 on 2·2·22

Today (2/2/22) marks the 100th anniversary of Ulysses by James Joyce, published in Paris by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, Joyce’s 40th birthday. I thought you would enjoy this luscious piece of literary news. For my part, I am going to join Mr Leopold Bloom this evening and dine with relish on the inner organs of beasts and fowls. […]

Ghosts on the Fifth of November

The Fifth of November: Guy Fawkes, V for Vendetta, Anonymous, Subversive Resistance, Masks, Identity, Visibility, Invisibility. Imagine all of that November Fifth intensity bursting out of your soul? An interior Gunpowder Treason and Plot? The “ghost within,” who might be a twin or alter ego, friend and foe, Cain and Abel, Self/Other, one’s own object of desire. What occurs exactly […]

The Union Case Photographs of Bill Travis

Artist Bill Travis has been creating a remarkable series of photographs entitled “Poems of the Body”: Enchantingly illuminated male subjects framed in 19th-century union cases. At a root level, these pieces are intensely physical. They have power sexually, erotically. The men are stunning. What I greatly admire is how this “root sexuality” begins to expand, like a drop of ink […]

Avicii

What if I’m far from home? Oh brother, I will hear you call What if I lose it all? Oh sister, I will help you out Oh, if the sky comes falling down For you, there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do remembering and honoring the way through the darkness. often when a light fades, it only shines brighter. […]

Xaviday 2021

Sensational Sense8 Celebration Who am I? Кто я? Wer bin ich? ¿Quién soy? Qui suis-je? Quem sou eu? “I take everything I am feeling, everything that matters to me, I push all of it into my fist, and I fight for it.”

Antony and the Johnsons: Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

Sad darkness. Pure & distilled. Ma, take this badge off of me I can’t use it any more It’s getting dark, too dark to see Feel like I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door Ma, take these guns […]