#personalheroes

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mood

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“It seemed so illogical to punish some poor criminal for doing something that civilization taught him how to do so he could have something that civilization taught him how to want. It seemed to him as wrong as if they had hung the gun that shot the man.” ― Chester Himes, Yesterday Will Make You Cry

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Skip James and Mississippi John Hurt

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Favorite Weird Books

I woke up early this morning feeling like I was going to vomit. A woman was screaming outside, a motorcycle's burping engine awoke the rough sleepers and my eyes were inflamed. Inspired by the Inferno of DTLA I went on tumblr and stumbled upon quite a magical collection of films, literature and other media that I felt inspired to make this list. I tried to find books that were esoteric and weird in their own eccentric way. Hopefully someone finds something to challenge their preconceived notions of humanity, the novel and the metaphysical (something) realm.

-BLACK SUNLIGHT by Dambudzo Marechera There are no words to describe my love of Marechera—flaws and all. A man so totally of and outside of time. A changeling raised on literature and violence. Here he is, writing a stream-of-consciousness descent into pain, trauma, violence, war, and control. Culture won't save you. Ideology won't save you, and certainly not God or a politician. Backed into a corner and squatting in a formerly bombed-out building, Marechera writes the world as a hellscape. Get used to the sulfur.

- THE WIG by Charles Wright: Ever wear a wig and have it instantly, magically alter who you are and your perception of stardom? Now, were you also high? Yes, this is the book.

- APE AND ESSENCE by Aldous Huxley: Perhaps the only novel I know of that takes place in the Antelope Valley. BRAVE NEW WORLD, but with a Luciferian bend.

- DEATH'S JEST-BOOK by Thomas Lovell Beddoes: A Jacobean tragicomedy on mortality and immortality, mainly written to showcase the most beautiful gothic lyrical poetry.

- THE CHANGELING by Joy Williams: The literary equivalent of ERASERHEAD, but from a mother's perspective. Is my child really my child? Or am I an alcoholic stranger to myself?

- MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS by Amos Tutuola: Hilarious and fun Yoruba fairy tales about a young boy trying to live amongst monsters and ghosts after his village is raided by slavers. Features a lot of stinky, fecal-covered demons eager to eat but too stupid to outwit a child.

- PROJECT FOR A REVOLUTION IN NEW YORK by Alain Robbe-Grillet: I don't know how to describe any Robbe-Grillet novel. Just be ready for a fun, experimental ride.

- THE SLUTS by Dennis Cooper: A very disturbing but accessible descent into twisted chat rooms discussing the downfall of a rent boy. A forum of the most depraved desires—a true comment on the human psyche.

- CORRECTION by Thomas Bernhard: A huge run-on sentence about grief, art-making, and hermitage. A novel so against humanity—but not in the way you'd expect. More like a retreat from too much feeling...

- THE KEY by Junichiro Tanizaki: So your sex life is on pause? Why not take photos of your wife while she's sleeping to get over your E.D.?

- MIDDLE PASSAGE by Charles R. Johnson: A retelling of the Middle Passage with a magical interruption.

- THE VOICE by Gabriel Okara: Wish I could remember this very obscure novel well. But from what I recall, it's something like possession by the ancestors—a redirection away from the path of the colonizer. Metaphorical and poetic.

- THE FIFTH CHILD by Doris Lessing: Another changeling, but this Bad Seed is the star of an enthralling novella. Read it in one sitting.

- A FEAST OF SNAKES by Harry Crews: A small town in the middle of nowhere is known for a drastic festival every year where people from all over the world enjoy the pleasure of killing snakes. This one is for Adam & Eve.

- DHALGREN by Samuel R. Delany: You walk into a city, scrub your face, and become a new person every five months. A tale of transformation and return.

- BLUE OF NOON by Georges Bataille: Languishing in excess and filth is the modern way. For those with an S&M kink, served with some French surreal extremes.

- CITIES OF THE RED NIGHT by William S. Burroughs: An occult, Chaos Magick detective novel featuring time-traveling pirates liberating all of humanity? Or something like that. (Read this like nine years ago.)

- THE BOOK OF DISQUIET by Fernando Pessoa: Ever go to a cafe and see a man writing there every day, only for him to suddenly disappear? Then you find his journal of philosophical musings explaining his solipsism and the inevitable consequence of inaction? Yeah, me neither.

- PEDRO PÁRAMO by Juan Rulfo: Walk into a ghost town looking for your heritage, only to stay in purgatory for infinity.

- THE FREELANCE PALLBEARERS by Ishmael Reed

- FOREST OF A THOUSAND DAEMONS by D. O. Fagunwa: Yoruba fairy tales about a hunter lost in the bush. Just as fun as anything by Amos Tutuola.

- THE FARM by Clarence Cooper Jr.: An experimental novel with poetic meter and rhyme about a prison/rehab. Written by one of the most disregarded Black authors of the '60s and '70s.

- REFLEX AND BONE STRUCTURE by Clarence Major: An experimental meta murder mystery. Need to read again.

- WE WHO ARE ABOUT TO... by Joanna Russ: A shipwrecked science-fiction tale of repopulation, written by a militant feminist ready to explode the plot and murder the human race. Fucking brilliant.

- BLUE BAMBOO by Osamu Dazai: Fairy tales and fantasies of a master storyteller. If you've only read NO LONGER HUMAN, you're getting just a fraction of Dazai's brilliance.

- JAPANESE TALES OF MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION by Edogawa Rampo: The Japanese Edgar Allan Poe, but stranger, kinkier, and more surreal. You have never read anything like this before.

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Forgot how hard this goes.

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Stumbled upon this beautiful day in the life of a Carmelite Nun on youtube. The cinematographer truly captured the peace of this community. I am not always the best Catholic, but I truly believe in the mission of monastic societies such as these. Peace is found in community, the beauty and sublimity of nature and meaningful labor in the support of Love and God. Nearly cried at the beauty of this practice. Truly a model of respect.

.... The fact that nuns are not a possible tag but "sexy nuns" or just simply monks demonstrates the problem with society.

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Obsessed with this song again. Everything is cyclical.