So more about the book, which is going to be a big theme here for the next few weeks, not so much because it’s about to publish — the ‘on-sale date’ (as I’ve learned it’s called) is 12/28/10, just in time for Christmas, lol, but I’m kind of glad to be missing out on the whole Christmas-rush thing anyway because it feels like the book is really being published in a new year, and the last one wasn’t so great in many ways; I mean I’m starting to wonder if there’s ever been a time when people have reached the end of a year and looked back and said, ‘damn, we as a society got a lot of great shit done and we all pretty much got along and everybody had enough to eat and maybe some left over to go on a vacation or buy something nice (like a book, for example), and we weren’t worried about losing our house or job and everyone who died did so peacefully in their sleep surrounded by friends and family, and all the stray cats and dogs and gay tweens found homes, and more treaties were signed than wars broke out and the United States stopped selling weapons and focused our attention on renewable energy etc. etc.’ the point being, this was probably not that year, and I don’t think we’ve had a really great one in a while, so maybe in 2011 the stars will align and we’ll all take Friday afternoons off and talk about the great work we did during the rest of the week and how we ‘made a difference’ which is a phrase I’ve seen cropping up a lot lately in both news and fiction I’ve been reading, the latter by authors including Robert Musil and DFW both of whom I think were pretty much resigned to the idea that it’s impossible to do so and really a recipe for misery and embarrassment for anyone who thinks otherwise (see. e.g., Charlie Rangel’s statement about how he ‘made a difference’ as a career politician in Washington, DC, which is not the hook I want to hang my hat on (and I’m not talking about politicians specifically, I just mean the idea of any career) if/when I make to to 80 y.o., not because I don’t believe in progress or am s000 pessimistic abt everything but because I think a feature of the modern world is that it’s beyond anyone’s control and is really an indicator of a srsly inflated ego to think otherwise — but (and I realize that was a long digression sorry!) because the next few weeks are kind of ‘booked up’ for me which means I won’t have tons of time for blogging, but just know if I’m not around that I’ll be having a mild nervous breakdown pretty much 24/7, for example it’s 5:00 am right now and I’ve been up since 3:00 am because someone in our bldg is having a party and they played — get ready for it — BAD COMPANY wtf — and there’s something about the wind patterns inside this bldg that makes our apartment smell like a cigarette which nothing against my smoking friends is not something I enjoy at 3:00, plus there’s the whole teeth-grinding/bruxism (crazy word, right?) thing and trying to adjust to a mouth guard, which is pretty much a lost cause, oh and worrying about what my mother is going to think about the book because she’s had a rough year too and the novel is not exactly ‘kind to parents’ lol and she’s very much the type to ‘make it abt her’ so to speak instead of just ‘chilling’ with the idea that it’s fiction and as a writer I like most ppl I think tend to pull and shade from many different parts of my life, the point being that I don’t want her to be made miserable by the book, I’m way beyond that ‘rebellious’ phase of my life, but at least the cats are here to keep me company and thank god because they’re always like, ‘jesus, why don’t you just relax for a second wtf?’ which is part of the feline magic we all know and love. The truth is, I’ll probably be here more or less constantly, except when I’m not, so yeah, I need to get some sleep in the hour or so that remains of this cold and noxious night.

So more about the book, which is going to be a big theme here for the next few weeks, not so much because it’s about to publish — the ‘on-sale date’ (as I’ve learned it’s called) is 12/28/10, just in time for Christmas, lol, but I’m kind of glad to be missing out on the whole Christmas-rush thing anyway because it feels like the book is really being published in a new year, and the last one wasn’t so great in many ways; I mean I’m starting to wonder if there’s ever been a time when people have reached the end of a year and looked back and said, ‘damn, we as a society got a lot of great shit done and we all pretty much got along and everybody had enough to eat and maybe some left over to go on a vacation or buy something nice (like a book, for example), and we weren’t worried about losing our house or job and everyone who died did so peacefully in their sleep surrounded by friends and family, and all the stray cats and dogs and gay tweens found homes, and more treaties were signed than wars broke out and the United States stopped selling weapons and focused our attention on renewable energy etc. etc.’ the point being, this was probably not that year, and I don’t think we’ve had a really great one in a while, so maybe in 2011 the stars will align and we’ll all take Friday afternoons off and talk about the great work we did during the rest of the week and how we ‘made a difference’ which is a phrase I’ve seen cropping up a lot lately in both news and fiction I’ve been reading, the latter by authors including Robert Musil and DFW both of whom I think were pretty much resigned to the idea that it’s impossible to do so and really a recipe for misery and embarrassment for anyone who thinks otherwise (see. e.g., Charlie Rangel’s statement about how he ‘made a difference’ as a career politician in Washington, DC, which is not the hook I want to hang my hat on (and I’m not talking about politicians specifically, I just mean the idea of any career) if/when I make to to 80 y.o., not because I don’t believe in progress or am s000 pessimistic abt everything but because I think a feature of the modern world is that it’s beyond anyone’s control and is really an indicator of a srsly inflated ego to think otherwise — but (and I realize that was a long digression sorry!) because the next few weeks are kind of ‘booked up’ for me which means I won’t have tons of time for blogging, but just know if I’m not around that I’ll be having a mild nervous breakdown pretty much 24/7, for example it’s 5:00 am right now and I’ve been up since 3:00 am because someone in our bldg is having a party and they played — get ready for it — BAD COMPANY wtf — and there’s something about the wind patterns inside this bldg that makes our apartment smell like a cigarette which nothing against my smoking friends is not something I enjoy at 3:00, plus there’s the whole teeth-grinding/bruxism (crazy word, right?) thing and trying to adjust to a mouth guard, which is pretty much a lost cause, oh and worrying about what my mother is going to think about the book because she’s had a rough year too and the novel is not exactly ‘kind to parents’ lol and she’s very much the type to ‘make it abt her’ so to speak instead of just ‘chilling’ with the idea that it’s fiction and as a writer I like most ppl I think tend to pull and shade from many different parts of my life, the point being that I don’t want her to be made miserable by the book, I’m way beyond that ‘rebellious’ phase of my life, but at least the cats are here to keep me company and thank god because they’re always like, ‘jesus, why don’t you just relax for a second wtf?’ which is part of the feline magic we all know and love. The truth is, I’ll probably be here more or less constantly, except when I’m not, so yeah, I need to get some sleep in the hour or so that remains of this cold and noxious night.

1 year ago 84 notes #This post is abt The Metrpolis Case #And bruxism

84 Notes

  1. ideleteme said: ♥ sometimes I feel like things deserve more than the one.
  2. talix18 said: When I’m preoccupied and/or crazy, the cat brings me back. He meows or gets in my way and I growl at him, then remember that he’s temporary and one day I’m going to miss his meowing and getting in the way. Then I sit and pet him, in the moment.
  3. swamibooba said: Aaaannnnnddd preoredered.
  4. langer said: 744 words. In two sentences! YOU ARE SOME KIND OF A GOD MATTHEW GALLAWAY!
  5. sdotmarymartha said: “I think a feature of the modern world is that it’s beyond anyone’s control and is really an indicator of a srsly inflated ego to think otherwise” YUSS. Also, I plan for your book to be a new year treat for me!
  6. hotelcharlie said: This was beautiful. Thanks and good luck with everything. I will surely be picking up a copy.
  7. smackadelic said: now THIS is the shiznit…..congratulations man!
  8. nosleeptillbrooklyn said: congrats!