Marnie Stern - "For Ash"

Splash. "Shhh," fizz fizz, "shhh." An antacid in water looks like a victim, somehow. A time-lapse decaying little bone. Like destroying evidence. As I drink it down, I wonder about forensics, of bullets shot into tanks of water, like pills into my stomach.

I have an ulcer, and a headache, and a shitty boyfriend, but I'm not complaining. I'm summarizing the events of the day in a neutral way, to list them out to take a clinical and well-adjusted look in the metaphorical mirror. So the use of "shitty" must be stricken from the record.

He called me yesterday to say he was going on tour again. That was the first I'd heard from him in 4 days. I called a person's hallowe'en costume racist on their facebook wall. I half-choked on a bite of cereal, Froot Loops. I have decided I will not buy Froot Loops again, that return to my childhood was not nostalgic, it just tasted like chemicals.

I brought a stopwatch to work today, which I stopped and started every time I actually sat down and worked. The total at the end of an 8-hour day was 3:31. I was asked by 4 people for change, I did not give change to any of them. I said to myself, "At least that's fair." I voted today, Democrat. I polished a pair of my shoes, I drank ginger tea, I masturbated to the image of being sexually assaulted by a man with no visible face.

I listened to Marnie Stern, she felt like this: a torrent of water being split in two, a ripping rending flow out from the world, a geyser with your thumb over the hole.

I casually called 911 and said "oops, sorry" and hung up. I was so overcome by the tension in my relationship, that I carved the words "nesting instinct" into the paint of my bedroom wall. This caused an attack from my ulcer. Here I am.

[Buy]

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Josephine Foster & The Victor Herrero Band - "Cuatro Muleros"

My husband, he is a great man. He drinks and he kisses me when he is drunk, and his cheeks are flush and warm. His hands are big and strong, and he laughs so his teeth show beneath his moustache. He will sing as he cooks, and we often cook together, with the help of our sons. The government is mean, but my husband does not get upset, he lifts his eyes up and thanks the Lord for his job and his family. He smokes too much, I do not like his breath when he smokes.

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Anda Jaleo is a fantastic album. I listened to it through three times already today. [Buy from Fire Records]

(photo by Alison Scarpulla)