Sunday, 28 August 2011

I'M FUCKING BORED OF THE INTERNET

edit: wrote this while drunk. now it is morning and i'm not drunk. i think i'll leave it as it is though.

Tomorrow is a bank holiday. This is the reason I will write this. This is the reason that earlier I went to the library. I was going to go to the library tomorrow to print some things off and do some work but because of the bank holiday and the library being closed, I went this evening. I was going to get the train, looked up the train to get and started walking. But when I got to the station the train had just pulled in: I had no time to get on the train or buy a ticket. The next train was in half an hour so I went to the nearest bus stop and got on a bus. I hailed the first bus that came along and, a it pulled into the stop, I realised it was the wrong one. I apologised to the driver and he said nothing as the doors closed and the bus left. The bus arrived shortly afterwards. The campus is slightly out of town and the bus takes a turn into it just as the motorway starts. Sign-posts next to the side of the road showed in diagrams something that happened to the road. Orange lights, bent over. The bus pulled in and I crossed the road, went through an underpass and crossed a bridge over the railway lines. The air was cool and somewhat damp, in a refreshing way. I crossed the rugby pitch towards the buildings. In the library computer pool room, the only part of the university open, there were several students there. I was surprised anyone was there tonight. I printed 77 pages and left. I saw the bus leave as I crossed back over the bridge, so spent some time walking around campus. A girl was talking in the middle of a path on her phone. From behind, I had assumed she was waiting for someone. It seemed like an odd place, in the middle of nowhere, to stop to talk on the phone. I passed her and entered an area--I'm not sure what you would call it, not a square, just an area really--in front of the library with a few benches. There were three girls sitting on one of the benches. One of their faces was lit up by a laptop. I sat on one some distance away and looked at the lines of the floor the ran away from me. I waited for several minutes--I had timed how long it took to get here and worked out how long it'd take to walk back to the bus stop in time for the next bus. Several minutes passed. I got up and walked past the three girls sitting on the bench. I walked past the girl talking on the phone. I walked under the underpass and waited at the station. I took the bus back and got Indian take-away, two bottles of beer and a can of gin and tonic. I walked home, to another evening where nothing had or would happen.

Monday, 15 August 2011

FREE MINI-CHAPBOOK




It's size A6, 16 pages long/short.
Email me your address if you want one: Gilesruffer@gmail.com

Friday, 5 August 2011

Macmann
trying to bundle
his sex into
his partner's
like a pillow
into a pillow-slip
folding it in two
and
stuffing it in
with his fingers


- Samuel Beckett
"Malone Dies"

Saturday, 23 July 2011

Translated Titles

the time machine in the jacuzzi (russia)
a crazy crazy jacuzzi (greece)
jacuzzi past (estonia)
teleported in adolescence (romania)
a crazy trip to the past (argentina)
a blast from the past (italy)
hot tub - back in the 80's (germany)
very hot tub (france (dvd title))
the hangover (brazil)

Friday, 10 June 2011

books i've read recently

NOW by Gabriel Josipovici
Think this was about 95% dialogue and there seemed to be a fair amount of characters so it became confusing at times as to who was who. Really enjoyed reading it though. Got it out from the library. Want to read more novels by him.

THE LESSONS OF MODERNISM by Gabriel Josipovici
Still kind of reading this. Collection of essays. Seems to reaffirm a lot of beliefs I have about "art", I guess.

SIX MORAL TALES by Eric Rohmer
Written as short stories before they were eventually made in to films. Some are a little different from the film versions. Reminds me of Nouveau Roman-style, maybe. Makes me want to write a book of several short stories all with the same basic plot.

GROW UP by Ben Brooks
3255 (iphone) page coming-of-age epic. Really enjoyable book. Made me think of being in sixth form, but not really in a nostalgic way. Made me laugh out loud a lot. A lot more straight-forward (and at times laconic) than Fences or TKSN, but still has some great poetic lines. There's also an 'on-drugs' 'stream-of-consciousness' bit which didn't make me cringe at all and I actually thought was really good. That's probably a first ever. Looking forward to getting the real version and giving it to people I know. Looking forward to seeing what other people think of it.

LITTLE HANDS CLAPPING by Dan Rhodes
I'm about 2/3rds the way through. Seems to be a lot of character developing back-stories for the first third of the book. Looking forward to seeing how it comes together. I feel like I haven't read something like this in a long time as most of the contemporary stuff I read is by people on the internet. Seems refreshing for me. Ben sent it to me because he is nice.

Sunday, 22 May 2011

I'm pretty sure our oven is the same temperature whatever

She walks down the stairs and stops midway. She stoops for a moment, in front of the drop in the ceiling, even though she is not tall enough to have to duck for it. Her hair is black and wiry, but it would be hard to mistake the black wire coming from her ears for hair. She finishes walking down the stairs and goes to the fridge, opening it with the same hand that holds an mp3 player. She takes out two plastic bowls – one with rice, the other with chilli – and places them on the kitchen table, eyes on them all the time. She shuts the fridge door and goes back up the stairs managing to never make eye contact with me.

Saturday, 30 April 2011

Tuesday, 19 April 2011

Some notes


1. From a distance, a short distance, the mound looks archaic. I want to pray to it. I eat my lunch there and pray to god for an avocado.

2. The sun reflects off the dried gravel as I shield my eyes by looking at the floor. Woodchip and broken glass. Grass. The sea would be invisible if it weren’t for the land.

3. Across the coast I can see the line where the shade meets the sun. I watch it. I watch it waiting for it to bathe me in warmth.

Tuesday, 12 April 2011

I haven't written a blog post in a while.

Somethings I like on the internet.

I like that most of Dischord Record's back catalogue is now on Spotify.

I like that my friend Sarah Reid has a blog of her writing. I wish all my friends had blogs.

I like that I can listen to this song repeatedly.

I like DJ Berndt, inventor of the internet.

Also, I read this a while ago and remember thinking, Why haven't I gotten around to reading Oikos yet?

Tuesday, 29 March 2011

i watched as sudden flames
tore through a novel i had
spent ten million minutes
composing

what was the use? what was the use!

she only ever let slip
the truth involuntarily
as a sudden collision
took place in her

- Marcel Proust
"The Prisoner"

Saturday, 19 March 2011



subtitles:
man: where's the coffee?
woman: we're all out.

Friday, 11 March 2011

would anyone like a copy of Granta 113? I have two spare copies for some reason. First come, first served. GONE!!!!


Tuesday, 8 March 2011

The Way Cafegoers Are

Since I hadn't talked to anybody for quite some time
I had nothing against exchanging a few words
however briefly
with someone or other

I thought and thought about how it could be done
but the more I studied the faces around me the more difficult it appeared
with all those eyes that seemed not to see:
the world has certainly become depressing

- Kjell Askildsen
"Thomas F's Last Notes for the General Public"

Friday, 4 March 2011

"I just want to make a perfect tray of tofu"

The best way I have found to cook tofu is by frying them in a lot of oil, separately/on their own.
It's practically deep-frying them and probably negates any of the beneficial health properties they might at one point have held.
This technique also works well, to a reasonable degree, with aubergine.

Sunday, 27 February 2011

The Wisest Course

She lit an oil-lamp
You have no current? I said
No, she said, but I have running water and gas
Ha, I said, you have gas
She began to undress

- Samuel Beckett
"First Love"

Tuesday, 15 February 2011

i am beginning to realise how little i understand

i am beginning to realise how little
i understand about science
to rectify this
i have started listening to
anatomy and physiology podcasts
and watching youtube videos
searching words like 'phagocytosis'

i have several powerpoint presentations
on my usb memory stick
but all of the time spent trying
to understand more about science
results only in being able to
recall words like 'phagocytosis'

maybe tomorrow i will buy
some A3 paper and colour pens
so that i can explain to myself
exactly what a phagocyte is/does

Tuesday, 25 January 2011

When Cherries are in season
they cost like
two euros a kilo or something
in Spain

Wednesday, 12 January 2011

there's this song i think you'd like although i don't know if you'd actually like it because the only reason why i think you'd like it is that it reminds me of you and i don't know what to do about this

i like the way you
(when sitting opposite me)
chew with your whole mouth

your jaw moves independently;
your eye-lids fall with pleasure
as you eat your food

i like the way you
are persistent when something
won't stay on your cutlery

patting it down with the side
of the knife repeatedly, i could count
but i could not keep a straight face

Saturday, 8 January 2011

Papa Topo

Thinking about turning this blog into a Papa Topo Fan-site.