some online writing i've been liking

this short by sean lovelace over at juked.

this story by matt bell, which probably everyone knows about, at storyglossia.

these poems by j. marcus weekley at prick of the spindle.

this thing by david erlewine at 971 menu. incidentally, 971 is now taking all lengths of stories. hooray. greg, i may send you something this summer if that's okay, if i have a thing to send. i won't be sad if you say no, don't worry. it won't mess up our friendship. i will feel a little hurt, understandably. you will feel, i hope, slightly guilty. we may stop visiting each others websites as much. i might turn to meditation, seeking to calm my pain. you may, understandably, renege your rejection and ask me to send again, the guilt too much. i may, confusedly, stop crying and say, Wha? really?

this thing at elimae by Nathan Neely.

and i almost really love this story by Larry Shapiro at anderbo, but i don't quite. though i did enjoy reading it, by the end i felt cheated or something. or perhaps maybe by the middle i began thinking, No, do something else, please do something else. it lacked surprise, but still, the read was nice and for whatever reason i couldn't stop, so that's something. also, it's longer than most of the stories listed here and strangely is the only 'traditional' story of the group (whenever i use 'traditional' or 'kafka-esque' or 'avant-garde' i think i'm using these terms in the broadest sense instead of attemping to really define what i'm saying in two or three paragraphs (though i believe i have done this in the past, giving my definition of 'avant-garde' and 'representationalism,' at least in terms of so-called 'minimalism'). there's a lot of stuff going on right now about the word 'experimental.' some not liking that word because it's too vague, broad, non-specific and sometimes limiting, etc. 'experimental' is set up as the opposite of 'traditional,' i think. but oddly, no one i've read lately seems to have a problem with the word 'traditional' (not that i've seen anyway) or for that matter 'linear' or even for that matter something like 'plot-driven,' which all seem equally vague and limiting to me, if you think about it; ie, 'plot-driven' stuff to me often seems more 'character-driven,' etc. my worry is terms like 'experimental' or 'avant-garde' are seen as not-good because they are non-specific, loose, limiting, but then no one seems to care when something is called 'traditional' or something. so, it feels like a 'slippery-slope;' if you're going to give up 'experimental' then you also have to give up 'traditional.' i'm fine with that. i think i like that, but there has to be awareness of both sides of the terminology. also, the discussion or dislike of 'experimental' shows maybe a bias toward this type of work (whatever it may be), where it is viewed as 'better' and not deserving of limitation in the same way 'traditional' work can be.) sorry for the digression, anderbo-story.

this 'kafka-esque' (ha ha) thing by Thomas Cooper at annalemma.