You Are Here, Jerk

I'm pretty wit-deficient at the moment, what with Bulls v. Cavs Game 4 dominating my brain. Two thoughts regarding the same:

(1) Delonte West makes me very, very sad

(2) Poohdini and Leandro Barbosa should race, preferably in some kind of charity potato sack race around Millennium Park

Here's the deal: there's brand-new shit to read at Literary Tonic, a tweener piece (long flash/very short story?) called "The Multiverse." LT has a sharp, clean look, not unlike a Johnny Gill flattop circa '91, and plenty of quality reads. Show 'em some love and toss some nouns and verbs their way.

Snarf, Get at Me

Spring has barely sprung, and already Chicago's gotten weird. Our baseball managers are making questionable moves on the North and South Sides, respectively, our ponytailed centers are bashing the City of Cleveland in the media, are our coeds are donning hotpants in fifty-degree weather like there's a Road Rules casting call on the horizon. God help us all.

Speaking of weird, go to CVS sometime. Any CVS. I personally guarantee you will exit a different person. On that note, peep "Thundercat" over at IsGreaterThan. Big ups to Paul Davis, proprietor and all-around great guy. Be on the lookout for the iPad-friendly IGT Anthology, coming to iTunes in the very-near future.

Emotions Were Running Very High

I sort of forgot how incredible Found is. There's something oddly moving about the sincerity with which folks like Bette apologize to "The Community" for recent boorish behavior. My jealousy toward Davy Rothbart and company has been rekindled.

Speaking of letters, get your grubby paws on the newest issue of Eclectic Flash, wherein you'll find your boy's "A Letter to a Real Hot Shot Leading Man." Available as a .pdf for the cheapskates, but cop the real deal- keep print alive, or something. It was good enough for the Tang Dynasty and it's good enough for you, Fancy Boy/Girl. Thanks to all at EF for the nod.

TC'ing Some B

Congrats to Duke for ruining 2010's Feel Good Story of the Year last night. I had a feeling Butler's "luck" (can you really call holding all of your opponents to under 60 PPG throughout the entire NCAA Tournament "luck," though?) would run out and the universe would realign itself but, damn, what a game. Even better than KU/Memphis in '08.

But let's cut to the chase- there's enough hoops talk on this blog to satisfy Rony Seikaly's scholarly pursuits well into the 2020's. New shit to read at Amphibi.us ("Administrative Professionals Day"), a Mad Men-inspired foray into the world of workplace sexism. That, and Chicago-based Harrison Ford movies from the early-'90s. Many thanks to Shannon for the inclusion.

Get Metsmerized, Stupid!

As if you needed proof that Howard Johnson was the single greatest rapper of his era... And don't sleep on Rafael Santana's broken-English flow, lest you deny yourself pure heat.

Your boy's honored to be a part of the annual Hobart baseball issue- check out "Spinning Yarns," a flash fiction piece about a fibbing knuckleballer, here. Many thanks to Aaron and company for making the bullpen call on this one. And big ups to the 2010 Cubbies, recent recipients of Tim Kurkjian's "they might be okay" seal of approval.

TGIGF

It's only fitting that, today being Good Friday and all, I've got JC on the brain. I'm of course speaking of Jimmy Christmas, the titular deceased hero of "Jimmy Christmas is Dead," my latest offering (read it here, at Wigleaf). An examination of grief and suburban cheesecake the whole family will enjoy. Many thanks to Scott for the nod- feel a bit like Christian Laettner on the Dream Team, as in "not sure how I got here but happy as shit that I did."

Happy Easter/Belated Pesach.