1, 2, 3, 4

1. Fictional Phone Call:
Dad calls up, says, “Hey. I’m coming to visit. I want you to teach me how to smoke and drink.”
"Okay,” I say. “I’ll teach you what little I’ve learned.”
Mom’s not gonna be too happy about that call. She’s not a fan of alcohol. Dad either, mind you.





2. Poem About Racists (inspired/co-written by a friend):
Racists are pretty clever
Instead of hating everyone and everything
They concentrate their hate on certain people
Which leaves them enough room to be
Good fathers
Good sons
Good mothers
Brothers
Daughters
Lovers

3. Hmmm:
What if…
…your goal is to have no goals?
…your ambition is to not be ambitious?
…you want to make friends with people who don’t make friends?
…you want to meet the kinds of girls who don’t go to places where girls get met?
…you don’t want to read books about people who read books?

4. Excerpts from my copy of Michel Houellebecq's Platform:
“’I really like swimming, I really like making love,’ she told me again. ‘But I don’t like dancing, I don’t know how to enjoy myself, and I’ve always hated parties. Do you think that’s normal?’
I hesitated for a long time before replying. ‘I don’t know,’ I said at last. ‘All I know is that I’m the same.’” p. 159

“What did I, for my part, have to reproach the West for? Not much -but I wasn’t especially attached to it (and I was finding it more and more difficult to understand how one could feel attached to an idea, a country, anything, in fact, other than an individual). Life was expensive in the West, it was cold there; the prostitution was of poor quality. It was difficult to smoke in public places, almost impossible to buy medicine and drugs; you worked hard, there were cars, and noise, and the security in public places was very badly implemented. All in all, it had numerous drawbacks.” p. 236.

Buy Platform, one of the great modern romances, here.