been a long, long time

seems i can't ever keep this thing updated.

no apologies, though, as they'd be disingenuous.

updates:

i have a few poems in the new anthology AgressiveBehaviour2, which will be available for purchase from Bottle of Smoke Press soon. this anthology is a collaboration with Owen Roberts of Compulsive Press and BOSPress. lots of great poets and some damn fine poetry between the covers.

i had a poem in the first issue of Buk Scene.

Julie Buffaloe-Yoder was kind enough to mention me in a post on her blog The Buffaloe Pen.

nibble magazine's website will soon feature an 8 question interview with me, too. keep your eyes peeled for that.

that's it for me.

speaking of nibble, my good buddy Jeff Fleming, the editor of nibble, has a new book, The Bones of Saints Under Glass, out with Propaganda Press. this book is phenomenal, with touching poems about being a father of two young boys, being a husband, being a man in today's world. lyrical, gorgeous and right-damn-on! at $5 it's a freaking steal.

a derelict blogger

forgive me readers, for i have been derelict. it has been FOREVER since my last post. i wish i could say it won't happen again, but...

so, what's new, you ask?

well...

i have three poems featured in the first ever Literary Mary print journal. it's a damn fine, perfect-bound, glossy cover journal rife with fabulous poems.

i have a poem in the second issue of Poeisis, published by Propaganda Press. the featured poet is J.J. Campbell. this journal, too, is full of great poems.

reviews of my books from Propaganda Press, [untitled] and Nowhere, Utah, appear here. (scroll down, read the other reviews as well).

i had a poem in the most recent issue of Nerve Cowboy, too.

other than that, nothing much else new.

look, in the future, for some reviews of some fantastic chapbooks. i have been meaning to get to reviewing them for a bit now and it's high time i give the couch a break from having to hold up my fat ass.

UPDATE: as Hosho and Chris were so kind to remind me, i was negligent in my forgetting a most important anthology, Octothorp #1, being released by sunnyoutside. i would like to thing the reason they were so vocal about my error was because they are looking out for my best interest, but the truth of the matter is they both are also featured in said anthology. ;)

thanks, guys.

this collection will be a doozy. check out the lineup.

i'm still humbled by the folks i get the pleasure of consistently sharing the printed page with.

write like me!

actually, cunningham here, letting the good folks at This Poet's Life know about a little contest going on over at Lit. Mary.

head over and prove that you're WAY more j.b than j.b.

my-graines

it took years before i realized that not everyone had a headache every day. suffering through one was so commonplace for me, that i assumed everyone was the same.

in fact, i cannot remember a time when i didn't suffer with a headache. it wasn't every single day, but it was easily 6 days a week. there would be months where i had a headache every day.

as a small child, they were so bad they would cause me to vomit. turns out now i was suffering from migraines (which often cause kids to vomit), but at the time it was assumed my severe allergies were causing me to swallow copious amounts of mucus, which created the vomiting. that might've had a play in it, but migraines were certainly at play as well.

i don't have headaches every day, now. thankfully. i've gotten my allergies mostly under control through a combination of immunotherapy (shots) and pharmaceuticals (Zyrtec is a godsend). this has curtailed the daily sinus headahce (or mostly). but, the migraines still persist.

it wasn't until recently, though, that i was diagnosed with migraines. i was always told my headaches were due to sinusitis, allergies, etc.
but, about a year ago i began to see these really weird flashing, colored lights in my field of vision, in only my right eye. i thought i was having a stroke. the lights grew until my nearly my entire field of vision was covered with scintillating color. like blinking rainbows. very strange.

i went to our doctor, and she told me that these are called >migraine auras (mine look almost exactly like this), they are fairly rare, and that migraines typically evolve over time which accounts for the new symptoms. she also suffers from migraines, so she has some experience.

anyway, i got them about once a week. no headaches followed (which turns out to be a real phenomenon, though rare). they have since gone away, but the headaches have returned. the typically light sensitivity, throbbing pain (like your brain playing drums with itself against the inside of your skull), etc. i get them about once a month, or so.

had a few this christmas break. not sure why.

unfortunately, the only cure is sleep.

i haven't had an aura in 6 months or so. i kinda miss them. they were pretty. a little disconcerting, but pretty.

if any of you suffer from migraines, tell me your symptoms. there are so many, and everyone's are different. auditory sensitivity? tunnel vision? field of vision disturbances?

if not, count yourselves lucky. they suck.

have a happy and safe new year's eve and day, folks!

poetry update

i received the newest issues of Nerve Cowboy and nibble, where some of my poetry is featured. i have one poem, for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, in Nerve Cowboy #26, and two poems, outside our front window and Coda, in nibble #4. also in nibble is a review by Jeff Fleming of my new chapbook, [untitled], published by Propaganda Press.

i also received word that a poem, What does that say about me?, has been accepted for the March issue of Beatnik Cowboy out of Thailand. i'll update with more info as it becomes available.

i hope everyone who celebrates it had a wonderful Christmas. here's to 2009 being great year for all.

look here soon for a review of a chapbook i've recently received, and other stuff.

more things i can do without

people who think they aren't racist despite laughing at racist jokes,

or using racist epithets.

people who think bowling is a sport. chess, poker, darts,

billiards or NASCAR, too.

corruption.

people who insist on coming into work sick, thereby infecting

everyone else with their nastiness.

those who lack basic consideration for another's feelings.

cockroaches.

snowy commutes.

type A personality dickheads.

devil's advocates who think they're debating when they're

merely baiting.

company holiday parties.

things i can do without (cont'd)

people incapable of empathy or compassion,
     or too blinded by ideology to attempt either
people who put no value in scientific findings

olympic sports that include the words synchronized,

     equestrian, or rhythmic.

commercials that "gospel" or "hip hop" up the jingle

     because black people are featured in it

people who are proud of being ignorant

arrogant, overpaid, overwhelmingly inept CEOs

hockey

racists

nepotism and cronyism

people who've worked at a company for years, have sent

     hundreds of faxes, even, and still fuck it up each

     and every time they touch the damn machine

fascism

Nowhere, Utah

my latest chapbook from Propaganda Press, titled Nowhere, Utah, is now available for $3 (plus $1 for shipping; $2 overseas). you can order online above, or send a check or money order to the address posted on their website.

Nowhere, Utah is a mini-chapbook. #5 in their Pocket Protector Series. it's only "mini" by size, not in quality. and there are 64 pages. not a bad price for that much poetry.

my other chapbook, [untitled], by Propaganda Press is also still available if you haven't ordered it, yet. 60 pages. $7.

support the small press and your favorite local poet!

updates

i received in the mail today a copy of Cunningham's newest offering, a chapbook from Propaganda Press, titled A Sound to Drive Away the Coming Darkness. it's a fabulous book serving up a heaping serving of what we've come to expect from Cunningham: straight-up wordsmithing. wonderful poems in a beautiful, little chapbook. great cover photo by Cunningham's better half.

also, my broadside, Marriage, As Still Life, is available from 10pt Press. it's going for $5 and is so gorgeous it'll make you weep. [disclaimer: weeping isn't guaranteed.] below is the announcement poster Sean at 10pt Press whipped up:

this thing is truly suitable for framing. it's an art object and will look phenomenal on your wall. Sean is a master designer and makes the poem sing! for $5, it's a steal. they're going fast, so jump on this while they're still available!

issue 1

this is the most awesome thing ever.

a 3,785-page PDF poetry collection, featuring old and contemporary poets. some familiar names in this thing. some unfamiliar (which is to be expected considering it contains poems by so many poets). oh, what's so great? not a single featured poet wrote the poem that their credited for.

so, who wrote all these poems? a computer, apparently.

it's a farce.

and it's glorious.

the poetry sucks, but the comments from some of the writers at the end of the announcement page are worth their weight in gold. you just got punked, sucka!

things i can do without

bloviating, belligerent TV personalities
pedants
ass-kissing coworkers
bosses who accept and reward ass kissing
creationism
the BCS in college football
movies with talking dogs
people who spell their kids names in weird or phonetic ways
fat guys who wear tight shorts
fundamentalists (of any kind)
TV shows, movies or books about vampires
young earthers
women who wear makeup like it's armor
people who say supposably or irregardless or mind bottling
        or nucular or terrist or cellyer phone.

why living away from home sucks during the holidays

and it's not for the typical reasons. sure, i miss my family. i miss seeing my nephews and how they've grown.

but, the real reason it sucks to be so far away from family during the holidays is you're typically the only one who doesn't take time off for travel, or because you have family in town.

hear me out.

if your job is anything like mine (and hopefully it isn't, for your sake) your bosses have no idea what they are doing, really, and mask that lack of knowledge by creating a culture of everything-has-to-be-done-now. just about every manager at my company is a Chicken Little -- only with their head cut off -- running around freaked out that this or that isn't done. so, weekends and late nights are typical. not for me, mind you, as i make it abundantly clear that i have a life outside of work. i leave the late nights and weekends for those who don't (and there are plenty).

i do work weekends and stay late when absolutely, positively necessary; which is rare. in fact, i am typically the first one in in the morning not merely to beat the traffic (which is one reason) but so i can leave early and not get "caught up" in the swirling morass of inanity that typically leads one to working late.

what does this have to do with holidays and being away from family? well, every year around this time i end up being one of only a handful (or less) of people who are at work. take Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving) for instance. it was just me and my boss. and there was, of course, something so terribly important that absolutely had to be done ASAP that one of my coworkers was working on that i had to take over because she was off Wednesday. my boss, who has no life, knew that my family wasn't coming in, and that i wasn't going anywhere for the holiday, so, in light of the dire and pressing need of this thing getting done, created a situation where i had to work 11 hours and get out late. not a big deal except: it always happens to me (or those like me who are away from family). oh, and the thing i was working was, of course, not really that hot. it's just that, you know, the managers don't understand prioritizing. whenever anything is needed, it is needed now. despite the fact that what you are working on currently was needed yesterday. ends up you have 10 things you have to spread yourself between and all 10 are late.

anyway, the week between christmas and new years is always the worst. you can take 3 days of vacation and get 11 days off, or something like that. varies depending on the year. almost everyone does it. i won't. never do. i save my time for when it's not 4 degrees outside. but, i end up being the only one at work (with my boss, of course) and i end up having to stay late because what else have i got to do?

anyway. it would be best if the only reason it sucked being away from family during the holidays was because you missed them. sucks that you have to work for a bunch of incompetent assholes without lives who figure, since you're there at work, too, that you haven't a life either.

wrong!

update

i feel like a sinner, begging for your forgiveness:

forgive me, dear reader, for it has been quite some time since i last updated my blog. there are a few new developments to announce:

1) my pocket protector chapbook proof (titled Nowhere, Utah), from Propaganda Press, has been mailed to me, and will soon be available for purchase. i will update soon on price and howto purchase it...which you WILL do, right? yeah, i thought so...

2) my broadside "Marriage, in Still Life" from Ten Point Press will soon be available as well. i have signed all of them and they have arrived safely in Ireland. if you ordered one (thank you!) you can expect to receive it soon. if not, then why the hell not? seriously...the art alone is worth the $5.

i hope to update more often. things got a little hectic recently with the adoption and running around trying to gather things for our dossier...and with work...

soon

broadside update and a little about adoption

i received the 50 broadsides from 10 Point Press today, and i must tell you: they are unbelievable. really. the paper is thick and textured. the art is marvelous. the poem, well...it is my poem after all, so you can only imagine... :)

these broadsides are on sale for $5 each from 10 Point Press and will sell out quickly. they are already halfway there, so reserve your copy today. i'll be sending them back to Ireland very soon.


some of you may already know, others may not, but the wife and i have been trying to get pregnant for just over 9 months now. no dice. i know they say you can't really consider yourself having difficulty if you've been trying for less than a year, but we have extenuating circumstances with Julee's health such that she's on Lovenox shots twice a day (in her belly) and it's getting quite old for her. we've decided we're not going to proceed with artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization or even surrogacy. instead, we've taken a loan out and will be purchasing a baby from Ethiopia sometime next year.
anyway, just thought i'd let you guys know. we've been accepted by the adoption agency, have secured the loan and will be going through the myriad classes and many hours of home study. yea, us.

FURTHER UPDATE: in my haste i forgot to mention that i received my copy of Hosho McCreesh's broadside from 10 Point Press, and it's fucking phenomenal. the poem is typical McCreesh (i.e. beautiful and poignant) and the design is spot on. gorgeous work. i'm looking forward to the others, and to framing them all.

Dear George W. Bush

Dear George W. Bush,

Fuck you!

Sincerely,
justin.barrett

there's crazy, then there's batshit crazy

so, this lunatic thinks that Barack Obama is really not the son of his professed father, Barack Obama, Sr., but the lovechild of Malcolm X.

i gotta tell you, i just don't see. in the photo on the left, above, Malcolm X looks more like Denzel Washington to me.

i should be jaded by now, but i can still be amazed at the stupidity of people sometimes.

essay

i have an essay on Barack Obama featured at Along the Knife's Edge. check it out, join into the debate in the comments, or come back here and let me know what you think. also, keep your eyes on AtKE for future work from yours truly and other writers.

Baracktober

with an amazing month, it appears Barack Obama is poised to win this election by a landslide. come Tuesday night, we'll have ourselves a new President-elect. then, it's just waiting until January!

but, it really is spectacular what a tremendous rise Obama has taken since his keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention 4 years ago in Boston. this was the first time i'd ever heard of the guy, and he delivered a fantastic speech that gave me goosebumps. the speech is classic and contains all the things we've come to expect from an Obama speech: well-written; progressive messages of hope and change and the future; plenty of rhetoric; and an intellectual spirit we've been missing for the last 8 years.
from a relative unknown to President. amazing. with his grassroots efforts, his ubiquitous ground game, with the new voter registrations (i guess you could say he Baracked the Vote...i know, groan!), he put together one of the best presidential campaigns in recent memory. definitely better than the bungled campaign McCain and his staff duct-taped and woodglued together.

we're on the cusp of an historic day. i don't know about you guys, but i plan to take the day off, watch the exit polls trickle in, and wait for the moment they call it (which i predict won't be very long into the evening).

final Electoral College prediction:
Obama -- 378
McCain -- 160

lit update

Ten Point Press has announced the release of five gorgeous broadsides in their inaugural release: Hosho McCreesh's broadside THE BEAUTIFUL FIRE.

check the website for future updates and releases, including one from yours truly to be released in the very near future.

i have two pieces featured in the new online journal, Along the Knife's Edge. another, more serious, piece on Barack Obama will be posted soon. I'll update. Along the Knife's Edge is a new non-fiction journal looking for work in the vein of Harper's or The Onion. Serious or humorous. check them out.

lastly, my next chapbook, a part of the Pocket Protector series for Propaganda Press, will soon be released. i've heard it is compiled and ready to print. it'll sell for $3 and there will be special deals and other goodies associated with it. i'll update when i hear more.

the Nerve is back....and a killer website

just received notice that has been accepted to appear in the next issue of Nerve Cowboy! hot damn....it's been awhile, and it's great to be back. huzzah, suckas!
not sure if i mentioned it earlier, but i don't think i did, but two poems were taken by leah angstman, one each for the next two issues of poeisis.

also, check this shit out. fucking killer website. if you're at work, i'd wait. no boobies or anything like that, but there is profanity. but, then again, i just said fuck three sentences ago, and shit four ago...plus, i just said both in this sentence, so....fuck shit.

fake-breasted barbies + douchebags + obnoxious behavior =

deer widow weekend at Wendover, Nevada.

the wife and i spent the weekend with some good friends in Wendover, NV; and it just so happened to be deer widow weekend there. for those who don't know, deer widow weekend is the weekend of the first day that deer hunting is allowed. all the men go out to murder some animals, and the women drive to Wendover, about and hour and a half from Salt Lake City, to get drunk, act as obnoxious as possible, and to get picked up by douchebag men who don't hunt for deer, but for married women. it's has a long tradition.

anyway, it was deer widow weekend and it was a douchebag convention for sure. jesus, i haven't seen so many Armani Exchange t-shirts or spiked, bleached hair in my life. and more fake breasts this side of Los Angeles.

regardless, we had a good time. the people-watching was top notch. and spending time with good friends is always a treat.
come around Wendover this time next year if you really want to see what i mean. it was a trip.

jealous?

don't be.

it did snow last night, the first snow of the season. this good, i suppose, if you're a skier or other winter outdoor enthusiast.

the bad news is our furnace wasn't clicking on and it's been frigid in the house the last few nights. that night, we had a 6 inch pile of blankets on the bed and it was still chilly. unfortunately, i know nothing about furnaces so we called a guy to come out and look at it.

and

it exploded. no shit. the furnace exploded. nearly killed the guy.

why would a furnace explode, you ask? well, let me tell you (sit back and enjoy this):
our houses here in our beautiful community are literally 7 feet apart from each other. our east wall and our neighbor's west wall form our neighbor's back yard (actually side yard as there is no back yard...and calling it a yard is misleading, it's more of a smallish play area with fences on the north and south end). anyway, this time last year we had a similar problem and it turned out our neighbor's kids (there are 7, so take a pick as to which ones (and the house is only a 3 bedroom but don't ask me how they are situated)) stuffed a big rubber ball down the vent pipe (which is uncovered, and on our east wall) which caused the fumes to back up and the furnace to quit and our carbon monoxide detector to go off (yay!). i told the mother, then, that this was dangerous and to please tell her kids to not do this. PLEASE!!!

guess what?

just guess....i'll give you some time.

well, if you guessed that the same thing happened again, you'll be both wrong and right. the vent pipe was stuffed, but this time with 3 feet of rocks, sticks and pinecones (seriously, you should've seen the amount of crap that jettisoned from the pipe when the furnace guy pulled on it, it was ridiculous)...anyway, it was so stuffed that the fumes built up and the furnace exploded.

we were lucky. the furnace guy was supremely lucky. if he had been any closer he would've had a face full of fireball and maybe worse. he also said this could've exploded the house as it is a gas furnace. i don't know much, but i know an exploding house is general a bad thing.

so, i told the father this time (who is a moron on the highest order, and was out on their white-trash trampoline jumping with his children and acting like an imbecile (okay, he wasn't acting)) and he was like, "oh my" and "oh sheesh" and other non-profane exclamations of surprise...then i heard him tell his kids and they were like, "i didn't do that" and he said "i didn't mean you specifically, but in general just don't stuff things down that pipe"...it appears the mother didn't do anything when i told her last year. maybe she only told 6 of the 7 kids. it's hard with so many kids to make sure you teach them all the right way to act. i mean, with a role model like their mouth breathing father, can you really blame them?

yes, a little.

fucking assholes.

so, $600 dollars later...or, to be more precise, on Wednesday it'll cost us $600. that means 3 more days without heat. fucking awesome!

and, of course, i'm such a non-confrontational pussy that i didn't demand they pay for it. and now i hate myself for not demanding it...double whammy.

anyway, it did snow last night. those pictures are from our bedroom windows. not much, mind you, but it's like 60 degrees in the house right now. i can't feel my fingers, but typing with gloves is impossible.

oh, and before you ask, yes, we are getting a grate put over the pipe, but it will still have holes in it to vent the fumes and i bet you this happens again next year. hopefully, though, no one will die from it. fingers crossed.

UPDATE:
here are some photos of the fated exploded furnace. luckily the cover was already off or it would've been blown across the room. the motor was blown out, though, and a piece of it shattered. also, you i took a photo of the rocks and pinecones and sticks that were stuffed in the PVC pipe venting the furnace. the technician had to cut the pipe to remove the detritus, as you can see:



we won't be able to get it repaired until Thursday, but luckily it's only in the 20s overnight. Jesus! this morning it was 59 degrees when we woke up (that's Fahrenheit for you Europeans, or approximately 15 degrees Celsius). now THAT'S cold!

reviews are in

two reviews of my newest chapbook, [untitled], released by Propaganda Press appeared on the interwebs recently.

first, Jeff Fleming, venerable editor of the new (and fantastic) new short poem journal nibble wrote a great review. thanks for the kind words, good sir.

second,  Poet Hound published a rave review as well. and thank you, too, Paula, for your constant support. look for more reviews of other books at both of these fine outlets.

copies of my book are still available for $8 (shipping to the US included, $3 extra overseas) from Propaganda Press. click on the title of book above!

autumn is here

we took a little car ride up Immigration Canyon on the northeast side of Salt Lake City, the canyon the Mormon settlers traveled down on their way west.
the leaves were in various states of change, the air was crisp and cool after a torrential downpour yesterday, and the drive was beautiful.
here are some picture i took with my cellphone:



i love days like this: the weather perfect after months of summer and before the wickedness of winter, the wife and i enjoying each other's company driving through beautiful mountain canyons.

i hope we have a few more days like this left, but judging from the snow that dusted the peaks last night, i'm afraid we've 3 weeks at the most. just means we'll have to enjoy them as best we can.

our trip to Albion Basin, a poetry update and an Oscar nominated horror clip

last weekend, the wife and i went up to Albion Basin at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon to have a little picnic and to do some hiking. we were hoping the leaves would be changing, but we were a few weeks too early. and, we were a month too late to see the spectacular wildflower displays Albion Basin is known for.
anyway, here are some photos i took while up there. nothing too spectacular:





i also received word that three of my poems: Adagio for a Scared Little Girl, On Art and War, and Turning in for the Night will be published in the newest issue of Literary Mary to be released soon.

also, my newest chapbook, [untitled] is still available from Propaganda Press for $7 (shipping included within the US, $3 extra outside the US). check it out, won'tcha.


the scariest thing ever? yeah, i think so:

in the mail today

i received the third issue of nibble, in which one of my poems -- interstate accident -- appears. issue three is just as good as the previous two (which is pretty damn good). if you haven't subscribed or submitted to nibble, do so today.

also in the mail today was a copy of Gerald Locklin's newest chapbook, The Plot of Il Travatore and other poems, published by Kamini Press. i was lucky enough to pick up one of the special 25 copies to be signed by Locklin, and to include a special watercolor by Henry Denander tipped in. it's a great book full of the witty and profound poems Locklin is known for. pick up a copy.

and somehow i'm...

supposed to give a shit about these rich bastards who gambled with our economy, lost their ass, and are now unable to afford their affluent, rich bastard life styles. well, boo fucking hoo. welcome to our lives. only, guess what? your gambling made our lives just that much harder.

there are 946 BILLIONAIRES in the world today. 73% (694) of them live in the United States. according to Forbes, this is a 20% increase over last year. this is sick. in a time where simple medical insurance eludes billions around the globe, where unemployment rates and homelessness rates are rising in our country, the ultra/super rich are getting richer and the income gap is widening. these new billionaires aren't members of the middle class suddenly becoming filthy rich, it's millionaires bilking their poorer countrymen and getting even richer; it's our current administration giving them tax breaks and making it easier for their companies to do whatever, wherever and whenever they want. what's a trillion dollars bailout for transgressions amongst friends, eh?

how many millionaires are there? it's too gross to say. but, the number is higher than the entire population of New York City, the very city that houses Wall Street -- where most of these bastards commit their crimes. i suspect there are a quit a few less millionaires now.
well, welcome to penury, you assholes. we've saved you a seat on our 14-year old couch in the living room of our 1200 sq. ft. home.
don't mind the smell, it's merely our futures rotting away.

by the way, where's my fucking bailout? promise it won't cost nearly as much as a $1,000,000,000,000. i wonder how much universal healthcare would cost? or college education for any graduating senior who wants it, or technical school training? a trillion dollars is a lot of money.