More Bread

I'm Jess. Pop culture writer, certified librarian and all-around web person. I used to blog over the Volume Knob. And sometimes write at Paste magazine, Nerve, CMJ and a myriad of other places. Come by, stay a while and have more bread.

We are talking about a guy who has written from the perspective of a 4th-century Danish peasant, a gun-clutching Macon County outlaw, an agoraphobic science fiction novelist, and a moon-dwelling cannibal and has still somehow tricked most people into thinking that he is “a confessional songwriter.

priorities

Pop culture necessities I schelped with me on my move to NJ:

  •  6 VHS tapes of the ABC classic animatronic series DINOSAURS (of course i have no vcr to watch them on)

  • a TV Guide from the week JFK was assassinated that i inherited from my great-grandma

  • a book of poetry my elementary school compiled (every kid got a poem in it, mine’s on the first page) my best friend’s poem is the most awesome- it features the line “my mind is like a quadrilateral”. that’s coming from a 5th grader, yo.


necessary necessities i neglected to bring:

  • an umbrella.


priorities, i got them.

likeapairofbottlerockets: buzzfeed: So John Darnielle from The Mountain Goats stopped by our office this afternoon and we snapped a photo of him holding a photo of him holding a wombat and we think it’s pretty nifty. AGHHHH HOW DID I MISS THIS?!?! all that’s missing is a cat and fat baby.

likeapairofbottlerockets:

buzzfeed:

So John Darnielle from The Mountain Goats stopped by our office this afternoon and we snapped a photo of him holding a photo of him holding a wombat and we think it’s pretty nifty.

AGHHHH HOW DID I MISS THIS?!?!

all that’s missing is a cat and fat baby.

what jim told me.

i was thinking today about how i haven’t written anything (in any capacity) in ages and how i was sorely lacking in inspiration (even though i think that’s just a bourgeois conceit/excuse for laziness). then i took a cab.

it’s always an auspicious sign when the cab driver is reading a book on the history of mythology while waiting for passengers outside the train station. i swear he didn’t even see me ENTER the vehicle. jim said he read every chance he got. Jim - how often do you even learn the guy toting you around’s name? this all happened in UNDER 5 minutes.

with regard to myths, he spoke of philosophy to lift the people up, of dialectics, a dialogue of yes and nos. he told me technology is the new religion. he spoke of actual religions. he spoke in arabic  (note: jim is a white 50ish male who lives in an irish-italian section of the bronx). he said the culture needs to change. no one should go homeless, hungry or without healthcare. he rattled off the names of EVERY broomstick referenced in harry potter. he bemoaned the lifeless larchmont housewifes on antidepressants. the “stone heads” and their gas-guzzling SUVs. he told me to be picky with the men i date. always ask potential boyfriends “What’s the square root of 81?” and “Can you find Colombia on a map?” jim’s girlfriend told him that he was the most centered person she ever met. and he said “that’s because i don’t give a fuck”. jim would make a great protagonist of a novel i’ll never write. 

we should all be more like jim.

brilliantstreet: I was searching for a 40’s or 50’s magazine ad to mix with the lyrics to No Children by The Mountain Goats, but when I came across this Greyhound ad I figured I’d throw the lyrics to See America Right in there. Got the idea to mix ads and lyrics from this awesome poster by Todd Atticus. Still searching for that perfect No Children ad. PERFECT

brilliantstreet:

I was searching for a 40’s or 50’s magazine ad to mix with the lyrics to No Children by The Mountain Goats, but when I came across this Greyhound ad I figured I’d throw the lyrics to See America Right in there. Got the idea to mix ads and lyrics from this awesome poster by Todd Atticus. Still searching for that perfect No Children ad.

PERFECT

(Source: brilliantstreet)

John Darnielle’s house is not rockstar huge, nor rockstar glamorous. It does not have a home theater or rolfing center. It’s modest.

There is an office packed with shelves reflecting his preoccupations: pulp horror and philosophy and religious study. John Darnielle is fascinated with both death metal and the Holy Bible and speaks eloquently of the dark magic and elegance and grace of both.

Now I am going to tell you that, in the study by the stairs, I stepped in a little bit of cat vomit.

I can report that John Darnielle was not embarrassed. Because he knows it is in a cat’s nature to vomit, and because he saw an opportunity for kindness. He loaned me some socks, and they were argyle, warm from the dryer and very soft.

The house has a basement, which John Darnielle describes as “awesome.”

The basement is not particularly awesome.

—

John Hodgman wrote the press release for the new Mountain Goats album, Transcendental Youth. (via flavorpill)

<333333

(via likeapairofbottlerockets)

A+++++AMAZING

(via likeapairofbottlerockets)

methodistcoloringbook asked: hi i'm excited to meet a fellow mountain goats & dystopian novel loving librarian! i saw you recommended super sad to someone i follow and i just had to say: YOU HAVE EXCELLENT TASTE IN BOOKS/MUSIC. that is all.

aw, that’s super sweet of you to say! i’m always up for more book/music recs too btw.