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Later Abominations

Awful writing from 1999 on, when I should have known better.

1
My Pals Sonic Youth
A visit to the concert hall.
Wednesday, January 27, 1999
2
Solo in Gray
Sea Lions in the park. What do my words mean here? I use the word pinnepedal. Why? Oh, God.
Thursday, March 18, 1999
3
Prediction
The only point of this piece is to demonstrate what a jackass I am.
Friday, March 26, 1999
4
Citizen Darth
Trashing the new Star Wars movie. It deserved trashing.
Sunday, April 11, 1999
5
Art
An essay on the arts scene and what it meant to me in 1999. Of course, when I'm writing these summaries (mid-2000) I care not at all.
Tuesday, April 13, 1999
6
Here We Go Again
I broke up with a girl and had to write for the sympathetic Internet audience about my deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep feelings.
Monday, April 19, 1999
7
Fantasy
A dumb little story with one or two good lines, based on a completely predictable joke.
Monday, April 19, 1999
8
Created
What's wrong with the world? An attempt at a non-answer in a few short words. Reading over these archives, I want often to say shut up, fellow. Why didn't I?
Thursday, May 6, 1999
9
Mirror Only Slightly Angled
The online journaler, a strange creature of odd habits.
Saturday, June 12, 1999
10
Sampler
All the things in my head all at once.
Monday, June 28, 1999
11
Rein, carnation
A goofy fiction.
Monday, June 28, 1999
12
Wires
A series of little narratives, all glued together
Friday, April 23, 1999
9 sections.
13
An Ending of Sorts
Closure on the Internet
Wednesday, March 10, 1999
14
My Favorite Variable
Geeking out.
Saturday, January 23, 1999
15
Tracking My Changes
A few absolutely shitty literary thoughts.
Tuesday, February 2, 1999
16
Archive
Prior Iterations of Ftrain, created in blind ignorance but with great hopes, and information on the site itself. My advice, which you should feel free to ignore considering the source, is to start from the very end - to read the new stuff first, when I'd actually learned a little bit about writing, and then if you can stomach it, move backwards.
Saturday, January 1, 2000
3 sections.
17
11 Aug 98
Acting my age
Tuesday, August 11, 1998
18
Litany
A sad whine about work, written in the "high amateur" style that so much of my prose favors.
Sunday, March 14, 1999
19
Cliches, some with Examples
How many can you spot? And when is a cliche a characteristic?
Sunday, March 28, 1999
20
Commercial
Ah well. Sometimes the writing turned to squalorous sloppiness. Here's a good example.
Sunday, April 18, 1999
21
First Day
So now, I decided to become autobiographical. I thought I'd write my whole life's story in about 3 hours, but I didn't get far. Here's the first piece.
Tuesday, February 23, 1999
22
Carpoint
Oh, I am a didactic bastard. What was I trying to accomplish with my mini-lecture on automotive environmentalism?
Friday, March 26, 1999
23
Small
A New York moment of no note.
Sunday, January 3, 1999
24
Before
A moment of waiting for the emotions to settle.
Tuesday, January 26, 1999
25
Burden
Sick of writing, I write about being sick of writing. Result? The audience is sick of me.
Monday, January 4, 1999
26
The Voice in the Ear
Talking, talking back, and so on. Taking it all too seriously.
Sunday, April 18, 1999
27
Monologue
Writing on writing about writing. Kill me.
Tuesday, May 18, 1999
28
Shut Up, Paul
What he said.
Monday, May 24, 1999
29
I Believe (a comic gothic, first draft)
A little fiction with a high "yeah, whatever" quotient
Friday, February 26, 1999
30
Study Hall
Working and what it's like to work and whatever.
Tuesday, January 5, 1999
31
Overdue
A little apology to a woman who's long, long gone.
Tuesday, February 23, 1999
32
The Ftrain Temporary FAQ
Out of ideas, I began writing about Ftrain itself. Bad sign.
Tuesday, March 7, 2000
33
Staten Island
Middling writing about a nice day.
Monday, May 1, 2000
34
Lost Weekend
I was just fucking with people here, writing nonsense, talking crazy talk.
Tuesday, May 2, 2000
35
Bloodlife
In my modern era, love begins with diagnostics.
Sunday, June 25, 2000
36
Location x 3
Ask an idiot a simple question, and see what happens.
Sunday, July 16, 2000
37
Explosion on Ftrain
Relaunching the Web site.
Thursday, July 27, 2000
38
Republican National Convention
I'm trying to unrust my chops, so I wrote down some thoughts on the RNC. It's hard to connect ideas; I'm struggling with the words.
Thursday, August 3, 2000


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About the author: I've been running this website from 1997. For a living I write stories and essays, program computers, edit things, and help people launch online publications. (LinkedIn). I wrote a novel. I was an editor at Harper's Magazine for five years; then I was a Contributing Editor; now I am a free agent. I was also on NPR's All Things Considered for a while. I still write for The Morning News, and some other places.

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