I decided it would be fun to do another serialized comic story. This time, I’m not sure exactly where I want to go with it, except that I’m thinking: scary? Who knows, maybe saying that will turn it all into one big pun. If you have requests for terrible things this shortraker fish might encounter, please feel free to bug me with them. They can’t be worse than what happened to this one…or can they?

The fourth of July was a great success – much hiking, many fireworks, only a few fires on the mountain where Tucson’s show was based. (And it rained the next day! So no problem.) Plus Paul got to play with his dog best friend, and my dad got a puppy. So we can confidently state that it was a good weekend for at least a few dogs.

Speaking of success! My brother’s band Eclectic Approach is getting set to release their new EP “Break the Floor”, and it is full of jam after jam. If you’re in Seattle, you should try to get tickets for their CD release party at the Showbox on July 13th! Plus, read this excellent review of the EP, to help yourself get excited.

Speaking of getting people excited! storySouth is holding their annual Million Writers Award to recognize great fiction published online, and they are open for nominations. (Anyone can nominate a single story. Democracy!) If you are so inclined, it would be wonderful if you nominated my story “The Eternal Youth of Everyone Else,” published in Carve Magazine in 2012.

It takes about 2 minutes. And that may be overestimating.
Here’s where you can do it.
Here’s the story.
Here’s the journal’s web address.

If you enjoyed the story, I would really appreciate the support! And if you don’t, I’ll never know, so this basically just generates a cloud of vague goodwill. Win-win-win! (And if you yourself published a story online in 2012, by god, nominate yourself!)

Finally, it seems a little funny (meta?) to share it here, but I reworked my blog post about my childhood house into an essay, and was delighted that it found a home on The Rumpus. If you liked the original, check out this new, slightly expanded version. There are some pretty pictures, and one dour one that is not, no, not, my real basement. (Though god, it could have been.)