this time last year i emailed mike young. this is what i sent to him:
he has a picture that looks like if van gogh drew it
on speed
his name is mike
it’s all in the name
and he’s running this literary game
i found mike young’s email address by finding his blog first. don’t know how i found his blog but i did. i read some of the shit on mike young’s blog and was like ‘this is some good shit.’ then i sent mike young the above email. mike young replied: thank you peter bd! i am flattered. that was a cool thing for mike young to say. cool as hell
if you enjoy going on youtube (who doesn’t????), you can find videos of mike young reading some of his stuff. this is a good one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLt2bYB668k. saw this video and realized mike young is a legitimate writer. he writes legitimate things and reads them in front of legitimate crowds at legitimate readings. realized i lived in baltimore at the same time as mike young and could’ve attended one of these readings. baltimore needs to promote mike young’s readings. they need to do this in an aggression fashion.
never met mike young before though i imagine him to be a chill, funny guy. i don’t think he’d be one of those guys who constantly bring the conversation back to themselves and keep asking you if you’d like to purchase one of their chapbooks. i don’t think he’s one of those guys who stares at you for a long time after you try to make small talk. i don’t think he’s one of those guys that thinks brandon flowers is the greatest artist of his generation. these are just my thoughts. i don’t think mike young is a bad writer. i’ll admit it. in the past year i haven’t read much from mike young, but i’d like to. i saved some money so now i can purchase some good ass mike young books. i’m confused as to where to begin though. i only want to read something that mike young thinks is worthy of reading. i don’t think mike young gives a fuck if i like his writing and that’s a positive thought. these are just all my personal thoughts and stuff
this is why i want to read a good ass mike young book: if you’re not curious at all, you’re probably dead, which is interesting. we would like to hear from you dead folk. that’s probably some of the best literature i’ve ever read.
mike young runs magic helicopter press
mike young is a young writer
mike young will probably bitch slap you if you disrespect his writings
mike young has other talents that only close friends know about
mike young is more humble than john the baptist
mike young goes hard in the paint
mike young runs the literary game and enjoys doing so
mike young also runs the world but is keeping it under wraps because he likes keeping shit like that under wraps
this is what i’ve learned about mike young since Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 2:10 PM. these are just my opinions about mike young
***
peterbd! thanks for such a comprehensive yearly checkup. i feel like you are a brilliant new style of dentist/PE coach booster combo.
really there are only two books to choose from right now, a book of poems and a book of stories, and you can get them both at the same time even from
the reading you linked to is actually from when i read in Shelburne Falls, MA, where there is a bridge made of flowers and where Bill Cosby lives.
i moved to Baltimore in September 2011 when my girlfriend Carolyn went to Thailand for seven months.
during that time i took the 35 bus a lot
peterbd in the free world,
mike
this is why i want to read a good ass mike young book: if you’re not curious at all, you’re probably dead, which is interesting. we would like to hear from you dead folk. that’s probably some of the best literature i’ve ever read.
mike young runs magic helicopter press
mike young is a young writer
mike young will probably bitch slap you if you disrespect his writings
mike young has other talents that only close friends know about
mike young is more humble than john the baptist
mike young goes hard in the paint
mike young runs the literary game and enjoys doing so
mike young also runs the world but is keeping it under wraps because he likes keeping shit like that under wraps
this is what i’ve learned about mike young since Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 2:10 PM. these are just my opinions about mike young
***
Mike Young
2:56 PM (4 minutes ago)
to peterbd
peterbd! thanks for such a comprehensive yearly checkup. i feel like you are a brilliant new style of dentist/PE coach booster combo.
really there are only two books to choose from right now, a book of poems and a book of stories, and you can get them both at the same time even from
peterbd should get the stories if peterbd’s skateboard used to get a lot of blood on it. peterbd should get the poems if peterbd’s skateboard was too pretty for anyone to take peterbd seriously. peterbd should get both if peterbd’s skateboard was actually a riding lawnmower.
the reading you linked to is actually from when i read in Shelburne Falls, MA, where there is a bridge made of flowers and where Bill Cosby lives.
i moved to Baltimore in September 2011 when my girlfriend Carolyn went to Thailand for seven months.
during that time i took the 35 bus a lot
and taught essay wrassling at UMBC and Loyola
and ate a lot of 85 cent samosas and korean takeout and Caribbean food and biscuit sandwiches from Blacksauce at the Waverly Farmers market
and walked a lot through Hampden and Mt Vernon and Charles Village but not really Fells Point
and lived with my friend Mark and his dog Ajax
and saw a depressing magician with my friends Adam and Michael and Joe
and took the Hopkins shuttle even though i wasn’t a Hopkins student
and ate a lot of hash browns at Sweet Sin but they are too expensive now booo
and had the most amazing vegan soul food i’ve ever had at Land of Kush (my vegan-for-13-years girlfriend concurs on this)
and finally bought a Stephen Dixon novel at Normal’s
and lost my hoodie for a week at the Metro Gallery (luckily they left it lying on the floor the whole time in the exact same spot so it was easy to go back and find once i realized where i’d lost it)
and almost got snakeoiled by a travel doctor way down east of Federal Hill
and was thoroughly whupped by the Baltimore bus system.
and did probably insanely overexpose myself by doing buckets of fun readings for WORMS, the Benevolent Armchair series, Artichoke Haircut, CityLit, Betascape, the Literature Party, the 510 series, Three Tents, and the people behind all of those were hardworking and beautiful creatures whom i hope no one ever eats during a stalled westward migration on a snowy mountain pass
when Carolyn got back from Thailand, we moved back to Northampton, MA in June.
i like Western Mass a lot, but i like Baltimore a lot too, and i miss it, and i feel like no matter how much Vitamin B12 i take, my dreams will never be as impressive as the chaos of Baltimore public transportation.
peterbd in the free world,
mike
