I was in Minneapolis at the Chuck Palahniuk event for his new gang-bang novel Snuff. Anal-beads and blow-up dolls were given away, as was copies of my book. Chuck was mobbed as usual so I spent the night chatting with Don Pollock whose raunchy/gritty story collection Knockemstiff is also being promoted by Chuck on this tour.

Then there was the artist-designed mini-golf course at the Walker Art Center, a temporary thing just for the summer.

And I saw some small buffalo on the drive to Fargo where I then ate some buffalo. As always, more pics in my Flickr pages.

Although called a slime mold, Physarum polycephalum is not a mold, because a mold is a fungus, and fungi don’t “eat,” or move. Yes this thing moves. And it has a memory. It also solves mazes. We’re like totally bff now.

OK so the long Lisa Frank is awesome because it has like everything Lisa Frank is known for and incorporates almost all of the common 80’s sticker themes: hamburgers, unicorns, ice cream, teddy bears, pizza, candy, cherries, and rainbows.Mystiks are awesome because they make swooshy colors when you press on them BUT DON”T PRESS TO HARD!Hamburgers and Coke-a-cola and other 50’s Americana made subtle appearances in 1980’s stickers, I don’t know why.Ark Animals were very hard to find unless you went to a big city like Minneapolis. I didn’t get these ’til I was 30Toots are the most awesome because they just are. These dinosaurs are gorgeous and profoundly influenced my sense of design.  

The park just opened in Myrtle Beach, and I haven’t been there (pictures stolen from Flickr) but the “Moody Blues Nights in White Satin: The Trip” dark-ride looks very experimental. The youtube video I found doesn’t reveal much, other than it’s really long.

Nearby, there’s a dumb looking ride called the Magic Mushroom Garden. The copy from the park website actually reads: “This attraction features a charming toddler play area made up of soft-sculpture, climbable clusters of mushrooms along with a log, a hollow log, and bridge.”

WOW, a LOG! And then a HOLLOW LOG! I love big fluorescent fungi but you’d have to be critically trippin’ to make this interesting. (Any coincidence the next land is “Rock and Roll Heaven”?) And call me an old lady but I don’t think any “toddler play area” needs to be drug themed.

The Americana at Brand is a just-opened $400 million outdoor mall in Glendale from the creators of the theme park-esque The Grove in Hollywood. They both feature trolleys designed by George McGinnis, a regular designer of vehicles for the Disney parks. You can rent apartments that overlook the park and pond for $3000+ but you’ll hear the fountain show all day long. I know because they were vacant and unlocked when I was there opening day, that’s how I got the photo from the balcony.

Join myself and others as we read our awful teenage journal entries to a crowd of strangers. I’ve done two different pieces before, (one is in the new book, Mortified: Love is a Battlefield). I have hundreds of pages of journal entries to choose from and this show will have new stuff - on the evils of drugs and drinking, and the art world about going to a new school and how to be gay.  Get tickets early, Mortified sells out fast.

WHEN: Wednesday, May 14, 2008
TIME: 8:00 PM
VENUE: King King
ADDRESS: 6555 Hollywood Blvd., 90028
COST: $10 adv; $15 door

TICKETS:
By Web: GetMortified.com By Phone: 877-238-5596