I am a charter member here
Below is my official biography and a review from Jason Pettus, who now has a site that is now rated 37,000 on the entire fucking net!!!! This is on his his new blog, on SECOND LIFE, where he explores issues in the virtual world. If you have not read his work, please go there -- his books are miraculously written -- his Naughty Stories will give you a willy or a wetty, as well as something to think about afterwards in the brief glow after you masterbate (I assume my readers have no sex life, outside of internet porn... not that I personally have ever been to one of those sites.. really. Well, okay, the pictures of Cordelia from Buffy and Angel on the playboy site is something I look at daily, but since that is a two minute thing, it doesn't really count).
Jasons primary site, where his journals are read daily by over a number that is much higher than this now, but was over 30,000 the last time I knew, about a year ago. Since then has been getting recognized a lot more. He tours europe every year, living with fans and doing that sell your books at readings thing. Once a year he has a fund raiser, and his fans have been gracious enough to practically pay for his trips. He can always use a few bucks, so if you have a few to spend on a book this month, please go to
http://jasonpettus.com
and buy one of his twelve novels, or just read his incredible journals, etc... You will find a link there to CCLAP, a new art's association which he has graciously put together to help promote Chicago writers like yours truly, as well as some people with real talent. You can also access his incredibly popular Second Life Blog there. This has been a public service announcement,as well as shameless self-promotion, brought to you by THE CHURCH OF THE BLEEDING TOE. That's my blog at Joe User, where I am universally despised -- just like when I first put up this blog, I was floored by all the hateful mail... don't bother going there -- you get all of the text there that are here, but there is a lot of my work that I am not puttin gup there...
Writing of getting hate mail reminds me of something Jason me; he used to get so many death threats and shit that he had to cut out the comment section; because he writes honestly about using drugs and having wild bi-sexual romps -- though he is mostly into chicks. He is really living the spartan life of a serious talent a little too far ahead of his time. People will catch up with him though, because his fiction really grabs you by the crotch and strokes... I guess I should also mention that he is a total techie, and writes astute essays on a wide range of topics. He really, really knows his shit, too.
June 21, 2006
Say hello to CCLaP Fellow Scott Ridgway
I'm happy to announce that CCLaP has its newest Fellow -- Scott Ridgway, a writer and visual artist in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. Scott and I have known each other for a few years now, in fact; I'm a fan of his work, and am glad he's decided to get involved with the center. And as mentioned below, Scott is also the organizer and host of a fun new poetry open mic in Rogers Park, every Friday evening at a place called Ennui Cafe; I'm going to be trying to make this week's event myself, in fact, and will post photos and an audio report from it here on Monday if I do.
To qualify for our free Fellowship program, Scott has ended up giving CCLaP the right to publish several great pieces of his, both stories and visual work; we'll be posting that material here to the website, then, slowly over the coming months. (Scott's first poem will be appearing tomorrow, in fact.) Don't forget, Scott now has his own HTML page here at our site, for those who are fans of his and would like to track his work and news, as well as his own RSS feed for those who would like future entries delivered in real time. This is but two of the many free benefits we offer all CCLaP Fellows, along with free admission to all our events, a free t-shirt, the opportunity to organize and run events through the center, and much more.
Below is Scott's official bio; and then in a couple of days Scott will also be writing a guest entry here at the website, concerning what kinds of creative work he's into and what things at CCLaP he is most interested in. Welcome, Scott; the center is glad to have you aboard.
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John Scott Ridgway was born in 1962 in Garrett, Indiana. At seventeen, after reading On The Road, he started traveling, living in Dallas, San Francisco, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Bowling Green and Toledo, Ohio, and, finally, Chicago -- where he continued his studies after four years at The University of Toledo, attending Depaul, Columbia College, and Northeastern Illinois University, following a twelve-year education program that was laid out for him by the Beat poet Joel Lipman, an early mentor. He has published various short stories, edited the underground magazine Hypen, written for two television shows, and runs readings in the Rogers Park Community at Ennui Cafe, as well as writing his popular blogs, The Elves Attic and The Psycho Killer's Shit list. He has two published books: One War -- a novel that utilizes his classes in Military Intelligence to explore some of the dark underbelly of the real CIA, and his philosophy major to explain Wittgenstein's relevance to brainwashing and media manipulation by the Intelligence Community; and The Religious Psycho Killer's Shit