Friday, December 12, 2008

The Post In Which I Use the Word "Kulangot"

I've been reflecting on the way that social networking has changed my relationship to blogging (and now I'm reflecting on how ridiculous that sounds). I started tweeting because tweeting is...silly. You have 140 characters to make your statement, plead your case, or just tell the world that you're headed to the gym. It's quick and often hilarious, as when Weez demanded that her Twitter crew must tweet in haiku, and they did it. Such is the power of tweets and/or such is the power of the lovely Weez.

Facebook is another animal altogether. You can throw down larger chunks of text, plus it's easy to link, share what you're reading, etc., so that in many circumstances it has taken the place of (my) blogging. These days, blogs feel a little bit like an Auntie, while Facebook and Twitter are like hyperactive cousins. It's fun to hang out with hyperactive cousins, of course, but there are times when the less frantic, more fully realized existence of Auntie is the only way to go.

In this post, though, all worlds converge as I reveal my favorite blog post, favorite tweet, and favorite Facebook status updates of the week:

My favorite blog post was A.D.'s because 1) I thought he fell off the face of the earth, and I am relieved to know that he did not and 2) he cites Bolano's The Savage Detectives, which I am also reading. In the early pages we witness a poetry throwdown in a classroom at a Mexican university. "There's a time for reciting poems and a time for fists," says the narrator.

My favorite tweet came from my little cousin Lui, who posited a simple question: "There's a New Yorker in the trash can at this BART station. Dare I?" There was no follow-up, but I bet the fear of finding pages 57-58 stuck together with...I don't know...some kind of monster kulangot (okay, I can't believe the Urban Dictionary has an entry for "kulangot") was enough to keep her hands in her coat pockets.

My favorite Facebook status update is a tie. First there was Rich Villar's "Rich is LMAO at Rod Blagojevich getting arrested in a blue jogging suit. OH PLEASE GOD LET THERE BE PICTURES." Basically, he just cracks me up. And then there was Patrick's "Patrick is rockin' it," with a link to this, which made the odious task of unloading the dishwasher just a little less pain-in-the-ass-y.

Thus ends my first ever post in 5 years that includes the word "kulangot." Banner day, my lovelies. Banner day.

8 comments:

Malbatron said...

I would like to leave the first comment to your first ever post in 5 years that includes the word "kulangot". Thank you.

A. D. said...

:-)

ver said...

I called my Dad for the correct spelling, and it was like he was in a spelling bee: "Kulongot? Kulongot. K-U-L-O-N-G-O-T. Kulongot." And then he hung up on me. I think I interrupted his nap. BTW, I think you should change the name of your band to, you guessed it, "Kulongot." Or "Luj and the Kulongots."

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A.D.!!!!!

A. D. said...

Have you read 2666?

Luisa said...

Ha! I made favorite tweet. You surmised correctly though. I love the New Yorker, but I kept my hands far away from the trashcan rim for fear of the kulongots or worse. See Malbatron, kulongots strike fear in the hearts of many - side projects take note.

ver said...

Hi A.D.! I love a fat book, but 2066 is just so massive. We'll see, though. How about you? If you do it, I'll do it!

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Lu, you excel at tweeting. I fully expect you to own the category of "Tweet o' the Week."

A. D. said...

The same massive concern keeps me from reading Infinite Jest or anything Pynchon. SD was almost 700, though.

I was hoping you'd say that you read it and it rocked your face off. Then I'd have to read it. . . .

Marianne said...

I haven't read any Roberto Bolaño (maybe I will now!)

Can you play "tag" with me: "17 Random Things About Yourself"? You're on my list!