Being underrated is overrated; being overrated is sad; Being John Malkovich was okay; Being and Nothingness was on my shelf unread for five years; Five years by Bowie is great; greatness is overrated, not that I would know; knowledge is not knowing; knowing is stupid, you know?

This should have thrilled, but rather bored. I think it’s the use of “luminaries”? More about the shop’s history than the actual festival? And the closing quote by Pullman? I’m grumpy?

When I first took a job as stripper, I had no sense that my decision to do so would have any real, far reaching effects on my life. To the contrary, I found in sex work a solution to very nearly all my problems at the time. No longer homesick or lonely, my new job not only remedied the un-belonging I’d experienced as a foreigner, but— as a product of a broken, working-class household, the first in her family to go to college, let alone study abroad– through sex work I discovered in myself a seemingly unending source of power and autonomy relating but not only having to do with my newfound ability to make money, and lots of it, anywhere in the world. And yet…

– from “Not Safe for Work,” an essay by my friend, Melissa Petro, about the lasting stigma associated not with being but with having ever been a sex worker. It is on the front page of the Rumpus today, and despite its title does not actually contain anything that will get you in trouble at your job. Which is just one reason why you should go read it now.

From the Christian Science Monitor:

International opinion has battered Israel in the aftermath of its commando raid on the flotilla of aid trying to break the Gaza blockade.

I had to read it twice, because I thought there was no way they’d allow so much slant rhyme in an editorial. Should journalists write rap lyrics more often or less rarely?

Don’t be crazy, damn, get yourself summa these summa books, 30% off, damn, like Urs Alleman, Blake Butler, Amina Cain, Lily Hoang, Peter Markus, Matthew Simmons, Joy Williams, John Dermot Woods, Andrew Zornova. I got the Amina Cain, I Go to Some Hollow and Eugene Marten’s Firework. What! Not to sound like a commercial but: great books, great prices and SPD is a great company to support.

I have a Pomeranian surfing a pizza box in mine. What are the dogs doing in yours?

Here comes two very worth-your-time reviews that are about reviewing: John Cotter on John Cotter at WWAATD and Ray McDaniel on Elyse Fenton’s Clamor at the Constant Critic.

The exterior of the Bel-Air mansion does not feature more than 30,000 pieces of limestone mined in France. The entry, living room, library and master bedroom are not gilded with 24-karat gold. The home doesn’t have 90 sconces and 120 chandeliers made in France. Average room size isn’t about 1,100 square feet.

–For The Record, a correction, via Steve Silberman

Michael FitzGerald, one of the co-creators of Submishmash (I’m still basking in its awesomeness), put up a few notes justifying a $2-$3 submission fee. Overall, I agree with what he says, especially the point that paying $3 will make writers pay more attention to what they’re sending. It’s often clear that people are writing their best work and submitting — before it’s even a little good.

Is a $3 fee the filter we need?

The Millions’ list of 20 More Under 40 includes Jesse Ball, Victor LaValle, Ben Kunkel, Salvador Plascencia, and many others.