Touch You Last

Here’s a confession: I often go back and reread my old posts. And I find I’m entertained by myself. What does this say about me? Does this make me an asshole? (Not a belligerent, kick-sand-in-your-face kind of asshole, but more of the boorish, self-satisfied type). Or maybe we all do it. If you’re keeping an open blog rather than a private journal, then in some small or large part, you are proud of yourself. Which isn’t wrong in and of itself; I suppose the trick is not to be overly proud. I also go back and reread those two lonely issues of Armada once in a while. We did a good thing there, and I don’t know that we’ll ever get back to doing it. I read them and I’m amazed at the level of writing, especially the work that came from absolute strangers. And the work from our friends—I knew that to be great long before we published it, but seeing it the context of a journal makes me appreciate it so much more. And my story: I’m proud of that. It’s not very often that I think abo...

Sure it's cold out. Sure the days are getting shorter. Other than Hallowe'en is there anything good else that's good about this time of year? Of course! The Fall issue of Armada . It's finally here and it's chock-full of white trash babies, unsexy sex, invisible trees, and Ren Fair photos. Download your copy and tell a friend. Pay it forward, as they say.

The inaugural issue of Armada is here, and it’s phenomenal. It looks and reads better than I ever could have hoped, and I’m ridiculously, embarrassingly proud of it. And let me recommend Bill to you as the best partner you could have in an enterprise like this. We make a surprisingly good partnership: he brings style, I bring anal retentive tendencies. Together, we’re a smash. I can’t sell our first issue any better than it sells itself, so check it out as soon as you can. We’re also going to ask you a favour. Can you please, please spread the word. Send the link to your friends, or better still, link us on your own blog. Do this, and we’ll be best friends forever. Seriously. Every subsequent e-mail from me to you will end Cheers, Dave P.S. You & Me r BFF! You can’t buy that kind of love.

Lot of dead air here, lately, but I think I’m back for good. Our modem shit the bed early last week, and any precious time I did have with net access was spent either on work (the paying kind) or Armada-related things. The website is ninety percent there, and I’ll let you know when we’re officially open for business. In the meantime, our info is still available here . If you’ve told all those attractive strangers like I asked, I suggest you move on to the ugly ones. And, to discuss: What is your greatest physical accomplishment? Could be riding a bull, squeezing out a kid, running a marathon, or perfecting the one-inch punch. Gimme.

Dear writers, readers, and supporters of upstart, impudent literary endeavours in general, In the Spring of 2006, we’re releasing a new, free literary journal called Armada. It will feature new and original prose, poetry, sketches, and photography, perhaps provided by you. The journal will be published in .pdf format, which is easy to carry and easier to share. Appearance and quality will be top shelf. If you’re a reader, we fancy your business. Once launched, we ask that you share a copy of our little startup with friends, family, casual acquaintances, and attractive strangers of all types, if you think they might be interested. We don’t want to make money, we want to be read. If you’re a writer or an artist, we want your work and we covet your genius. Submission details follow: We’re looking for fiction of all types—long, short, literary, or genre—provided that it’s good. Novels in progress are great, so long as they’re self-contained. Theatrical works are also acceptable assuming th...