“You must understand that [David Mamet’s] reaction to being surrounded by easy privilege and, frankly, decadence is simply a form of disgust. But it’s overpopulated him, this disgust, and spilled out like an infection into a worldview. Not to get all Freud on his ass, but I think his outlook would be different if his circumstances, i.e., where he lives, were different. There is something about Hollywood liberalism that — even though it is the easiest target in the world — is so stomach-turning in its smugness. It’s no different than his reaction was once to capitalism run amok. I think disgust is disgust.”
 — Awl pal Jon Robin Baitz talks about the dangers of the west coast. Wouldn’t you like to go see something good on Broadway? His new play, “Other Desert Cities,” is a hit, baby. And it’s his birthday today, so go buy a ticket. (I mean, Stockard Channing, hello?)

“Nicotine causes changes in gene regulation that enhance the brain’s subsequent response to cocaine. The finding, in mice, provides the first clear evidence for a molecular mechanism supporting the idea of ‘gateway drugs’…. In a study published today in Science Translational Medicine, the team shows that, in mice at least, nicotine causes epigenetic changes — long-lasting changes in the control of gene expression — that subsequently boost the response to cocaine.”

I mean, every birthday of any celebrity who peaked in fame years ago is an occasion to marvel at the passage of the time. But this should really, really make you feel very, very, very old: Ralph Macchio turns 50 today. (And Steve Vai is 51!)

“I have so many darn cards — active and not. With the exception of the cards I’m working at any given time, I keep them semi-organized in a small zip lock (actually it’s a quart-sized bag). I use a black sharpie and write right on the cards ‘2x gas’ ‘50k w/ 10k spend’ ‘cancel 1/2012’ etc. I can only imagine what waiters and clerks think, but who cares?”
 — This is an awesome light introduction to how to work credit cards to your advantage. Should you be paying fees on credit cards? NO, NUH UH, YOU SHOULD NOT.

“They’re hungry. They’re hungry.”

This morning’s new job numbers: what do they mean?

• The “u6” — that is, you nerds know, unemployed people plus “marginally attached” employed people plus people unwillingly employed part-time (as opposed to full-time) — is only 16.2%! Just like it was in August. Just like it was in June. Still, a year ago, it was 17%.

• There is a very, very slight trending uptick in men and young people getting jobs.

• Above: the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the last ten years, for all people 16 and older.

Football Pick Haikus For Week 9

Sunday, November 6

Atlanta -7 At Indianapolis
Colts should load up a
truck and after dark move back
to East Baltimore. PICK: FALCONS

At New Orleans -8 Tampa Bay
After the Saints lost
to the hapless Rams I hope
they went to DQ. PICK: SAINTS

At Houston -11 Cleveland
If you believe in
Tinkerbell you have to clap
really, really hard. PICK: BROWNS

At Buffalo -1.5 NY Jets
During their bye week
Jets Coach Ryan polished his
invisible rings. PICK: BILLS

At Kansas City -4 Miami
Philip Rivers of
the Chargers should be giving
Dolphins losing tips. PICK: DOLPHINS

San Francisco -3.5 At Washington
The Redskins O Line
is as useless as both
houses of Congress. PICK: 49ers

At Dallas -11.5 Seattle
If they win this game
Seahawks dump macchiatos
on coach Pete Carroll. PICK: SEAHAWKS

At Oakland -8 Denver
New Tim Tebow meme
will involve sitting on the
bench looking forlorn. PICK: RAIDERS

At Tennessee -3 Cincinnati
Have you ever tried
Kentucky chili? It’s so
good on spaghetti. PICK: BENGALS

At Arizona -3 St. Louis
This game’s loser
should be sent to the flat, dark
Phantom Dimension. PICK: CARDINALS

At New England -8.5 NY Giants
Take away Welker
and Tom Brady cries and then
sleeps with his hot wife. PICK: GIANTS

Green Bay -5.5 At San Diego
Chargers’ Coach Turner
would be a great manager
at any Arby’s. PICK: PACKERS

At Pittsburgh -3 Baltimore
Steelers wait until
Flacco makes a mistake, then
everyone polkas. PICK: STEELERS

Monday, November 7

At Philadelphia -8 Chicago
Chicago has been
doing the Movember thing
since 1960. PICK: BEARS

Last week’s Haiku Picks went 5–9. Season to date is 51–66–3. Time for rally underwear.

Jim Behrle tweets at @behrle for your possible amusement.

“What hope is there for childhood in the UK today if this is how adults think? We seem to have forgotten the fact that most children are well behaved and instead we are unquestionably accepting a stereotype of young people as criminal and revolting. We aren’t asking people to put up with yobbish behaviour, but we do need to change our attitudes towards troubled children.”
 — Anne Marie Carrie, chief executive at British children’s charity Barnardo’s, responds to results of a survey conducted by ICM Research that found of 2,000 people polled, 49 percent agreed that “children are beginning to behave like animals.”

by Mark Bibbins, Editor

Quality Street

The rain is a screen of lace.
Her buttons are bows.
He is bedecked in epaulets and sash.
This is a good year for females.

They can remove wooden legs
from the men. Age
is a matter of cosmetics.
Her gestures are electric.

The great battles recede
into an excuse for masquerade.
She laughs at annihilation.
It was only love for an hour.

This street is ruled by women.
The aunt is also the niece.
The haggard one is real.
Her face is wet in the rain.

Murder, My Sweet

A murderer’s reflection in a window.
The shadows of letters
on the accomplice’s broad camelhair chest.

The dame’s prehensile face,
a montage of moues,
a myriad of planes.
Her extreme upsweep,
an enflamed premotor cortex.

The villain’s hooded eyes,
his underbite.
Wearing light like gilding.

The mug’s aggressive plaid.
Doodles of cigarette smoke.
Angel hair on a lens.

The detective can’t have sex
until he solves the mystery.

Mist creeps across the ravine.
Shadows swirl into a point of light,
whose focus widens
into a woman’s scream.

Crowns on taxis,
crowns on doors.

Streetlamps made of alabaster.
A match struck on an angel’s ass.
Black coffee, eggs, scotch and soda.

When we look at sex
the whole world goes silent.
It’s unanswerable.

Smoke curls like a snake
in the dark.
One lamp lights a whole room.

James Cihlar is the author of Undoing (Little Pear Press, 2008) and Metaphysical Bailout (Pudding House Press, 2010). His writing appears in American Poetry Review, Prairie Schooner, Lambda Literary Review, Smartish Pace, Mary, Rhino, and Forklift, Ohio.

If you’re looking for more poetry, boy do we ever have some here, in The Poetry Section’s vast archive. You may contact the editor at poems@theawl.com.

The next time something bad happens to you — and let’s be honest, it’s not very far off — walk through the nearest doorway and all your troubles will disappear. Or, at least, that specific trouble. Until the next thing happens. Then you’ve got to go find yourself another doorway. [Via]